PLAINS TWP. — Brody Spindler emerged from the day’s closest championship battle with a victory.
With a lot of help from his teammates and a little more from his school’s biggest rival, Spindler also lifted Pittston Area to the boys team championship at the Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Wilkes-Barre Area.
The Patriots won by the slimmest margin possible in wrestling tournament team scoring, a half-point, 159-158½, over Crestwood.
Pittston Area trailed Crestwood most of the final round. Spindler’s title at 215 pounds was quickly followed by Noah Gruber’s pin in the third-place match at 285 to put the Patriots in front.
After Spindler cut the team deficit to a half-point with his 6-2 win over Crestwood’s Lincoln Bibla, Patriots coach Dave Krantz scurried from his corner chair on the far side of Mat 1 to get to the edge of Mat 2 just as Gruber, the last Pittston Area wrestler of the event, gave his team the lead.
Krantz, who had reviewed tournament scoring rules before the final so he could follow his team’s efforts to chase down the Comets, knew what the pin meant. Gruber added three points for the difference between third and fourth places and two more for a pin.
“I had to run over to see,” Krantz said. “He ended up pinning him. I knew right away. I said, ‘OK, he just picked up five points’.”
That turned the Pittston Area wrestling team into fans of Wyoming Area heavyweight Nate Obrzut, who was just getting started in his bout with Crestwood’s Kyle Draina for the 285-pound title. By now, most Patriots understood that Draina needed to win and score bonus points – for a major decision, technical fall or pin – for Crestwood to catch Pittston Area.
Draina took a 4-0 lead in the second period, but could not turn Obrzut again and the score stayed there, four points short of a major decision.
“I came off the mat, got changed and when I got there, everybody from Pittston was saying, ‘don’t get pinned’,” Spindler said. “I said, ‘what are you guys talking about’?”
Spindler had already done his part to make it all possible. He did so with an effort that led to his selection as Outstanding Wrestler.
In the night’s showcase matchup, Spindler and Bibla came in with combined records of 33-3 with 26 pins.
They pushed each other around the mat, on their feet, through two scoreless periods.
Spindler started the third period on bottom. He broke through on a reversal 43 seconds in, then turned Bibla for four more points late before Bibla got his two points on a reversal in the closing seconds.
“I knew it was close, but I didn’t think it was that close,” Spindler said of the team race.
Krantz, who never worried about exactly how the team points were accumulated as a championship wrestler or while coaching his wrestlers through past tournaments, decided he wanted to know exactly where the team stood as it tried to avoid a third straight WVC Tournament runner-up finish. He learned that not only did his Patriots trail by 10½ points going into the simultaneous finals and consolation finals, but they were 25½ behind in terms of maximum possible point total.
In short, they needed to win more bouts, earn more bonus points and gain every edge they could. They got a boost when a Crestwood wrestler took a one-point team penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for a uniform violation of pulling his shoulder straps down before leaving the mat.
“I said to our guys, ‘who knows what this might come down to’,” Krantz said. “It might come down to whatever and ultimately it came down to us being disciplined and not taking a team penalty point. We tell them, ‘no pulling singlets down; no throwing our head gear’. It’s just doing all those things right.”
The penalty point opened the door. Spindler and Gruber led the procession as the Patriots walked through.
The biggest win came at 215 because not only did Spindler score four team points, but he kept Bibla from adding 4-6 points to Crestwood’s potential total and clinching the championship right there.
“I just had to wrestle my own match and do whatever I had to do to win,” said Spindler, who reached the final with three pins in 1:23 or less.
Earlier in the finals, Dominic Innamorati gave Pittston Area its other title with much less drama, scoring a first-period pin at 160.
Pittston Area, the current WVC Division 1 leader in dual meet competition, went 4-3 in the two final rounds while Crestwood was 3-7. Timothy Riefler won to take third at 114.
Hanover Area won the two lightest weight classes with Chase Smith and C.J. Caines taking titles at 106 and 114 to lead the Hawkeyes to third with 110 points.
There were more close finishes down through the standings. Hazleton Area finished fourth of 12 by beating Wyoming Valley West by a point. That was the same margin by which Dallas took sixth over Wyoming Area. Wilkes-Barre Area was just a half-point in front of Berwick in eighth.
Other champions were Wilkes-Barre Area’s Carlo Salinas at 121, Wyoming Area’s Connor Novakowski at 127, Wyoming Valley West’s Louden Giza at 133 and Caleb Hoffman at 152, Nanticoke’s Treston Allen at 139, Dallas’ Troy Jones at 145, Lake-Lehman’s Jimmy Mitkowski at 172 and Hazleton Area’s Mason Marolo at 189.
WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
BOYS
Team standings
Pittston Area (PA) 159, Crestwood (Cr) 158½, Hanover Area (Han) 130, Hazleton Area (Haz) 110, Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 109, Dallas (D) 96, Wyoming Area (WA) 95, Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 84, Berwick (B) 83½, Lake-Lehman (LL) 62, Nanticoke (N) 39 ½, Tunkhannock (T) 13½.
Finals
107: Chase Smith (Hanover Area) pinned Chase Wilhelm (WA), 3:22. 114: CJ Caines (Han) pinned Nick Webb (Cr), 1:25. 121: Carlo Salinas (Wilkes-Barre Area) dec. Tibor Toth (PA), 15-7. 127: Conner Novakowski (WA) dec. Tyler Youngcourt (Haz), 11-4. 133: Louden Giza (Wyoming Valley West) by medical forfeit over Sawyer Keller (Berwick). 139: Treston Allen (N) dec. Jeff Peck (Han), 16-5. 145: Troy Jones (Dallas) pinned Michael Perez (Han), 3:29. 152: Caleb Hoffman (WVW) tech. fall over Chase Baron (PA), 18-1, 3:45. 160: Dominic Innamorati (PA) pinned Brock Simms (Berwick), 1:31. 172: Jimmy Mitkowski (LL) dec. Hunter Pitcavage (Dallas), 14-3. 189: Mason Marolo (Hazleton Area) pinned Nathan Wisniewski (Cr), 0:28. 215: Brody Spindler (PA) dec. Lincoln Bibla (Cr), 6-2. 285: Kyle Draina (Cr) dec. Nate Obrzut (WA), 4-0.
Consolation finals
107: Luke Pollard (WBA) pinned Dylan Bellas (Crestwood), 0:40. 114: Timothy Riefler (PA) pinned Jayson Sanchez (WBA), 2:24. 121: Anson Jumper (Cr) dec. Ethan Noe (HAN), 9-5. 127: Derek Warman (Han) dec. Jahiem Butler (Pittston Area), 17-3. 133: Jude Salko (Haz) pinned Connor Higgins (LL), 2:23. 139: Conner Roberts (B) pinned Jacob Jeckell (Cr), 3:57. 145: Simon Zamudio (Haz) dec. Thomas Stavitzski (Cr), 13-3. 152: Logan Pop (Haz) pinned Hunter Konshnick (Cr), 2:52. 160: Robert Booth (D) dec. Sam Kelley (D), 12-4. 172: Mariusz Bibla (Cr) dec. Gene Ardo (WBA), 8-6. 189: Reilley Kirkutis (LL) dec. Jordan Sachs (WVW), 4-0. 215: Gunner Giza (WVW) pinned Owen Atkins (N), 2:18. 285: Noah Gruber (PA) pinned Altamir Terry (WBA), 1:09.
GIRLS
Team standings
Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 146, Nanticoke (N) 142½, Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 89½; Hanover Area (Han) 89, Crestwood (Cr) 87, Hazleton Area (Haz) 69½, Berwick (B) 36, Wyoming Area (WA) 21, Dallas 0.
Finals
100: Claire Gyle (Han) pinned Morgan Osburn (Han), 0:22. 106: Santina Saraka (Han) pinned Ariel Chu (WVW), 0:18. 112: Penelope Serrano (N) pinned Kelianet Hernandez (Han), 2:48. 118: Isabella Seip (WVW) dec. Emily Kivler (N), 6-1. 124: Rachel Shoemaker (Cr) pinned Shaniece Brown (Haz), 0:54. 130: Lynzee Andreuzzi (Haz) dec. Kaidence Ankner (Han), 8-3. 136: Miah Molinaro (Haz) pinned Hope Burke (WBA), 1:09. 170: Sierra Ripka (N) pinned Maura Oley (WBA), 0:55. 190: Taydem Sanchez (WBA) pinned Michelle Pastuizaca (N), 2:13.
Other champions
(Weight classes of 2-3)
142: Elizabeth Kus (N). 148: Jacqueline Hernandez (WBA). 155: Brooke Long (WVW). 235: Keira Landmasser (N).
Consolation finals
100: Giavanna Yannone (B) pinned Matilda Serrano (N), 1:48. 106: Aubrielle Leon (WBA) pinned Zeta Lord (WA), 0:46. 112: Rihanna Garcia (WBA Girls) F Keira Long (WVW Girls), 1:41. 118: Savannah Wisneski (B) pinned Kaiden Mcfarland (Haz), 0:18. 124: Kayla Torres (Haz) pinned Ava Finn (WBA), 4:59. 130: Anaiyah Edwards (WBA) pinned Angie Hernandez (WBA), 0:18. 136: Emma Selfe (Cr) pinned Kimberly Ramirez (Haz), 3:55. 170: Giavonna Chapman (WA) pinned Angelina Rivera (B), 0:23. 190: Jailah Gil (Cr) dec. Sariya Edwards (WVW), 9-1.
The post Pittston Area narrowly edges Crestwood for WVC wrestling crown appeared first on Times Leader.