PLAINS TWP. — Minutes after Pittston Area nailed down its third Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament title, coach Dave Krantz pointed to more accomplishments on the horizon for his Patriots.

“I am super honored to be their coach,” Krantz said after the Patriots rallied in the final round to beat out Crestwood for the team title 159-158½ Jan. 4 at Wilkes-Barre Area. “We’re on track for the all-time school record – 22-6 was Pittston’s best year.”

The Patriots added a win during the week to improve to 12-1 in dual meet competition this season. They had a chance to add to that win total Saturday when they competed in the Rich Chulada Dual Meet Invitational at Honesdale.

“They continue wrestling with their hearts, their integrity and, most importantly, 100-percent efforts,” Krantz said. “ … If they put down 100-percent effort, we know everything else is going to take care of itself.”

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Tournament Outstanding Wrestler Brody Spindler and Dominic Innamorati won titles for the Patriots. Noah Gruber added a pin in the third-place bout at 285 pounds to lift Pittston Area into the lead for the only time in the day’s two final rounds, which ran simultaneously on adjacent mats.

Gruber’s pin came moments after Spindler had won the bout of the tournament by breaking out of a scoreless tie in the third period for a 6-2 win over Crestwood’s Lincoln Bibla.

“I had to run over to see,” Krantz said. “He ended up pinning him. I knew right away. I said, ‘OK, he just picked up five points’.”

That turned the Pittston Area wrestling team into fans of Wyoming Area heavyweight Nate Obrzut, who was just getting started in his bout with Crestwood’s Kyle Draina for the 285-pound title. By then, most Patriots understood that Draina needed to win and score bonus points – for a major decision, technical fall or pin – for Crestwood to catch Pittston Area.

Draina took a 4-0 lead in the second period, but could not turn Obrzut again and the score stayed there, four points short of a major decision.

“I came off the mat, got changed and when I got there, everybody from Pittston was saying, ‘don’t get pinned’,” said Spindler, who had just won a meeting of wrestlers who came in 33-3 with 26 pins combined.

Spindler had reached the final with three straight first-period pins.

Innamorati secured his title with a first-period pin in the 160-pound final.

Pittston Area, the only unbeaten team within WVC Division 1 duals, went 4-3 in the two final rounds while Crestwood was 3-7. Timothy Riefler won to take third at 114.

Wyoming Area, which got a title from Connor Novakowski at 127, was seventh.

Pittston Area’s seven finalists included second-place finishes by Tibor Toth (121) and Chase Baron (152) and fourth-place finishes by Jahiem Butler (127) and

“It was a team effort,” Krantz said. “This whole team – I’m super proud of them. What our coaches are throwing down, they’re picking up.

“We’re teaching techniques and they’re being very coachable. Every kid on this team is very coachable and it’s showing out there on the mat.”