At 152, Pittston Area’s Chase Baron (top) pinned his Hazleton Area opponent Logan Pop with less than a second in the first period.
                                 Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

At 152, Pittston Area’s Chase Baron (top) pinned his Hazleton Area opponent Logan Pop with less than a second in the first period.

Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

<p>Alex Volovich of Hazleton Area Cougar (gray) is about to be dropped by Pittston Area’s Dominic Innamorati at 160 lbs. Innamorati took the bout for the Patriots.</p>
                                 <p>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader</p>

Alex Volovich of Hazleton Area Cougar (gray) is about to be dropped by Pittston Area’s Dominic Innamorati at 160 lbs. Innamorati took the bout for the Patriots.

Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Pittston Area won two straight matches in the District 2 Class 3A Dual Meet Wrestling Championships, but the second-seeded Patriots began and ended the event with losses and settled for fourth place in the eight-team bracket.

The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champion Patriots ended Wednesday’s two rounds of action on their home mat with a consolation bracket win and added another to begin Saturday’s action at Wallenpaupack.

“It was nice to host and have all the teams here,” Pittston Area coach Dave Kranz said of Wednesday’s first two rounds. “ … It’s been a great run this year.”

Wallenpaupack won the team title Saturday, beating Delaware Valley 38-17 in an all-Lackawanna League final. The same was true in Class 2A where host Honesdale rolled over Western Wayne 56-10 for the championship.

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Pittston Area is 19-5 and still has matches, including a rescheduled meeting with rival Wyoming Area Feb. 12, before going into the postseason for individual wrestlers, beginning with the District 2 Championships Feb. 21-22 at Wilkes-Barre Area.

Delaware Valley 44, Pittston Area 22

YATESVILLE – Delaware Valley won five of the first six bouts of the quarterfinal match that started at 139 pounds, building a 29-3 lead on back-to-back, first-period pins by Travis Walton and Jeremiah Segal at 172 and 189.

Pittston Area coach Dave Kranz was well aware that Delaware Valley was stronger than its seed would indicate. The Patriots were in turn weakened by going without Tim Riefler and Tibor Toth, a pair of 21-win lightweights, because of injuries.

“I’m trying to save them and get them ready for districts,” Kranz said. “It’s not worth it. We’re looking out for their interests in individual districts, regionals and states.

“We opted to sit them out and get them healthy.”

Matters got worse before the Patriots even took the mat.

“The coin toss was another key for them,” Kranz said. “If we had won the toss, I would had two moves I could have made to change some matchups.”

With the team win decided, Shawn Shimonis rallied from a 7-0 deficit and from being on the brink of being pinned for more than a minute at the end of the first period to give Pittston Area a second-period pin in the final bout at 133.

Mikel Roman and Jahiem Butler added technical falls at 107 and 127 for the Patriots.

Dominic Innamorati and Brody Spindler won decisions at 160 and 215.

Pittston Area 48, Hazleton Area 25

YATESVILLE – Pittston Area advanced to Saturday when it bounced back from losing the opener with Wednesday’s consolation quarterfinal victory.

Aiden Sweder (172), Spindler (215) and Noah Gruber (285) all won in under a minute. Innamorati (160) added another pin and Hazleton Area forfeited four weight classes.

Pittston Area 39, Abington Heights 25

Dominic Innamorati posted a pin a second before the first-period buzzer at 160 pounds to lead the way Saturday morning when Pittston Area won the consolation semifinal at Wallenpaupack.

Innamorati’s pin started a rally from an early 12-0 deficit.

Jahiem Butler (127) and Noah Gruber (285) added pins early in the second period, Brody Spindler (215) posted a shutout in his decision and the Patriots added three wins by forfeit.

Crestwood 40, Pittston Area 130

Thomas Stavitsky’s pin at 139 and Jacob Jeckell’s closing technical fall at 145 rallied Crestwood to its second win of the season over Pittston Area and into third place in the tournament with the consolation final victory.

Chase Baron and Dominic Innamorati got Pittston Area started with consecutive first-period pins in the first two bouts at 152 and 160.

Brody Spindler won his latest showdown with Lincoln Bibla 10-3 at 215 to improve to 2-1 in those meetings this season and give the Patriots a 15-11 lead.

Mikel Roman’s decision at 107 created another Pittston Area lead.

Jahiem Butler and Shawn Shimonis had pins at 127 and 133 to give the Patriots the lead for the last time at 30-28.