#19 Easton vs. #2 Nazareth
107: #8 Noah Fenner (Fr.) vs. Derek Fulmer (So.)/Michael Good (Fr.)
114: #8 Nick Salamone (So.) vs. #16 Remy Trach (Jr.)
121: Ethan Krazer (Fr.) vs. #16 Cooper Wenrich (Fr.)
127: Ben Riehl (Sr.)/Evan Carss (Fr.)/Brendan Bowman (Jr.) vs. #24 Dom Rizzotto (Sr.)
133: #7 Chris Kelly (Jr.) vs. Dominic Tunison (So.)
139: #4 Ben Fanelli (Sr.) vs. #1 Tahir Parkins (Jr.)
145: Jaron Trimmer (Sr.) vs. #8 Jack Campbell (So.)
152: #17 Quentin Hammerstone (Jr.) vs. #13 Cade Campbell (So.)
160: ??? vs. Elijah Simak (So.)
172: Justin Cosover (Fr.) vs. #12 Brayden Zuercher (So.)
189: #20 Shae Linegar (Jr.) vs. Vincent Giacobbe (Jr.)
215: Kurtis Crossman (So.) vs. Carter Ferrara (So.)
285: Isaih Cabin (Jr.) vs. #1 Sean Kinney (Sr.)
Massive dual in Nazareth tonight as the Blue Eagles host Easton in a matchup of top 20 teams in the state. In his preview for Lehigh Valley Live, Brad Wilson noted that a successful season for Easton means ending two of the major losing streaks that they have against top competition in the Valley – Nazareth, Northampton, Bethlehem catholic, and Phillipsburg. This is their first chance to show the program is really back and a crack and ending a bitter 10 match losing streak to the Blue Eagles.
This is one of the best rivalries in all of his school sports, with the two elite, national caliber wrestling programs sharing a border. They met for the 2007 PIAA Team State championship, won by Nazareth one week after Easton knocked them off for a D11 title. Easton also won one of the wildest state championships ever in 1997 (pre State Duals) by beating Nazareth by 1.5 points, crowning 3 state champs to Nazareth’s 2 in the final session, punctuated by a Jamarr Billman pin (2 extra team points) that put them over the top to win the title. These schools have produced great individual rivalries, including Moss Grays-Mike Miller, Andy Cote-Jamarr Billman/Bryan Snyder, Chris Vitale-Chris Kelly, Tim Darling-Josh Oliver, Jimmy Saylor-Travis Stefanik, and most recently, Matt Cruise-Sean Kinney.
We’ll see if this one gets wrestled straight up, as Easton needs to account for missing state qualifier James Geiger at 160, who won’t be back until January, but would likely bet #12 in the state rankings if healthy based on head-to-head wins. They don’t have a true back-up there, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lineup shuffle that gets maybe Riehl and Carss at 127 and 133 and Kelly, Fanelli, Trimmer, and Hammerstone all go up to cover the hole. This is also an assumption that Cosover will be able to get to 172 as Jody Karam guaranteed they’d field a full lineup for tonight. Cosover is coming off of football season and entered the first tournament of the year up at 189.
For Easton to win, they need to dominate spots where they have advantages. Fenner needs a fall in his first dual in a Red Rover singlet. Salamone-Trach is close in the state rankings, but Salamone majored Trach twice last year and needs at least that here. If Kelly stays at 133, he needs a fall against the sophomore Tunison, I also wouldn’t mind seeing Carss there to win a battle of 9th graders. Linegar looked awesome at Top Hat, he needs to continue that here, and Crossman nearly pinned his way through the backside of that tournament on his way to a bronze medal, a fall at 215 is paramount.
The high end match-ups seem to favor Nazareth, but could be a lot of fun. Fanelli-Parkins has the ability to be a D11, NE regional, and state final. Parkins is more talented, but can turn in head scratchers sometimes, while Fanelli is about as steady as they come. Hammerstone had a breakout performance last weekend, he’s a favorite against the dangerous Simak if he’s at 160 and probably has the bout of the night with Campbell if he stays at 152. Cosover has a lot of hype around him in local circles, how does he hang with last year’s upperweight freshman everybody was excited about in Zuercher, who largely lived up to the hype and made the state tournament as a 9th grader. That could be a beautiful little rivalry for the next three years.
On the Nazareth side, they have to take the coin tosses. Campbell-Hammerstone or Campbell-Finelli is going to happen, and whichever one does needs to go Nazareth’s way. Rizzotto isn’t a star, but needs to come through against whichever Easton kid they throw out. Wenrich and Krazer are both 9th graders, with Wenrich better on paper, but young kids react way differently in sold out duals like this one will be. Simak is a pinner, can he make a real statement in his first big varsity dual after an “eh” CV Kickoff, particularly without having to match up with Geiger. Jack Campbell either needs to hammer Trimmer, or use his weight advantage in a big time match up with Fanelli. Kinney for 6 is pretty much automatic.
I don’t think this will be the only time these teams meet. This is the deepest Easton team since the Steve Powell years, and while I think they’re a year away from some guys competing for state championships (save for Fenner in a wide open 107), they have a lot of kids who are state caliber. Nazareth is less deep than they’ve been the past five years, but have a few monsters in Kinney and Parkins. I think Nazareth probably takes round 1, but it’s fun that it’s a conversation again.
107: #8 Noah Fenner (Fr.) vs. Derek Fulmer (So.)/Michael Good (Fr.)
114: #8 Nick Salamone (So.) vs. #16 Remy Trach (Jr.)
121: Ethan Krazer (Fr.) vs. #16 Cooper Wenrich (Fr.)
127: Ben Riehl (Sr.)/Evan Carss (Fr.)/Brendan Bowman (Jr.) vs. #24 Dom Rizzotto (Sr.)
133: #7 Chris Kelly (Jr.) vs. Dominic Tunison (So.)
139: #4 Ben Fanelli (Sr.) vs. #1 Tahir Parkins (Jr.)
145: Jaron Trimmer (Sr.) vs. #8 Jack Campbell (So.)
152: #17 Quentin Hammerstone (Jr.) vs. #13 Cade Campbell (So.)
160: ??? vs. Elijah Simak (So.)
172: Justin Cosover (Fr.) vs. #12 Brayden Zuercher (So.)
189: #20 Shae Linegar (Jr.) vs. Vincent Giacobbe (Jr.)
215: Kurtis Crossman (So.) vs. Carter Ferrara (So.)
285: Isaih Cabin (Jr.) vs. #1 Sean Kinney (Sr.)
Massive dual in Nazareth tonight as the Blue Eagles host Easton in a matchup of top 20 teams in the state. In his preview for Lehigh Valley Live, Brad Wilson noted that a successful season for Easton means ending two of the major losing streaks that they have against top competition in the Valley – Nazareth, Northampton, Bethlehem catholic, and Phillipsburg. This is their first chance to show the program is really back and a crack and ending a bitter 10 match losing streak to the Blue Eagles.
This is one of the best rivalries in all of his school sports, with the two elite, national caliber wrestling programs sharing a border. They met for the 2007 PIAA Team State championship, won by Nazareth one week after Easton knocked them off for a D11 title. Easton also won one of the wildest state championships ever in 1997 (pre State Duals) by beating Nazareth by 1.5 points, crowning 3 state champs to Nazareth’s 2 in the final session, punctuated by a Jamarr Billman pin (2 extra team points) that put them over the top to win the title. These schools have produced great individual rivalries, including Moss Grays-Mike Miller, Andy Cote-Jamarr Billman/Bryan Snyder, Chris Vitale-Chris Kelly, Tim Darling-Josh Oliver, Jimmy Saylor-Travis Stefanik, and most recently, Matt Cruise-Sean Kinney.
We’ll see if this one gets wrestled straight up, as Easton needs to account for missing state qualifier James Geiger at 160, who won’t be back until January, but would likely bet #12 in the state rankings if healthy based on head-to-head wins. They don’t have a true back-up there, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lineup shuffle that gets maybe Riehl and Carss at 127 and 133 and Kelly, Fanelli, Trimmer, and Hammerstone all go up to cover the hole. This is also an assumption that Cosover will be able to get to 172 as Jody Karam guaranteed they’d field a full lineup for tonight. Cosover is coming off of football season and entered the first tournament of the year up at 189.
For Easton to win, they need to dominate spots where they have advantages. Fenner needs a fall in his first dual in a Red Rover singlet. Salamone-Trach is close in the state rankings, but Salamone majored Trach twice last year and needs at least that here. If Kelly stays at 133, he needs a fall against the sophomore Tunison, I also wouldn’t mind seeing Carss there to win a battle of 9th graders. Linegar looked awesome at Top Hat, he needs to continue that here, and Crossman nearly pinned his way through the backside of that tournament on his way to a bronze medal, a fall at 215 is paramount.
The high end match-ups seem to favor Nazareth, but could be a lot of fun. Fanelli-Parkins has the ability to be a D11, NE regional, and state final. Parkins is more talented, but can turn in head scratchers sometimes, while Fanelli is about as steady as they come. Hammerstone had a breakout performance last weekend, he’s a favorite against the dangerous Simak if he’s at 160 and probably has the bout of the night with Campbell if he stays at 152. Cosover has a lot of hype around him in local circles, how does he hang with last year’s upperweight freshman everybody was excited about in Zuercher, who largely lived up to the hype and made the state tournament as a 9th grader. That could be a beautiful little rivalry for the next three years.
On the Nazareth side, they have to take the coin tosses. Campbell-Hammerstone or Campbell-Finelli is going to happen, and whichever one does needs to go Nazareth’s way. Rizzotto isn’t a star, but needs to come through against whichever Easton kid they throw out. Wenrich and Krazer are both 9th graders, with Wenrich better on paper, but young kids react way differently in sold out duals like this one will be. Simak is a pinner, can he make a real statement in his first big varsity dual after an “eh” CV Kickoff, particularly without having to match up with Geiger. Jack Campbell either needs to hammer Trimmer, or use his weight advantage in a big time match up with Fanelli. Kinney for 6 is pretty much automatic.
I don’t think this will be the only time these teams meet. This is the deepest Easton team since the Steve Powell years, and while I think they’re a year away from some guys competing for state championships (save for Fenner in a wide open 107), they have a lot of kids who are state caliber. Nazareth is less deep than they’ve been the past five years, but have a few monsters in Kinney and Parkins. I think Nazareth probably takes round 1, but it’s fun that it’s a conversation again.