First Posted: 1/2/2015
TUNKHANNOCK – Charles Johnson learned an important lesson – and still got to walk away with an unbeaten record and a significant tournament championship.
The Wyoming Area junior said he was too defensive in protecting a lead in the 126-pound final Tuesday but managed to win the title in the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament, which drew a 26-team field and is consistently a good midseason test for those with major postseason aspirations.
“This is a big tournament every year,” said Johnson, a defending District 2 Class AA champion, who also finished third at 126 pounds in the Northeast Regional to qualify for the state tournament as a sophomore. “It’s tough to win it. I know that. I took third here last year.
“It’s not the easiest thing to win this tournament, so it definitely gets you ready for the postseason.”
Johnson may approach a big postseason match differently after escaping with a 7-6 victory over Chris Scorcese from Cranford, N.J. in the final.
Protecting, rather than trying to add to, a 7-0 lead nearly proved costly. Scorcese put Johnson on his back and Johnson was penalized a point for fleeing the mat.
“I got sloppy at the end; very sloppy,” Johnson said. “I wrestled more at the end not to lose, instead of wrestling to win.”
Johnson, who led a strong team effort that saw the Warriors place fifth, said he will have a revised strategy in the future.
“I’ll approach that differently and wrestle to win all the time,” he said.
Not all of Johnson’s lessons come while he is on the mat.
“I like to watch other people,” said Johnson, who studies matches of other top wrestlers for more than just scouting reports on potential future opponents. “You pick up on some different moves that maybe you haven’t seen before or maybe they do something a little different with a move.
“I like to study different people. I’ll watch matches of different kids who wrestle and look them up online.”
Johnson has improved on his feet this year, picking up speed on taking his shots and defending better against the single-leg takedown. He also thinks he is getting better in working out from the bottom, but wants to continue working on top, bottom and neutral skills as the season progresses.
After opening the season with a title in the Saucon Valley Invitational, Johnson (11-0) entered the Kiwanis Tournament with three straight pins that involved a total of less than five minutes on the mat. He had to work a little harder in Tunkhannock, pinning Northeast Bradford’s Casey Ellis in 2:30 before being taken the distance in three straight matches.
Johnson defeated Wyoming Seminary’s P.J. Crane, who he has practiced against in the past, 5-2, before handling James Fayocavitz, a District 2 Class AAA third-place finisher last season from Abington Heights, 16-3.
The last six Warriors to take the mat in the two-day event all won medal-round matches and Wyoming Area had wrestlers in half of the 14 weight classes place in the top eight.
Jude Polit-Moran lost in the 170-pound semifinals, but came back with two straight wins, beating Sayre’s James Harbst, 9-7, for third place.
Wyoming Area finished with 112.5 points. Wyalusing beat out Cranford, 241-197.5, for the title. Tunkhannock was third with 165 and Coughlin was fourth with 141.
Wyoming Seminary, Lake-Lehman and Western Wayne were among the 21 teams that Wyoming Area outscored.
Patrick Heck (132), Zachary Briggs (152) and Frank Yurek (220) all joined Johnson and Polit-Moran by making it through the first day unbeaten to reach the semifinals. Those three each finished fifth.
Adam Buczynski took seventh at 160 pounds and Tyler Vince was eighth at 106.
Yurek’s semifinal loss came by pin against Scranton Prep’s Thor Balavage, an Avoca resident who went on to finish second.
Buckskin Classic
Pittston Area’s Jake Vaxmonsky won four bouts Dec. 27-28 to take the 220-pound title in the Bucksin Classic at Conestoga Valley High School.
Vaxmonsky (9-2) was challenged in his first bout.
After receiving a first-round bye, Vaxmonsky battled to a 5-3 decision over eventual third-place finisher Will Dawson from Owen J. Roberts.
Vaxmonsky then pinned two straight opponents to reach the final where he defeated Northern Lebanon’s Matt Vines, 10-5, in overtime.
Jon Armitage placed sixth for the Patriots at 195 pounds.
Wrestling with a limited lineup, Pittston Area finished 21st in the 25-team event, but first among the three Wyoming Valley Conference teams, placing ahead of Dallas and Crestwood.
Owen J. Roberts outscored Exeter, 206-185, for the team title.
Schedule
The Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Lake-Lehman but first there will be some significant dual meets in the conference.
Pittston Area, which is scheduled to be at Coughlin Saturday night in a meeting of 1-0 WVC Division 1 teams, is at Wyoming Valley West Wednesday in a rematch of some of last season’s biggest battles. Wyoming Valley West won the division title with Pittston Area finishing second before the Spartans also beat the Patriots in the District 2 Class AAA Dual Meet Tournament final.
Wyoming Area is at Hanover Area Wednesday in the WVC Division 2 opener for both teams.
