The 2018-19 Saucon Valley Little Panthers
The Saucon Valley High School wrestling program, with good reason, seems to dominate the local headlines. Undefeated, seventy-two straight wins, and the pursuit of a seventh consecutive Colonial League title is information worth tracking. But, the root of our community’s wrestling success begins with the youth program. It, too, is certainly worthy of some recognition.
The 2018-19 Little Panthers participate in the reputable Valley Elementary Wrestling League (VEWL). It is a very competitive league that houses 37 teams from all around the Lehigh Valley who are divided into six divisions. The VEWL promotes wrestling for Kindergarten through 6th grade at “varsity”, “junior varsity” and “novice” levels.
Saucon Source “Shout-Outs”
- A big Shout-Out to the youth wrestling volunteer coaches: Ben Chunko, Rich Pfanders, Kyle John, Rob Hubert, John Grogg, Chris Farkas and Tim Riehl. Hours per week of your time spent in a padded room with dozens of rambunctious and often hyper kids is well-worth a little recognition!
- Another Shout-Out to all the volunteers who help make the entire Saucon Valley wrestling program a success! There is little doubt that this program is, or would be, the envy of most programs everywhere.
The Little Panthers compete out of the Northeast Division of the VEWL along with Bethlehem Catholic, Eastside, Liberty, Moore Township and Whitehall. Liberty and Whitehall showed a lot of talent, but Saucon Valley was able to win their division with a perfect 5-0 record. Overall, the Panthers finished with a 12-3 record. Because Saucon won their division, they now qualify for the VEWL team championships which will be held Sunday, Jan. 27 at Pocono Mountain East Junior High School. The Little Panthers will surely strut their stuff and make their hometown crowd proud!
2018-2019 VEWL Championships
Moving -On!
Last week at Bangor, the Saucon Valley youth wrestling program recognized a handful of current 6th graders. These wrestlers are winding down their youth wrestling experience. Next season, they will cross the bridge to become directly part of Coach Shirk’s program where they will receive more quality instruction from some of the best high school coaching in the state.
Saucon Valley Youth Wrestling recognized six of their athletes who will be moving on after this season.
Little Panther 6th Graders
- Jackson Albert
- Aiden Grogg (2x VEWL Finalist)
- Liam Kurtz
- Connor Limpar
- Hector Mateo
- Jaxon Phetsavanh
Andy Koch and Bryan Israel are the official junior-high coaches primarily responsible for 7th and 8th graders. But, Coach Shirk as well as Don and Tommy Rohn are all deeply involved in the development of all wrestlers. The coaches and our entire community are, no doubt, looking forward to the future!
Good luck Panthers, the Source is with you!