Wrestling showdown looming

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

matchup between state champions from Pennsylvania and New Jersey will highlight tonight's finals at the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic at Liberty High School.

Pen Argyl's second-seeded Mikey Racciato, a 135-pound PIAA Class 2A champ, meets Camden Catholic's top-seeded TJ Miller, an NJSIAA champ at 135 pounds, in the 145-pound final. Racciato was 48-2 last season; Miller went 43-0. Both are juniors.

Racciato is one of two Pen Argyl finalists. Top-seeded Dylan Evans advanced at 182 pounds with a 4-1 semifinal win over Bound Brook's Evan Picado.

For Nazareth, 103-pounder Tyrone Klump and 126-pounder Chase Zemenak are surprise finalists – at least according to the seeds. Klump entered the tournament unseeded while Zemenak is the seventh seed. Wyoming Seminary is on track to outpoint Nazareth for the team title.

Host Liberty also advanced two to the finals – 120-pounder Grimaldi Gonzalez and 132-pounder Devon Lotito.

Other District 11 finalists include: Stroudsburg's Guesseppe Rea (113); Northampton's Jason Stephen (128) and Cole Sheptock (152); and Saucon Valley's Ray O'Donnell III (195).

The consolation finals are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., with the championship finals tentatively set for 7.

TEAM SCORES

(Through semifinals)

1. Wyoming Seminary (WS) 208.5, 2. Camden Catholic (CC) 127, 3. Nazareth (Na) 126, 4. Delaware Valley (DV) 111, 5. Stroudsburg (St) 109.5, 6. Pen Argyl (PA) 105.5, 7. Northampton (Nor) 103.5, 8. Tri-Valley (TV) 103, 9. Saucon Valley (SV) 97.5, 10. Liberty (Li) 97, 11. Phillipsburg (Pb) 96, 12. Big Spring (BS) 95, 13. Bound Brook (BB) 88, 14. Southern Regional (SR) 84.5, 15. Quakertown (Q) 66.5, 16. Council Rock South (CRS) 64, 17. Northern (N) 62, 18. Milton (Mi) 57.5, 19. Honesdale (Ho) 57, 20. North Penn (NP) 56, 21. Freedom (Fr) 55, 22. Boyertown (Bo) 50, 23. Northwestern (Nw) 41, 24. Selinsgrove (Se) 40, 25. Hazleton (Ha) 39, 26. Lehighton (Le) 38, 27. Pennridge (Pe) 37, 28. Northern Lehigh (NL) 35, 29. St. Mark's (SM) 34, 30. Warwick (NL) 31.5.

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

106: Scotty Parker (Pe) DEC Danny Martoccio (CRS) 5-0, Tyrone Klump (Na) DEC Collyn Dorney (Q) 3-0.

113: Joey OBrien (NP) DQ Kyle Davis (SR) 2:59, Guesseppe Rea (St) DEC Robert Murray (BB) 3-2.

120: Billy Rappo (CRS) FALL Frank Carrozza (DV) 3:37, Grimaldi Gonzalez (Li) DEC Evan Botwin (WS) 4-2.

126: Dom Malone (WS) FALL Hunter Harner (TV) :42, Chase Zemenak (Na) MD Max Elling (Pb) 13-4.

132: Devon Lotito (Li) MD Dustin Rook (BS) 10-1, CJ Palmer (DV) MD Jim Schuitema (Pb) 16-2.

138: Chad Walsh (CC) MD Tyler Seislove (Q) 13-4, Jason Stephen (Nor) DEC Ty White (WS) 8-5.

145: T.J. Miller (CC) MD Emmanuel Soto (BB) 12-4, Mikey Racciato (PA) DEC Zach Ross (N) 8-3.

152: Cohl Fulk (WS) MD Frank Varallo (CC) 12-4, Cole Sheptock (Nor) DEC Ryan Preisch (Mi) 7-2.

160: Sam Scheib DEC Cody Schoenbeger (Wa) 6-3, Jon Neiman (Bo) DEC Isaiah Soto (BB) 5-0.

170: Eric Morris (WS) TF Cody Seibert (BS) 16-0 1:53, Marc Wagner (DV) DEC Donald English (Mi) 10-5.

182: Dylan Evans (PA) DEC Ronald Picado (BB) 4-1, Conor Wasson (WS) DEC Martin Strenk (DV) 6-3.

195: Ray O'Donnell III (SV) FALL Lyle Troutman (TV) 1:04, PJ Steinmetz (CRS) DEC Chad Hoffman (Ha) 7-6.

220: Ryan Solomon (Mi) DEC Aaron Bradley (Na) 4-1, AJ Vizcarrondo (WS) DEC Brandon Hull (Pb) 8-4.

285: Michael Johnson (WS) FALL Kirby Mutton (PA) 1:11, Jeff Miller (CC) DEC Anthony Pare 3-2.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-wrestling-liberty-1229-20111229,0,2975558.story