BR shines on LL mat championships

12-31-25

By Corey Gesford
In the annual Lackawanna League Championships, where size doesn’t matter as all wrestlers
compete in their class – irrelevant of their school size – one of the smallest schools in the league
shone brightly as Blue Ridge claimed a sixth-place finish in the field of 16 teams.
The Raiders were buoyed by two top three finishes as Aidan Tanzini finished second at 121
pounds and Brice Woodruff at 133 pounds.
Tanzini opened strong, collecting a first round pin followed by a 7-6 decision in the
championship quarterfinals.
He dominated the semifinal winning a 15-0 technical fall over Lackawanna Trail’s Matthew
Shaffer.
But Abington Heights’s Dakota Sandy would prove to be too much, ending Tanzini’s run in the
second period of the championship match with a 17-0 technical fall.
Woodruff, a returning District II champion and state championship qualifier wrestled at 133
pounds and opened with a first period fall and a 11-0 major decision.
However, Woodruff lost a 10-1 major decision in the championship semifinals, then regrouped in
the consolation semifinals where he earned a 19-3 technical fall.
In the third place match Woodruff caught Honesdale’s Sam Eisele and earned a fall at the 1:44
point of the first period.
Giovanni Annesi captured fourth place at 127 pounds losing a tough 7-5 decision.
Annesi battled back from an opening loss by fall to record a 32-second pin in the consolation
round followed by a 12-2 major decision. He collected a forfeit in the consolation semifinals to earn his shot for third place.
Three Raiders finished in fifth place. Dante Tanzini won a 10-7 decision to get the first fifth-place
finish.
Tanzini opened with 9-0 decision in the championship quarterfinals, but was pinned in the
second period of the semifinals and then lost a 10-0 major decision in the consolation semifinals
before regrouping and taking fifth place.
At 172 pounds Zach Krupovich opened with 12-0 major decision and then pinned Montrose’s
Lincoln Hobbs in the first period.
Krupovich then suffered a pair of losses losing by fall in the first period of the semifinals followed
by a technical fall loss in the consolation semifinals.
He regrouped to collect a pin in the second period of the fifth-place match.
Ryder Hobart rode the rollercoaster at 189 pounds. He opened the tournament with a 11-1
major decision loss in the quarterfinals but won his first consolation match with a second period
fall.
In the consolation semifinals Hobart suffered a second period fall and then won early in his
fifth-place match when his opponent was forced to withdraw due to injury giving Hobart an injury
default win.
Montrose finished tenth overall led by 107-pounder Sawyer Brander who finished second in his
class.
Brander opened impressively, collecting a 16-0 technical fall in the quarterfinals and making
quick work of his opponent in the semifinal, earning a fall in 29 seconds.
However, in the championship Brander was caught in first minute of the second period lost by
fall at the 3:02 mark.
The Meteors also got a fifth-place finish from 152-pounder Wyatt Steele.
Steele fought back from an opening round loss by fall in the second period, by winning his first
two matches in the consolation round with an early second period fall and 10-7 decision.
Steele then lost a 14-0 major decision in the consolation semifinals, but bounced back to take
down his opponent at the 3:45 mark to win fifth-place.
Two more Meteors earned trips to the podium with sixth-place finishes.
At 145 pounds Carl Nolt recovered from an early loss in the quarterfinals to win a 9-7 decision in
the consolation round followed by a 9-1 major decision over Blue Ridge’s Richard Lord.
But Nolt suffered falls in his last two matches getting taken down at the 1:45 mark of the
consolation semifinals and in the final seconds of the first period of the fifth-place match.
Corey Anderson finished sixth at 215 pounds for the Meteors.
Anderson opened with a second period fall only to fall in the first round of his next match.
Undeterred, Anderson collected a pair of second period falls before taking the fall in the
consolation finals.
In the fifth-place match Anderson got caught in the middle of the second period losing at the
3:18 mark.
Elk Lake finished 14th as Colby Ruark won the county another silver medal when he finished
second at 215 pounds.
Ruark opened the tournament with a pair of falls at the 1:29 mark in his first two rounds. He then
won a 6-2 decision over Wallenpaupack’s Tyler Gallo to earn a trip to the championship match.
In the second minute of the opening period Honesdale’s Levi Landry caught Ruark and earned
the fall at the 1;11 mark.
The Warriors’s Ethan Smith finished fifth at 285 pounds when he caught Mid Valley’s Devon Hill
for the second time on the day with a 48-second pin.
Smith opened with a pair of falls opening with a fall in the final minute of the first round and
pinning hill in the final minute of the third period in his second match to earn a trip to the
semifinals.
He suffered a fall in the semis and then lost a 5-3 decision in the consolation semifinals to set up
a rematch with Hill.
Mountain View also participated but had no wrestlers reach a place setting.