Grapplers take to tournament mats

1-7-26

By Corey Gesford
Area wrestlers found varied success during the holiday tournament season and an invitational
on the first weekend of the new year.
Montrose found the most consistent team success finishing ninth in both the Frank Wadas
Memorial Tournament held at Tunkhannock high school Dec. 29-30 and at the South Williamsport Invitational on Jan. 3.
Wyatt Steele led the Meteor effort at the Wadas capturing third place in the 152-pound weight class. Steele opened with two quick pins getting a 30-second fall in his opening match and a
46-second fall in his quarterfinal match. He then fell in the semifinals when he was pinned in the first period, but Steele rebounded in the third-place match with another quick fall needing only 36 seconds to claim the bronze medal.
Then, 107-pounder Sawyer Brander was the next most successful Meteor capturing fifth place.
Brander opened with a first period fall in the quarterfinals. However, in both the semifinal round
of the championship and consolations bracket Brander was first-round fall victim. He rebounded in the fifth-place match with a convincing 11-0 technical fall in the second period.
Corey Anderson finished sixth at 215 pounds, opening with a 57-second fall before falling in three straight matches. Anderson lost by technical fall in the quarterfinals and suffered a first
period fall in his next match and second period fall in the fifth-place match.
Three Meteors finished in seventh place – Delos Stone at 133 pounds, Carl Nolt at 139, and
William Frasier Jr. at 285 pounds.
Stone opened with 17-2 major decision loss, but rebounded with a first-period fall in consolation
round two. In round three Stone lost a narrow 8-7 decision sending him to the seventh-place
match where he finished his day with a 23-7 technical fall.
At 139 pounds, Nolt rode a roller coaster opening with a second period fall and then falling in the second period of the quarterfinals. Nolt bounced back with a fall at the end of the second period of his consolation round two match, but then fell in the first period of round three. He then came back with a hard fought 7-5 decision for seventh place.
Frasier opened with a second period fall to face Elk Lake’s Ethan Smith in the quarterfinal. Smith got the upper hand and delivered Frasier a first period loss by fall. In the consolation rounds split his first two matches – winning a second period fall and losing by fall in round three.
Smith came back with an 18-3 technical fall to capture seventh place.
Lucas Brookes and Jeffrey Kany each claimed ninth place at 145 and 189 pounds respectively.
Brookes bounced back from a pair of falls to earn a first period pin over Mountain View’s Hadyn
Barto.
Kany took a longer route. He opened with a first-period fall but was sent to the consolation round with a second-period loss by fall. He then was involved in a pair of quick matches winning
by fall in his first match before being taken down in the first period of his next match. Kany finished his day with a pin halfway through the second period.
At South Williamsport, Brander led the way for the Meteors finishing in second place in the
107-pound class. Needing only one match to reach the final, Brander opened with a win by injury default. In the championship he was taken down midway through the second period and lost by fall.
Steele had another strong showing at 152 pounds winning his opening match by fall early in the
second period. In the semifinal he lost by technical fall, but rebounded with a win by fall in the
consolation semifinals. Steele lost by fall in the second period to finish fourth.
Nolt finished fifth at 139 pounds. He opened with two wins – a 17-1 technical fall and a 40-second pin. Nolt then lost by fall in both the championship and consolation semifinals, but
rebounded to win the fifth-place match with a first period fall.
Stone finished sixth at 133 pounds by opening with a quick 33-second fall. However, in the
quarterfinals, he lost by fall in the first period forcing him to the consolation round. Stone picked up back to back wins in the consolation round, garnering a second period fall and
a 4-1 decision. In the consolation semifinals Stone lost by technical fall 20-4 and then was pinned in the first round of the fifth-place match.
Kany finished seventh at 189 pounds – getting a win by fall in between to losses and winning his
final match with a quick 30-second pin.
Elk Lake finished 14th at the Wadas Memorial and 10th at South Williamsport thanks in large
part to the efforts of Ethan Smith at 285 pounds.
At the South Williamsport Invitational, Smith won the class when he defeated teammate Nate
Thurman early in the second period of their championship bout.
Smith reached the final by pinning Montrose’s Frasier followed by a late first-period fall.
Thurman reached the final by earning a 5-4 decision in his first match followed by a pin at the
1:20 mark of his semifinal.
Colby Ruark added a fourth-place finish at 215 pounds for the Warriors. He opened with a first
period fall before being sent to the consolation bracket with loss by fall in the second period of
the semifinals.
Ruark won the consolation semifinal with a late first-period fall and then claimed the bronze
when he fell his opponent at the 2:41 mark.
Faith Tracy earned fourth-place at 107 pounds, falling early in the first period of the opening
match, then collecting a forfeit to reach the third-place match. There, Tracy suffered another first period fall.
Smith finished third at the Wadas also pinning Thurman in the second period of their finals
match up.
A fall of Frasier was Smith’s opening victory before a first-period fall of his own sent him to the
consolation round. Smith rebounded with another first-period pin to set up his match with
Thurman.
Thurman began his day with an early second-period fall in the quarterfinals. He then lost a 9-4
decision in the semifinals, but followed that with another second-period fall in the consolation
semifinals to set up his match with Smith.
Ruark finished fourth at 215 opening with a forfeit win, followed by a dominating 18-1 technical
fall in the first period of his quarterfinal match.
He then lost his semifinal match by fall in the first period, but got back on track with a 16-12
decision in the consolation semifinals. Ruark then lost by fall in the second period to finish
fourth.
Mountain View also participated in the Wadas Tournament. Two wrestlers finished ninth as Ada
Chamberlain bounced back from two opening losses to earn a first-period fall in the ninth-place
match at 127 pounds.
At 172 pounds Trey Hummel went 2-2, opening with a loss by technical fall. He rebounded to win his first consolation round match by technical fall 19-3, but lost another technical fall in round two of the consolation bracket. Hummel finished his day by picking up a first-period fall to earn ninth-place.
Blue Ridge went north for their holiday wrestling action competing in the Windsor Christmas
Tournament December 29 and 30. The Raiders finished 29th out of 38 teams in the highly
competitive tournament.
Ryder Hobart was the top finisher earning sixth-place at 190 pounds. Hobart opened with an
11-5 decision, but was defeated 8-1 in the quarterfinals.
Hobart won his first two consolation matches, earning a 10-2 major decision followed by an
early third-period fall victory. However, Hobart fell early in the second period of the consolation
semifinals and lost a close 12-9 decision in the fifth-place match.
Brice Woodruff went 3-2 over the two days to earn seventh place at 132 pounds. Woodruff
opened with an 8-5 decision victory, but lost by fall late in the first period of the quarterfinals. Woodruff won two of his next three matches by decision. He opened the consolation round with
6-5 decision, but was defeated 4-1 in the next round. In the seventh-place match Woodruff won
10-7.
At 172 pounds, Zach Krupovich rebounded from an opening 15-2 major decision loss to win
three of his final four matches to also earn seventh place. Krupovich opened the consolation rounds with a 11-5 decision win and won a close 10-9 decision the next round. After a 6-1 loss by decision, Krupovich closed out the tournament with a victory by fall at the 1:43 mark.