Long one of my favorite days on the high school sports calendar, the D11 duals take place today at Freedom High School in Bethlehem. It’s the 20th anniversary of one of the most stunning duals I’ve ever witnessed – Easton’s 34-23 win over Northampton (who tied a record with four individual state champs that season) one week after losing the regular season finale 31-29, highlighted by current Phillipsburg head coach Brad Gentzle turning a 17-2 technical fall loss to John Paukovitz into a 7-5 win, and Easton won eight consecutive bouts to take a 31-3 lead. Easton went on to win the state dual final 43-12, while Northampton and their four state champs outpaced the Rovers in the individual tournament in March.
There will not be as much drama today. Since 2005 the top two D11 teams advance to the state tournament rather than winner-take-all, so it is possible (and very likely) that todays final we be rematched in Hershey. Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth are the consensus top two teams in the state, and did not dual in the regular seaon, so today will be a dress rehersal for the final, assuming everything goes to plan.
Bethlehem Catholic is ranked #9 in the country, fresh off of a 21-18 dual meet win over Malvern Prep. The Golden Hawks have three #1 ranked wrestelrs in the state – defending state champ Nate Desmond at 113 is also ranked third in the country, while 138 pounder Kollin Rath, a third place finisher at the state tournament last year, is ranked #6 nationally at his weight class. Both are sophomores. Their lineup has also been buoyed by their third #1 ranked wrestler – also ranked #1 nationally – in freshman Keanu Dillard at 106. Dillard fractured his orbital bone and required surgery, and he just joined the Becahi lineup last week as they were cautious bringing the all-world freshman back after his injury. Besides those three, Cael McIntyre is ranked #2 in the state at 133, and Jake Dailey, Andrew Harmon, and Luke Thomas are all ranked in the top 6 at 152, 160, and 172. Twelve of the thirteen Golden Hawks are ranked in the top 25 in the state at their weightclass, and seniors McIntyre (American), Dailey (West Point), and Harmon (Air Force) are all Division I commits.
They will likely see Nazareth in both the D11 and state final. The Blue Eagles came into the year with one of the most talented lineups in the country, but have been decimated by injuries in a way that has tanked their national ranking (most of their elite kids did not wrestle at their marquee events) but at least in some spots they’ve rounded into health for a run at state titles over the next month. For Nazareth, things start up top with returning state champions Sonny Sasso (220) and Sean Kinney (285). Sasso was the outstanding wrestler last year, knocking off national #1 Mac Stout to win at 189, while Kinney became the first sophomore to win a 3A state title at heavyweight and is on track to be the first ever 4x state finalst at heavyweight in Pennsylvania. Both are ranked in the top 5 nationally in their weight. Sasso, who was also the EPC Offensive Player of the Year as the Blue Eagles quarterback, missed the first three months of wrestling season with a broken hand and is still wrestling with a pretty significant cast that limits his grip strength on one hand. Kinney, an All State offensive tackle, was limited by an football ankle injury and missed the CV Kickoff Classic and Beast of the East, but is a virtual guaranteed victory in just about every Nazareth bout.
Beyond that, Nazareth has had to do it with depth rather than stars. Tahir Parkins came into the year ranked in the top 10 nationally at 121, but a torn ACL at Beast of the East ended his season. Noah Okamoto is a returning medalist at 189 and was preseason top 3 in the state, but a shoulder injury has limited him to three matches. Dominic Wheatley is their biggest gun still healthy, ranked #3 in the state at 172 after medaling at 152 as a junior. Charlie Bunting, third place in 2022, has had an up and down eyar against a tough schedule, but is talented enough to be amongst the state’s elite at 133. Jake Doone is their fifth returning medalist, and is a tough out at 145. They also have a trio of freshmen in twins Jack and Cade Campbell (138 and 152) and Brayden Zuercher (160) who have combined to go 59-19 in their 9th grade years and give the Blue Eagles depth through the middle weights. Uncharacteristically, they are weak from 106-127, which should allow Bethlehem Catholic to roll.
Outside of the top two, it will be the final dual weekend of the year for the state’s 6th and 7th ranked teams in Northampton and Easton. The Konkrete Kids beat the Red Rovers 29-28 on criteria (they tied at 28, but Northampton won 7 bouts to Easton’s 6) back in January. Unfortunately we won’t see a rematch unless each team upsets Becahi and Nazareth. Northampton is led by returning medalists and Division I recruits Carson Wagner (George Mason) and Dagen Condomitti (Oregon State) who are in the mix for state titles at 121 and 160. Wagner’s younger brother Trey has also had a fantastic year as a freshman at 127, where he’s ranked #9 in the state. It has been a promising season for the KKids under first year head coach Joe Provini, who had spent the previous 15 years as the top assistant at Nazareth.
Easton continues its rebuild and has put together a dual team that can really hold its own. They finished third at Virginia Duals, beating a series of New Jersey and Virginia powers before bowing out to national #2 Wyoming Seminary (who beat Nazareth in the final). Easton also knocked off likely District 1 champion Council Rock South for their 1,000th dual win in program history. The Red Rovers don’t have a state champ level star, but should send Nick Salamone (freshman – 106), Chris Kelly (sophomore – 121), Ben Fanelli (junior – 127), Oliver Fairchild (senior – 138), and James Geiger (junior – 152) to the state tournament with the first four real medal threats.
The final team to watch is Pottsville, who by power points was the top team in District 11, though the seeding committee dropped them to fifth, where they’ll see Easton in quarters. Pottsville will be without the services of state #1 at 160 Nick Kunstek, who is ineligible for the postseason after leaving Blair Academy to come back to his home school. Kunstek, a junior, is a transfer after his sophomore season, thus ineligible for the posteason. But the Crimson Tide has real depth in their lineup, led by Parrish and Terrell McFarland (152 and 170) who are both state caliber wrestlers (Terrell was the junior high state champ last year at 155 and is one of the better freshmen upper weights in the country). They don’t quite have the full lineup depth to beat the best of the Lehigh Valley teams in a dual, but they will be a handful come tournament time, even without Kunstek.
gamecocksonline.com
6abc.com