The 2020 PIAA state wrestling championships have come to a close with three Saucon wrestlers bringing home medals.
The 2019-2020 Saucon Valley wrestling team qualified a school-record ten competitors into the weekend’s 2019-2020 PIAA state championship tournament. After losing three grapplers during the first day and another four on the second, Saucon Valley had three senior Panthers left in the medal-round. Matt Arciuolo was gunning for a championship while Dane Csencsits went for third-place and Nick Warnke looked for seventh.
Panther senior Matt Arciuolo must have been considered a slight favorite coming into the 2019-2020 PIAA championship bout against St. Joseph’s Tyler Stoltzfus. Arciuolo had narrowly conquered Stoltzfus both times they faced each other. Last season Arciuolo beat Stoltzfus 6-3 in the 2018-2019 PIAA quarterfinal and 2-1 in last season’s PIAA bronze-medal match. However, in an extremely tight match it was Stoltzfus who escaped for the gold-medal victory. Stoltzfus defeated Arciuolo 1-0 to win the 2020 PIAA state title.
The Panthers did win their other two medal-round bouts. Wrestling with a lot of movement and energy, Dane Csencsits (182) looked great on his feet to claim his first PIAA medal with a 3rd-place finish. And, Nick Warnke (285) pinned for his win to take 7th overall and earn a PIAA medal. A Saucon-sweep sure would have been nice, but two out of three medal-round victories certainly isn’t bad in the PIAA state championship medal round.
Matt Arciuolo faced off against Tyler Stoltzfus in the 2019-2020 PIAA gold-medal match.
Matthew Arciuolo (170)
- 2019-2020 Record: 44-2
- Career Record: 100-10
- Notables: 2x PIAA state qualifier, 2020 PIAA 2nd, 2019 PIAA 3rd, 2x SE Regional champ, 2x District XI champ
Championship Final
170 Matt Arciuolo Sr., Saucon Valley v. Tyler Stoltzfus Sr. (42-1) St. Josephs Academy.
- 1st Period
- The wrestlers went right at it and Arciuolo got in deep on a single-leg. Stoltzfus locked Arciuolo’s body and fought off the threat. After a restart, Stoltzfus got in deep with a head-inside-single near the edge of the mat that Arciuolo fought off. In the final minute of the opening period both wrestlers were able to block off any offensive threats.
- 2nd Period
- Arciuolo won the flip and deferred. Stoltzfus chose down with Arciuolo going optional-start and immediately conceding an escape-point to Stoltzfus. The match seemed to slow down a bit as Stolzfus operated mostly with a left underhook and Arciuolo controlling his right wrist. With about :20 seconds remaining Arciuolo turned the heat up by chaining together three or four consecutive shots. However, Stoltzfus avoided any serious danger. Stoltzfus led 1-0.
- 3rd Period
- With choice, Arciuolo chose neutral. Arciuolo is very, very good on his feet while Stoltzfus is simply a brute of a monster on top. During the first minute, the wrestlers battled in close quarters with Arciuolo again controlling the wrist as they circled. Stoltzfus kept Arciuolo on-guard looking for a left underhook and trying to control Arciuolo’s head. After a little blood-time stoppage about a minute in, Stolzfus countered an Arciuolo leg shot and threatened with a single-leg of his own near the edge of the mat, but Arciuolo fought it off as they went out of bounds. With a restart at :34 seconds, Stoltzfus was able to set a left-handed underhook to slow Arciuolo down. After another out-of-bounds restart at :16 seconds, Arciuolo finished with a flurry, but Stolzfus was able to defend and circle away. Stoltzfus defeated Arciuolo 1-0 to win the 2020 gold medal.
Saucon Valley senior Matt Arciuolo finished with a flurry of shots, but could not break through in his 2020 PIAA gold medal bout against Tyler Stoltzfus.
Dane Csencsits (182)
- 2019-2020 Record: 44-6
- Career Record: 140-47
- Notables: 4x PIAA state qualifier, 2020 PIAA 3rd, 2020 SE Regional champ, 2x District XI champ
3rd-4th Place
182 Dane Csencsits Sr., Saucon Valley v. Andrew Sharer Sr. (23-3) Penns Valley.
- 1st Period
- Sharer opened trying to go upper-body against Csencsits in the opening period, but Csencsits was able to create space and hit a single-leg to a fireman’s carry for the takedown. Csencsits was able to ride Sharer out for the balance of the one-minute, opening period. Csencsits led 2-0.
- 2nd Period
- Csencsits won the flip and deferred, Sharer chose down. Csencists let Sharer up about :03 seconds in. The two locked up with Csencsits setting an underhook with his right hand. After a few seconds of hand-fighting Sharer snapped a head-lock with his right arm and blasted Csencsits to his back. With both wrestlers desperately scrambling for about :10 seconds Csencsits was able to roll through and pull Sharer over onto his back. Sharer fought off his back and was able to escape. It was a thrilling opening :30 seconds to the second-period that made the score 7-6 in favor of Sharer. With both wrestlers on their feet, Sharer was trying to go upper-body and set in his hooks. Csencsits created space again and came up with a single-leg and converted near the edge of the mat with :30 seconds remaining. After a restart Csencsits again cut Sharer free with :25 seconds to go in the period. Csencsits came close to a takedown with another leg-attack, but was unable to convert. It was 8-8 as the wrestlers entered the final period.
- 3rd Period
- Csencsits picked neutral and it paid off. About :25 seconds in Csencsits snapped his level low and attacked Sharer’s leg and converted near the edge of the mat to take a 10-8 lead. The wrestlers went out of bounds. After a restart at 1:20, Csencsits cut him loose at 1:15. Csencsits shot and looked like he was going to convert, but Sharer was able to counter to threaten with a takedown of his own. Csencsits, however was able to win the scramble and finally convert for two-points with :30 seconds remaining. Csencsits was able to ride Sharer out and hold on for a 12-9, bronze medal victory.
Saucon Valley’s Dane Csencsits gets behind Andrew Sharer to seal his victory.
Nick Warnke (285)
- 2019-2020 Record: 44-8
- Career Record: 95-25
- Notables: 3x PIAA state qualifier, 2020 PIAA 3rd
7th-8th Place
285 Nick Warnke Sr. (43-8), Saucon Valley v. Keagan Braund Sr. (33-15), Athens.
- 1st Period
- It was scoreless opening period with a heavy dose of hand-fighting mixed with a little upper-body ties.
- 2nd Period
- Warnke won flip and chose down. Braund was able to return Warnke to mat twice before Warnke was able to escape to take a 1-0 lead with 1:30 left in the period. Both wrestlers hand-fought trying to get inside one another as they circled the mat. Warnke held a 1-0 lead to end the period.
- 3rd Period
- Braund chose down but Warnke rode tough on top working for an arm-bar. About :45 seconds in Warnke popped the bar behind Braund’s back, popped out in front and converted the arm-bar into a cement-job. Warnke pinned Braund at 1:05 for the win.
The Panthers’ Nick Warnke works toward a pin in his PIAA medal-round matchup with Keagan Braund.
Coach’s Quote:
“We are extremely proud of our kids and what they accomplished throughout the season. Sending ten wrestlers to the state tournament is an incredible accomplishment and the underclassmen got great experience down there and hopefully that will motivate them to work hard and improve in the off-season. We are going to miss this great senior class that had an incredible four years here at Saucon! We cannot thank the community and students enough for their support of this team throughout the year! Having a jam-packed bus of students making their way to Hershey this week was awesome!”
Saucon Valley wrestling coach, Chad Shirk
Great job Panthers, the Source is with you!
