Easton Area High School wrestling team wins third straight District 11 Class AAA team title

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

In the semifinals of the District 11 Class AAA team championships, Easton Area High School was able to handle Stroudsburg easily by defeating the Mountaineers, 42-17, in a match the Rovers control from the start.


Parkland High School didn't have as easy of a time with Pleasant Valley, but managed to fight back from an early 11-0 deficit to win 38-24.

"One of our goals at the beginning of the season was to qualify for states," Parkland coach Ryan Nunamaker said. "To be in the district finals in District 11 is a tremendous accomplishment."

When the two met in the finals for the Lehigh Valley Conference rematch, Easton came out on top again, 38-20, but Parkland kept it close until the last few matches. Peter Stanley clinched the third straight district title for the Easton by edging Ian Evans 2-1.

But the rematch between the two teams was almost identical to their previous match-up. However, Mark Misczenski's 6-3 victory over Josh Ortman was the difference. Ortman used a merkel last week to beat Misczenski. But in tonight's bout, Misczenski took a smarter approach.

"The merkel made the difference last time," Misczenski said. "That move alone was a four-point swing so I knew to watch out for it. But I knew that there was no way that he was going to beat me this time because I felt like there was nothing he could do that I couldn't defend."

Misczenski tightened up his defense and took his offense up to the next level against Ortman and was able to get the key takedowns he needed to come out on top.

"It definitely felt good to avenge the loss but it feels better to get the win as a team," Misczenski said.

After Easton got off to a fast start with three straight decisions and a pin from Kyler Kilpatrick in 5:25 over Nate Christman, Parkland's Bryson Berard came inches away from getting the major decision over Dyvon Gibson. Unfortunately for the Trojans, they would have to settle for the regular decision.

Nezar Haddad kept the win streak going by beating Jagger Miller 5-2 at 170 pounds before Ryan Irwin pinned a clearly undersized Jibril Perry at 182 making the score 15-12 to put Parkland within striking distance of the lead.

Lucky for the Rovers, Tyler Greene and Francis Slover came to the rescue and recorded back-to-back major decisions. Parkland's bench received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the 195-pound match that deducted a team point.

Shaun Heist and Ethan Lizak collected a pin and a decision at 285 and 106, respectively, to inch the Trojans closer but that's as close as they would get to winning district gold. Easton closed out the match by receiving pins from Mason Angstadt and Jose Roche at 113 and 126 along with the match-clinching decision from Stanley at 120 pounds.

"It's a great feeling to bring a team together and accomplish this goal,"senior captain Mitch Minotti said. "Things didn't start out too well at the beginning but in the end it all came together for us."

"We have improved every match this year and it's great to have it all come together," Easton coach Steve Powell said. "But it will be nice to have a few days off to work on some things and get ready for states on Thursday."

Parkland will wrestle on Monday against the third-place finisher from District 1 in the preliminary round to see who will compete in the state tournament. Easton faces the winner of the match between the District 3 third-place finisher and the District 1 fourth-place finisher in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA team state tournament on Thursday.

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