The Saucon Valley Panthers once again competed in the Beast of the East national wrestling tournament.
The Saucon Valley Panthers spent the weekend at the University of Delaware competing against some of the best high school wrestling programs in the BEAST of the EAST wrestling tournament. This event is, perhaps, the toughest high school wrestling tournament in the nation. 105 teams from as far away as New England, Florida, Ohio and Tennessee joined a healthy contingent of Lehigh Valley schools, as well as other schools from the Mid-Atlantic region. This two-day tourney certainly offers fans a taste of the best in high school wrestling.
As a team the Panthers, once again, represented Saucon Valley very well with another top-20 finish. Individually, three Panthers advanced to the second day of the event. Matt Arciuolo, Dane Csencsits and Nick Warnke each survived the Beast to keep their podium hopes alive.
However, only Columbia University commit Matt Arciuolo (160) was able to advance into the medal rounds and climb the podium. Arciuolo finished the tournament with a 7-1 record and placed third overall. Last year, Arciuolo finished fifth at the Beast.
Senior Matt Arciuolo is a BEAST! Matt placed 3rd at the 2019 Beast of the East!
Saucon Valley’s Matt Arciuolo
Saucon Valley’s Matt Arciuolo defeated #11 Alex Whitworth (McCallie School, Tennessee) in the quarterfinals at the Beast. But, the #3 seeded Panther fell in the semifinal to #2 Clayton Ulrey of Lower Dauphin High School. Ulrey, who is a Virginia tech commit and 2018 PIAA 3A runner-up, finished in second place overall with his loss in the championship final against the top seeded Andrew Cerniglia from Notre Dame. Arciuolo may have stumbled, but he wrestled back to a third-place finish with an 8-7 victory over #4 Luke Nichter of Chambersburg. Nichter is a three-time PIAA 3A state medalist and committed to Drexel University.
Saucon senior Matt Arciuolo is a two-time Beast of the East placewinner.
Csencsits (170) and Warnke fought the fight, but both came up short. #14 Csencsits won his first two bouts but was then knocked out of the championship bracket by #3 Dylan Reinert of Gettysburg. Reinert, who finished in third place overall, is committed to continue his academic and wrestling career at N.C. State. In the consolation bracket Csencsits, who recently committed to Pitt, won his first wrestle-back but then dropped a decision to Malvern Prep’s Caden Rogers who was the #11 seed. Rogers went on to finish 8th.
Warnke (285) came into the tournament unseeded and lost his very first match to #10 Jim Mullen. Mullen, from St. Joe’s Regional in New Jersey, finished the competition in fifth place. After his opening round defeat, Warnke caught fire and rolled to four straight victories before suffering a 3-2 ultimate tie-break heartbreaker to North Allegheny’s Ben Grafton in the blood round. Grafton ended up finishing seventh overall.
Top 10 Team Final Standings:
- Blair Academy (NJ) .
- Brecksville (OH)
- Malvern Prep (PA)
- Bergen Catholic (NJ)
- Notre Dame Green Pond (PA)
- Lake Highland Prep (FL)
- Elyria (OH)
- Nazareth (PA)
- Delbarton School (NJ)
- McDonogh (MD)
Other Notable Results:
- 14th Bethlehem Catholic
- 18th Saucon Valley
- 24th Northampton
- 81st Whitehall
The Panther coaching staff looks on as Dane Csencsits gets to work.
UP NEXT: The Panthers travel crosstown on Dec. 28 & 29th to compete in Liberty’s Hurricane Holiday Classic. There will be no shortage of wrestling talent at this event!
Good luck Panthers, the Source is with you!
