PLAINS — Cooper Price, Anthony Evanitsky and Outstanding Wrestler Jaden Pepe won individual titles Jan. 8 while leading Wyoming Area to its first team championship in the Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament.
Price and Evanitsky won back-to-back championships at 145 and 152 pounds early in the final round.
With his teammates having secured first-place in the team standings, Pepe then wrapped up the day’s activity in the 126-pound final, posting a second-period pin that led to his OW award.
Wyoming Area outscored Hazleton Area, 190½-183, for the team title.
Pittston Area scored 101½ points to finish seventh in the 11-team field. Tunkhannock did not participate because of a COVID pause for its team.
Pepe, Price and Evanitsky were joined in the finals by 189-pounder Connor Wrobleski and 285-pounder Nate Obrzut.
Wyoming Area was the only team with five finalists.
“They’re all hard workers,” said Pepe, a defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A state champion. “I’m proud.
“They go hard every day.”
Pepe and Price are unbeaten while Wrobleski, a three-time district champion, and Evanitsky, a freshman, came out of the conference tournament with just one loss on the season.
Wrobleski lost in the top match-up of the final.
Two-time District 2 Class 3A champion and returning state medal-winner Bryce Molinaro from Hazleton Area edged Wrobleski, 2-0, in a meeting of wrestlers who already surpassed the 100-victory mark for their careers earlier this season.
“I knew he was a tough opponent,” Molinaro said. “I knew what I had to do to win that match and I stuck to my game plan and it worked.”
Molinaro escaped immediately in the second period, then rode out Wrobleski in the entire third period, eventually tacking on a penalty point when Wrobleski was called for stalling.
While Wyoming Area had three champions, Pittston Area was one of three teams with two titlists.
Julian Everitt opened the finals with a 34-second pin for the Patriots and Jimmy Spindler won at 160.
Four of the first five titles were won by Greater Pittston wrestlers.
Evanitsky defeated Hazleton Area’s Devin Youngcourt by technical fall, 17-2, in 3:44.
Price then pinned Hanover Area’s Aidan Shamaski in 51 seconds.
Spindler shut out Lake-Lehman’s Mason Konigus, 5-0.
Pepe had a quarterfinal bye, then reached the final with an 18-8, major decision of Hazleton Area’s Jorven Rodriguez.
In the final, he built a 12-4 lead, then pinned Wyoming Valley West’s Ian Ratchford in 3:15.
Wyoming Area placed wrestlers in the top five in 10 of 13 weight classes.
Rocco Pizano, at 160, and Aaron Crossley, at 215, pinned opponents in the consolation finals to finish third.
Connor Novakowski (106) and Zach Sheridan (120) dropped decisions in the same round and took fourth.
Jonathan Stone was fifth at 132 pounds.
Pittston Area added a third-, fourth- and fifth-place finisher along with four wrestlers in sixth.
Dominic Innamorati was third at 145, Jonathan Healey was fourth at 113 and Dominic Bernardi was fifth at 120.
The Patriots placed Oscar Ciriaco (106), Kevin Roby (126), Sean Murphy (152) and Kevin Hower (189) finish sixth.
Wyoming Area followed up the conference tournament title by continuing its pursuit of a WVC Division 2 championship Wednesday with a 60-9 dual meet victory over Nanticoke.
