YATESVILLE – Tunkhannock, under the guidance of former Elk Lake standout and coach Bob Hegedty, added to its lengthy list of accomplishments this season by capturing the Class AAA title Saturday in the finals of the District 2 Dual Meet Wrestling Championships.

Tunkhannock defeated Scranton, 31-26, in the championship match at Pittston Area High School.

Montrose was the only Susquehanna County team to qualify for the event and wound up finishing tied for fifth place out of eight teams in the Class AA field.

Hegedty, a 1991 graduate, won four District 12 titles for Elk Lake. He returned to serve as head coach of the Warriors for three years before spending the last eight years building the Tunkhannock program up to where the Tigers have the strongest team in District 2 this season.

Tunkhannock won the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament and Division 1 regular-season championships. The Tigers have also won other tournaments throughout the season.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hegedty said. “I owe a lot to our kids.

“I really do have a good group of kids.”

Tunkhannock, which is 15-1 overall, opened the season by winning the Gary Woodruff Memorial Duals at Wyalusing. The Tigers have also won large events, finishing first out of 35 teams at the Sheetz Holiday Classic in western Pennsylvania, out of 26 teams at their Tunkhannock Kiwanis Invitational and out of 32 teams in the New Oxford Invitational.

The Tigers earned the home mat for the first two rounds of the district tournament where they crushed Honesdale, 69-3, in the quarterfinals and handled Delaware Valley, 47-23, in the semifinals.

Montrose went 1-2 in the Class AA tournament, knocking off a higher-seeded opponent.

The Meteors lost, 56-21, to host Meyers, the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champion, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. They bounced back to beat Scranton Prep, 58-21, in the consolation quarterfinals to advance to Saturday and the consolation semifinals.

Lackawanna League Division 2 champion Western Wayne eliminated Montrose, 46-21, in Saturday morning’s consolation semifinals.

Joseph Hester went 3-0 with three pins to lead the Meteors, winning twice at 106 Wednesday and wrestling at 113 Saturday.

Montrose produced five first-period pins in a span of eight bouts against Scranton Prep, the second-place team from Division 2 of the Lackawanna League, while turning a 12-4 deficit into a 46-15 lead. Colin Mondi (195), Robert Gregory (285), Hester, Chuck Rohan (120) and Jacob O’Brien (132) had the quick pins.

The Meteors jumped out to an 18-0 lead against Western Wayne on pins by Hester, Rohan and O’Brien at 113, 120 and 126.

LOOKING BACK

Montrose had tuned up for the District 2 Duals by winning a tournament.

The Meteors won their five matches by an average of 48.8 points January 30 while easily winning the title at the Northeast Bradford Duals.

Montrose topped Northeast Bradford, 49-17; Sugar Valley, 72-6; Mountain View, 62-6; Elk Lake, 54-12; and Sullivan County, 60-12.

The Meteors had eight wrestlers finish the day with the same 5-0 record that the team produced.

Cole Aukema, Mondi, O’Brien, Marc Avila, Makeela Fabrizio, Rohan, Mikyle Fabrizio and Hester all were unbeaten for the day.

Aukema, Mondi and O’Brien each had two pins in less than a minute. Avila, Makeela Fabrizio and Rohan also had a pair of first-period pins.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Lou Cella has informed the Montrose School District of his resignation after leading the Meteors to their first non-losing football season since 2002.

Montrose went 5-5 and captured the Bluestone Trophy for the first time by beating Susquehanna, 3-0.

Cella said he needs to focus on other aspects of life after devoting 20 years to coaching high school and college football. In his resignation letter, he said coaching at Montrose “by far, was the best experience of my 20-year coaching career.”

In boys’ basketball, Elk Lake and Montrose finished the week tied for the Lackawanna League Division 4 lead heading into their first-place showdown that was scheduled for Tuesday at Montrose.

First-half champion Elk Lake won twice and Montrose won once in the division to each reach 4-0 in the second half. Tuesday’s winner was set to clinch at least a tie for the second-half title.

Elk Lake defeated Susquehanna, 79-40, Feb. 2 before beating Lackawanna Trail, 71-55, Friday night.

Hunter Watkins scored 16 points, Seth Tewksbury 14 and Cole Tyler 11 to lead Elk Lake against Susquehanna.

Mason Deakin led the Sabers with 21 points and Garret Grausgruber added 10.

Bailey Newhart led the win over Lackawanna Trail with 30 points.

Newhart had 19 points combined in the second and third quarters when Elk Lake stretched a one-point lead to 56-40. Tewksbury had 17 points and Tyler 10.

Austin Smith scored 28 points Friday when Montrose rolled over Susquehanna, 70-41.

Adam Rockwell led Susquehanna with 10 points.

In girls’ basketball, Elk Lake improved to 4-0 by beating Susquehanna, 57-30, and Lackawanna Trail, 54-22.

Blue Ridge, first-half champion Forest City and Montrose all finished the with 3-1 records in the second half.

COLLEGE CORNER

Dallas Ely moved into second place on the school’s all-time scoring list while helping to keep the West Chester University women’s basketball team on a winning streak.

The 5-foot-9 senior guard from Montrose had 15 points, six assists and five steals Wednesday in a 78-65 victory at Bloomsburg University.

Ely has 1,499 career points, leaving her 57 short of Kiesha Mack’s school record.

West Chester has won eight straight to improve to 13-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and 16-5 overall.

Ely is shooting 87.0 percent from the foul line while averaging 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Lackawanna League basketball regular season comes to an end with girls’ games Wednesday and boys’ games Thursday.

Elk Lake is at Blue Ridge and Forest City is at Montrose in the Wednesday girls’ games that are most likely to have an impact on the title races.

The boys’ schedule concludes with Blue Ridge at Elk Lake and Montrose at Forest City as the highlights.

In women’s basketball, Ely makes one of her closest trips to home when West Chester plays at East Stroudsburg University Wednesday at 5:30.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com and followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

STEWART WILL BE OUT FOR MONTHS

Tony Stewart

The saga of Tony Stewart continues

Fate has dealt him another blow.

No stranger to adversity, Stewart's latest incident occurred in San Diego, California this past week while he and a group of other NASCAR drivers were riding and racing dune buggies. Stewart's buggy  flipped, causing him to sustain a burst fracture of the L1 vertebrae.

He was airlifted to a local hospital, then flown to Charlotte, where he underwent surgery.

Dr. Jerry Punch a former NASCAR reporter for ESPN and Emergency Room physician gave the following diagnosis of Stewart's injury and condition to NBC Sports.

“Unlike a compression fracture, where it sort of gets pushed down on itself, a burst fracture usually involves multiple fractures and multiple fragments,” he said. “Normally when someone has a burst fracture, you're talking months of healing, you're talking people wearing these big lumbar braces for two to three months.

“It's not like a broken arm where you can put a plate in it where you can deal with the pain and get in the car. With the back, it can impact your ability to walk and move the rest of your life. You can't take a chance on hitting something at all.”

The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion will not be able to return until an MRI or a CT scan shows that the bone has healed. He also will need to have rehab to strengthen his back if any of the bone fragments caused weakness to his spinal column.

Stewart had attended the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona over the weekend, before going to southern California with a number of racers including Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham, Rusty Wallace and drag racer, Don (Snake) Prudhomme. They were riding dune buggies when Stewart became separated from the group.

“We were riding these sand rails,” said Prudhomme. “We do that quite a bit. We were all together. What really happened is, it isn't hard to get split off from one another. In other words, if a guy makes a left turn and you're not watching his flags or there's dust or something, you can make a right turn and kind of get lost. So, we got mixed up and (Stewart) was probably missing for an hour-and-a-half from the pack.

“We figured maybe he got hooked up with one of the other guys. Then we stopped and kinda gathered up and started to shoot the bull and asked, 'Where's Tony?' One of the guys (on the dunes) came driving up and said, 'Hey, one of your buddies is hurt over on the other side of the hill.' There was about three of us who went back on our buggies and we came upon him. He was laying there. He got out of it (the dune buggy) and was laying there in the sand on his back.”

Jeff Gordon was with the group of drivers that found Stewart.

“He just kind of nosed in over a lip, not even going very fast,” Gordon said. “It was just one of those things that can happen out there. Nobody was racing. His car came over a dune and nosed down. These are awesome cars, very safe, six-point seat belts. He was wearing a helmet.”

The recovery period means Stewart will miss the beginning of the season. A timetable for Stewart's return has not been determined, but he is expected to make a full recovery. But in reading the fine print of Dr. Punch's statement about the nature of the injury, he may not be physically able to return to in 2016.

Nicholas DiNubile, a Pennsylvania surgeon, told USA TODAY that Stewart is “blessed to not be paralyzed” based on what he has heard and read about the accident.

Stewart had said about two weeks ago that once his NASCAR career was over, he planned to continue racing sprints.

This latest incident, or twist of fate might take Stewart out of the driver's seat forever. But then again, he has tempted fate all his life. It wouldn't surprise me to see him back in a race car, once he's cleared by doctors.

This is only the latest in a long string of mishaps, wrecks, and misfortunes the man has encountered. It almost makes you wonder if there is something inside that is pushing him towards self-destruction.

If that is the case, he is well on his well to accomplishing that goal.

THE OLD NASCAR IS GONE

As the eve of the 2016 NASCAR season approaches, racing fans can expect big changes. Teams return to Daytona this week in preparation for the Feb. 21st Daytona 500.

Today's NASCAR doesn't much resemble the type racing we were accustomed to in years past.

NASCAR calls it “a new fan experience.”

Due to lack of attendance, several tracks have torn down portions of their grandstands and added, “fan amenities.” It's suppose to make for a “better racing experience.”

All the newer and modern facilities are nice, but “who's gonna fill those old driver's shoes?” The ones that provided us with so much excitement.

Dale Earnhardt left us many years ago.

Bill Elliott retired.

So did Rusty Wallace.

Jeff Gordon left his No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet ride at the end of last season for a broadcast job.

Tony Stewart is probably finished.

One day, sooner or later, Dale Jr. will be gone.

Kyle Busch returns as a champion to join brother Kurt as NASCAR royalty. Kevin Harvick looks to retake his trophy while Jimmie Johnson might be tired of loaning out what once was his and his alone. Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano are currently the top names in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. You cannot go wrong rooting for the likes of a Matt Kenseth or a Greg Biffle, or admire the efforts put into the team led by Martin Truex Jr.

Michael Waltrip was all right, but sometimes things change, and I think Clint Bowyer deserves a little more recognition.

I like the cars to look like something I might drive, so thanks to the demise of the older style with the splitter.

Cars are also safer now. The tracks are moving that way. Bristol and Martinsville are two tracks that guarantee something worth watching. Too bad we cannot be so sure about a few of the others. It would be nice if that could somehow change. NASCAR has said the racing will be better after their latest tinkering with the cars, but we have heard that before. If those changes prove to be the real deal, that would be a change we could all live with.

But let's go back to the drivers? What will their replacements be like?

I know there are plenty of good, young drivers, many of them up and coming, like Chase Elliott. But will they be able to provide us with excitement and capture the emotions the way Chase's dad, Bill Elliott did?

Kyle Larson is one of the young driver's I'd like to see win. He seems to know when to make the right moves that take him to the front. He's not afraid to hang it out.

Ryan Blaney’s entry into full-time Cup Series competition will be met with anticipation and high expectations. Now, after several seasons of being groomed by Roger Penske and Brad Keselowski, Blaney joins forces with the Wood Brothers, who will run their first full Sprint Cup season since 2008.

As much as I dislike change, it is inevitable. Drivers age, retire and are replaced by a new generation. Faces are now encased in helmets and races are won by a matter of seconds, not laps, these days. In NASCAR nothing stays the same forever. And with that come pros and cons, but we all know that going in. It should teach us to stay flexible, no matter how it turns out.

Weekend Racing:

Sat. Feb. 13: ARCA ReMax Series; Lucas Oil 200; Time: 4:15 pm; TV: FoxSports1.

Sat., Feb. 13: NASCAR Sprint Unlimited; Time: 8 pm; TV: Fox.

The Sprint Unlimited is a 75-lap, non-points event, that kicks off a week before the Daytona 500. The race will be run in two segments with a competition caution at lap 25 dividing them.

Racing Trivia Question: What year did Dale Earnhardt win the Daytona 500?

Last Week’s Question: Who won the 2015 Daytona 500? Answer. Joey Logano.

You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.

Bailey Newhart

Bailey Newhart helped the Elk Lake Warriors to an unbeaten record and a title in the first half of the Lackawanna League Division 4 boys’ basketball schedule.

The senior shooting guard did not stop there.

Newhart immediately went to work on helping the Warriors begin pursuit of a second-half title that could make the team all-season champions in the division.

The senior fired in a season-high 34 points in the second-half opener, helping Elk Lake to its team scoring high as well in an 86-68 victory over Forest City.

Newhart finished out January with 75 points in the last three games, helping Elk Lake go 8-0 in the division and 8-2 overall. For his efforts, he is the latest Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month.

After leading the team in scoring last season, Newhart has increased his output on a more successful team that has two other players scoring in double figures.

Already a strong shooter, he hit the weight room in the summer to try to get stronger for drives to the basket.

“Against Forest City, I had (three) 3s and I got to the foul line quite a bit,” Newhart said. “I’ve had the shot for a while, I just had to work on getting to the hole and getting stronger.”

Newhart has been able to get to the basket more often lately. He also finished the month with seven straight games of at least two 3-pointers.

“I’m getting lots of help from everyone this year,” said Newhart, who averaged 17 points per game during January and is averaging 18 for the season. “We’re kind of spreading out the scoring.”

And, increasing it as well.

“We’re getting a lot more in transition,” Newhart said. “We’re averaging about 30 points a game in transition, which is a big change.

“A couple games in, getting used to our guys, that started happening. We like to get the ball off the boards and go.”

After seeing limited time as a sophomore reserve, Newhart moved into the starting lineup last season.

Newhart has also started the last two seasons on the Elk Lake soccer team as a left wing.

Bailey and his mother, Jamie Newhart, live in Meshoppen.