Following the 44-21 Friday night loss to Notre Dame Green Pond, Saucon Valley quickly licked their wounds and got right back at it the next morning. The surly and soured Panthers half-heartedly welcomed the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers to town and then, after giving them a 56-15 pounding, showed them the door.
Wednesday night proved to be another quickie for Coach Chad Shirk and the Saucon Valley wrestlers.
It was another quick night of Colonial League wrestling on Friday at Catasauqua. And, it was another lopsided win for the Panthers. Once again, this one was pretty much over even before it got started. The powerful Panther wrestling program was spotted a 30 point lead along the way to a 54-18 victory.
Wednesday night at Salisbury, the Saucon Valley Panthers finally took the mat for their opening match of the 2020-2021 season. Originally supposed to kickoff in mid-December, the Panther season was pushed back due to COVID concerns.Â
The 2019-2020 Saucon Valley wrestling team qualified a school-record ten competitors into the 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.
Day 2 for the Saucon Valley Panther wrestlers at the 2020 PIAA individual state championships is now history. If nothing else, Friday's tourney was more bitter than sweet. Previously, on Thursday, wrestling fans saw three of Saucon's ten grapplers bow out of the double-elimination tourney. On Friday four more Panthers saw their season come to an end; three of them in the blood-round. With that being said, seniors Matt Arciuolo (170), Dane Csencsits (182) and Nick Warnke (285) are the only Saucon wrestlers remaining in the championships. Arciuolo and Csencsits continue their quest in the championship bracket while Warnke is fighting back in the consy's.
Day 1 for the Saucon Valley Panther wrestlers at the 2020 PIAA individual state championships is now in the books. Travis Riefenstahl (120), Chris Arciuolo (132), Jake Jones (138), Thomas Spirk (145), Ty Pfizenmayer, Ty Csencsits (160), Matt Arciuolo (170), Dane Csencsits (182), Braydyn Lugardo (195) and Nick Warnke (285) all qualified for the trip to Hershey last week at the Southeast Regional tournament. This weekend, the Panthers are looking for their 14th PIAA state champion in school history.
How sweet it is! Saucon Valley sent a school-record twelve wrestlers to the PIAA Southeast Regional tournament over the weekend. Of the Panther pack, four earned gold medals and five others advanced to the 2019-2020 PIAA state wrestling championships in Hershey next weekend. Nine state qualifiers to the PIAA tournament is another Saucon Valley school record!
If Notre Dame or anybody else within the District XI wrestling community had any ideas about getting a little payback from the Saucon Valley wrestlers for their outstanding dual- meet season, they were out of luck again this year. From start to finish, the Panthers as a team dominated the tournament crowning four champions and advancing twelve wrestlers to next weekend's PIAA Southeast Regional tournament. It is Saucon Valley's fifth consecutive District XI team title.
Saturday was a monumental and historic day for the Saucon Valley wrestling program. About fourteen hours after dropping in the 2020 PIAA state semifinals to four-time champion Reynolds, the Panthers had to regroup and face the Notre Dame Green Pond Crusaders in the blood round of the consolation bracket. Even though Saucon fell to Reynolds, they still had a chance to fight for a spot on the podium and be recognized as one of the top four teams in Pennsylvania.
