Wyoming Area has developed, in recent seasons, into a wrestling program with a growing reputation for becoming much more formidable at postseason tournament time, both from in-season improvement and the presence of championship-contending individuals.
The Warriors may unintentionally be headed down the same path.
With two 20-win wrestlers sidelined by football injuries, the lineup may look different at tournament time than it will be to start the season.
Charlie Banishefski suffered a knee injury early in football season and Corey Mruk went out with a leg injury in the playoffs, making both unavailable for, at least, the start of the winter sports season.
A long football season that took a physical toll on some players has added other uncertainties to the final makeup of the wrestling squad.
“A lot of my wrestlers are three-sport athletes and a lot of them are still taking in the loss they might have had in the playoffs,” Warriors coach Jason Prokopchak said. “There are some key injuries and we’re still waiting for the dust to settle with some football players who haven’t yet reported to practice.
“We’ll be seeing more kids as time goes on, but there are some who are I don’t officially know if they are coming out or not.”
The Warriors still combine two other 20-win wrestlers from last season with three junior high champions making the move up to the varsity level, but those absences could reduce the team’s effectiveness in dual meet situations.
And, Prokopchak is hoping the strong connection between the football and wrestling teams can serve as an example. The football team still won its first 11 games and a regular-season division title, despite a steady stream of injuries.
“Charlie and Corey were both 20-plus match winners and both placed highly in districts,” Prokopchak said. “It’s very tough to replace the leadership and the output they had last year, but what we have to do, just as they did on the football team, is have our folks who were second in line come in and perform.
“As we talk about all the time, it’s not really how you start the year, it’s how you finish.”
Senior Jaryn Polit-Moran went 23-14 last season when he finished third in the District 2 Class 2A tournament at 190 pounds.
Junior Robin Wrobleski, at 152 pounds, and senior Jaryn Polit-Moran, at 190, are the top two returnees to begin the season.
Wroblewski went 27-11 a year ago and placed fourth in District 2 Class 2A at 138 pounds. Polit-Moran was 23-14 and fifth in the district.
The Warriors ended the 2017-18 season with seven wrestlers with at least 19 wins, but no others with more than seven.
From that successful group, two graduated, the two are injured and Corey Pierce transferred to Tunkhannock.
There is help in place, however.
Rocco Pizano (126), Connor Wrobleski (138) and Nasir Condry (190) all were junior high conference last year with Wrobleski following that up with an eastern national junior title in the summer.
Adam Signan (132) and Kyle Emsley (120) are back after picking up seven and six wins respectively as freshmen.
Junior 106-pounder Luis Lopez and senior 152-pounder Tyler Martin also have some experience.
Enzo Scotto-Diluzio and Vincent Bowers are expected to join the lineup at 152 and 182.
The presence of three-sport athletes creates early challenges for the Warriors, who open the season with dual meet tournaments on back-to-back Saturdays at Wyalusing and Towanda.
“I only get to see them a couple of months in the winter, but the skills they develop during the wrestling season, you see a vastly different wrestler when March comes around opposed to the beginning of December.”
The potential returns of Mruk and Banishefski could also help.
Mruk, 24-13 a year ago, is already a two-time district champion at 160. Banishefski was 21-13 and fourth at 145.
