Braydyn Lugardo picking up a first-period pin for the Panthers in the 2020 PIAA quarterfinals.
In the 2019-2020 quarterfinals of the PIAA team wrestling championships, the Saucon Valley Panthers went to war against the Burrell Buccaneers. It was a battle of the #1 seeds representing District XI and District VII. Saucon advanced into the quarterfinals by defeating Line Mountain 53-18 while Burrell punched their ticket with a 46-21 victory over Montoursville. On this day at Hershey’s Giant Center, it was tight and it was brutal. But, in the end, the Panthers busted up the Buccanneers for a 39-29 win and advanced into tonight’s semifinal.
Saucon Valley freshman Jake Jones taking a Buccaneer for a spin.
Saucon Valley benefitted from first-period falls courtesy of senior Braydyn Lugardo (195) and freshman Jake Jones (138). Lugardo came out on the attack and mauled his Buccaneer for six. Jones took his opponent down to his back twice to take a commanding 9-1 lead. Then, the third time was the charm as Jones flattened his opponent for the pin.
Panther freshman Jake Jones sticks his Buc flat.
More bonus points were added to the Panther side of the scoreboard through the determined efforts of senior classmates Matt Arciuolo and Thomas Spirk. Arciuolo earned his victory take-him-down-let-him-up style. Using eight takedowns and two near-fall turns, Arciuolo scored his tech-fall victory. Spirk used a different recipe as he had one takedown with five separate near-fall turns to register his tech-fall with four seconds remaining in the first period.
Saucon senior Thomas Spirk executing his lone takedown before earning a technical fall.
In addition, Dane Csencsits (182) and Cael Markle (126) contributed generously to the Panther cause. Csencists, a three-time state qualifier who will be wrestling at Pitt next season, built on a 6-4 first- period lead to enter the final period with an 11-5 advantage against Burrell senior Ricky Feroce (24-8). He finished strong with a takedown and near-fall for a 15-6 major. Markle, a sophomore, put together a couple of five-point moves and then coasted through the third period for a 10-1 major-decision.
The Panthers Dane Csencsits started strong and finished strong against the Burrell Buccaneers in the 2020 PIAA team wrestling quarterfinals.
Aside from forfeit points awarded to Nick Warnke (285), sophomore Ty Csencsits gutted out a 6-5 decision to round out the Panther points. The younger Csencsits was cleared to wrestle about two weeks ago after sustaining an injury during the football season. He is still unbeaten and only going to get better!
Ty Csencsits holding on for the win against Burrell’s Noah Linderman (24-10).
Burrell recorded falls at 106 and 220 to go along with a couple of major-decisions at 113 and 120. In addition, the Bucs picked up a decision at 132. Saucon Valley conceded the last bout of the contest to the Bucs which made the final score 39-29 in favor of the Panthers.
Saucon Valley 39 , Burrell 29
160- Ty Csencsits So., SV, dec. Noah Linderman Sr., B, 6-5.
170- Matt Arciuolo Sr., SV, tech-fall Dominic Holmes Sr., B, 22-6.
182- Dane Csencsits Sr., SV, major-decision Ricky Feroce Sr., B, 15-6.
195- Braydyn Lugardo Sr., SV, fall Cole Clark So., B, 1:02.
220- Michael Scherer Sr., B, fall Jack Marouchoc So., SV, :28.
285- Nick Warnke Sr., SV, winner by forfeit
106- Nikolas Ferra Fr., B, fall Ermal Duka Jr. SV, 1:20.
113- Shawn Syzmanski So., B, major-decision Connor Nicholas So., SV, 13-3.
120- Nicholas Salerno So., B, major-decision Travis Riefenstahl Fr., SV, 11-1.
126- Cael Markle So., SV, major-decision Trent Valovchik Sr., B, 10-1.
132- Ian Oswalt Jr., B, decision Chris Arciuolo So. SV, 3-2.
138- Jake Jones Fr., SV, fall Logan Bechdolt Fr., B, :15.
145- Thomas Spirk Sr., SV, tech-fall Simon Slahtovsky Jr., B, 1:19.
152- Anthony Corrado Jr., Jr., B, winner by forfeit
Saucon sophomore Cael Markle wrestled tough and came up big with a 10-1 major-decision.
Up Next: The Panthers now advance into tonight’s semifinal against the Reynolds Raiders (8 p.m.). The Raiders, out of District X, are the PIAA three-peat champs and have no shortage of heavy-hitters up and down their lineup. This is gonna be good!
Good luck Panthers, the Source is with you!
