Home → Sports ( February 1, 2023 )
James Bixby's pin in the final bout at 145 pounds Friday night lifted Montrose over Blue Ridge, 42-33, for the Lackawanna League Division 3 wrestling title.
Both teams entered Friday, the final day of competition in Division 3, with a shot at the title.
Blue Ridge had to wrestle twice and also lost to second-place Scranton Prep. The teams were tied, 36-36, but Scranton Prep won on the tiebreaker for most forfeits received.
Even with that loss, Blue Ridge could have created a three-way tie for first place by beating Montrose.
The Raiders jumped out to a 12-0 lead on back-to-back pins by Nathan Oropallo and Kaleb Shimer at 152 and 160 pounds.
Montrose then took a 24-12 lead on pins by Jesse Rogers and Derrick DeMann at 172 and 189, followed by the first two of four forfeits the Meteors took advantage of to claim the championship.
Blue Ridge's Brice Woodruff won a decision at 107, but the other forfeits increased the Montrose lead to 36-15.
The Raiders gave themselves a shot by winning three straight bouts.
Memphis Collins and Jackson Maby sandwiched pins at 127 and 139 around Kameron Sheffer's win by disqualification at 133.
Those victories pulled the Raiders to within 36-33 before Bixby came through with the title-clinching pin.
Final standings are: Montrose 4-0, Scranton Prep 3-1, Blue Ridge 2-2, Elk Lake 1-3, Mountain View 0-4.
The Blue Ridge boys' basketball team had a 3-0 week, solidifying its hold on second place in Lackawanna League Division 4, but Forest City used its two wins to remain in first place.
Blue Ridge won its games by a total of 118 points.
The Raiders pounded Montrose, 58-23, in a battle for second place Jan. 24, then won at Lackawanna Trail, 82-33, Friday before winning a Saturday non-league game over Sayre, 75-41.
Connor Cranage scored all 19 of his points in the first half against Montrose, helping Blue Ridge to leads of 26-4 after one quarter and 45-9 at halftime. He also had 10 rebounds and six steals.
Dylan Bradley added nine points and 12 rebounds while J.J. Rosa dished out 10 assists and Carson Gallagher had six steals.
The Raiders took a 49-9 lead into the fourth quarter.
Lukas Cokely and Sam Stashko led Montrose with nine points each.
Cranage had 23 points and 10 rebounds against Lackawanna Trail.
Gallagher added 17 points while Dylan Bradley had eight points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Cranage broke loose for a career-high 37 against Sayre.
Bradley and Dalton Rutter added 12 each.
Forest City won twice at home, defeating Elk Lake, 64-38, Jan. 24 and Susquehanna, 56-50, Friday to improve to 7-0 in the division.
Dylan Bezek scored 18 points, Max Urbas 17 and D.J. Heath 15 against Elk Lake.
Wyatt Casselbury led the Warriors with 15 points.
Susquehanna, Elk Lake and Mountain View each picked up one win during the week.
The Sabers made it two straight wins before giving Forest City a battle Friday.
Colton Stone scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Jan. 24 in a 57-31 rout of Lackawanna Trail.
J.T. Burke had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Matthew Callender grabbed 11 rebounds and Cooper Payne scored nine points while dishing out eight assists.
Stone had 11 points in the third quarter when Susquehanna stretched its lead from 27-15 to 42-23.
Stone had 26 more points in the loss to Forest City.
Callender grabbed eight rebounds and Payne had six assists.
Elk Lake bounced back from its loss at Forest City to defeat Mountain View, 46-30, Friday.
Mountain View beat Lackawanna Trail, 60-46, between a 57-24 loss to Holy Cross and the loss at Elk Lake.
In girls' basketball, Montrose and Elk Lake each had 2-0 weeks.
Montrose defeated Lakeland, 76-48, Thursday, then Blue Ridge, 56-20, Saturday afternoon.
Mia Snyder scored 30 points against Lakeland, which hit 13 shots from 3-point range, but only scored twice from inside the arc.
Hayley Pompey (17), Paley Adams (13) and Mya Snyder (10) also scored in double figures.
The Lady Meteors broke the game open with a 19-6 third quarter for a 56-37 lead, then Mia Snyder finished off the Lady Chiefs with 14 fourth-quarter points.
Pompey had 20 points, Adams 16 and Mia Snyder 12 against Blue Ridge.
Kaelynn Brant and Ella Robinson scored four each to lead the Lady Raiders.
Elk Lake routed Forest City, 46-7, Jan. 24, then gave Montrose some breathing room in the division race by knocking off Mountain View, 43-42, in overtime.
Susquehanna and Mountain View also had wins during the week.
Lexi Iveson led the Lady Sabers in scoring in both their games. She had 14 in a 52-36 loss at Lackawanna Trail Jan. 24, then came back with 25 in Thursday's 43-36 victory over Forest City.
Haylee Herrmann scored 12 points and Kim Graham 10 for Forest City.
Mountain View won a non-league game at Holy Cross, 49-43.
Addison Kilmer had 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots.
Ryleigh Kilmer added 11 points and Vanessa Harvey had five assists.
Blue Ridge lost three times, also falling at Wyoming Seminary, 61-32, in a non-league game and against Lackawanna Trail, 68-39.
Mackenzie Schirg, who had 25 points for Lackawanna Trail when it beat Susquehanna, poured in 33 against Blue Ridge.
Emma Button had 11 points and Robinson eight for Blue Ridge.
Brant had nine points for Blue Ridge in the loss at Wyoming Seminary.
The Western New England women's basketball team, coached by Montrose graduate Nicole Chaszar, won both its games last week to improve to 8-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference and move above .500 overall at 10-9.
Chaszar has 270 wins in 18 seasons.
The District 2 Dual Meet Wrestling Championships are scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday.
As of Monday morning, the fields for the tournaments had not yet been finalized.
Montrose (10-8) has qualified to compete in the Class 2A tournament.
Blue Ridge (6-11) was battling with Scranton Prep (4-7) for the final spot in Class 2A.
After two rounds of action at four sites Wednesday, the championship match and last two rounds of consolations are set for Saturday afternoon at Pittston Area High School.
In girls' basketball, Lackawanna League Division 4 leader Montrose faces the two teams tied for second place back-to-back.
Montrose entered the week at 6-0 with Lackawanna Trail and Mountain View tied for second at 5-2.
The Lady Meteors are at Lackawanna Trail Thursday and home against Mountain View Monday Feb. 6.
In boys' basketball, division leaders meet for a non-league game Saturday when Forest City travels to Holy Cross.
Forest City leads Lackawanna Division 4 and the race for the top seed in the District 2-11 Class A Subregional playoffs. Holy Cross leads Lackawanna Division 3 and the District 2 Class 2A seeding race.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.