Easton's Roche qualifies for championship round at District 11 3A wrestling tournament

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Easton coach Steve Powell joked Friday night that he had "another Cael Sanderson in the making" in wrestler Jose Roche. On Saturday morning, the sophomore continued his surprising upset run through the District 11 3A wrestling tournament.

Roche, who entered districts seeded 13th at 126 pounds, pinned top-seeded Mike Dahlstrom to qualify for tonight's championship round. He caught Dahlstrom in an early headlock and clinched the pin in 54 seconds to improve his season record to 8-0.

With the semifinal victory, Roche earned a shot at his biggest upset of the weekend. In the final, Roche will face Blue Mountain's Corey Keener, a returning state champ who seeks to become a four-time district winner.

The Class 2A and 3A finals will be wrestled simultaneously at 7 p.m. at Liberty. The top six wrestlers in Class 3A advance to next weekend's PIAA Northeast Regional tournament at Freedom.

Though he entered districts with limited experience, Roche was unbeaten, having won four bouts at the Easton duals and one in a match against Parkland. That prompted Powell's reference to Sanderson, the current Penn State wrestling coach who went undefeated as a four-time NCAA champ at Iowa State.

At districts, Roche has defeated the fourth-, fifth- and first-seeded wrestlers, earning bonus points in all three wins. He is one of four Easton wrestlers in the finals, joining teammates Peter Stanley (120), Mitch Minotti (145) and Tyler Greene (182).

The Red Rovers concluded the semifinals atop the team standings with 132 points. Nazareth, which made a strong run in the upper weights, is second with four finalists and 129.5 points. Parkland (three semifinalists) is third with 115 points.

The 145-pound final is the only one between two unbeaten wrestlers. Minotti (33-0), a two-time district champ and returning state gold-medalist, will face Pocono Mountain East's Ray Nicosia, who improved to 27-0 with three bonus-points wins this weekend.

Nazareth has title contenders in the final three weight classes, including heavyweight Brandon Lance, who is the only freshman finalist. Lance, the No. 10 seed, followed his overtime win Friday against Freedom's Tyler Peerson with a 12-4 victory over Pleasant Valley's Mike Benner in the semifinals.

In the final, Lance will face Daulton Romano, who seeks to become Southern Lehigh's first district champ since 1997. Also advancing for the Blue Eagles were Tyrone Klump (106), David Wilke (195) and Aaron Bradley (220).

Parkland advanced three wrestlers to the finals, including sophomore Nezar Haddad, who edged top-seeded Mitch Myers of Blue Mountain 3-2 in overtime. Ethan Lizak (106) and Bryson Berard (152) will wrestle for titles as well. Lizak is a returning state silver medalist, and Berard has outscored his three opponents at districts 40-1.

At 195, Emmaus senior Troy Newhard rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the third period to pin Easton's Francis Slover. Newhard caught Slover in a cradle and sealed the fall in 5:05. He will face Nazareth's David Wilke in the final. Newhard is competing for his second consecutive district title.

The 220-pound final is a rematch between Nazareth's Aaron Bradley and Freedom's Evan Kauffman, who are both 18-1. Bradley defeated Kauffman 3-2 in January.

Northampton's Cole Sheptock (152) seeks to become a two-time champ. He has scored bonus-point victories in all three of his district bouts.

DISTRICT 11 3A WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

FINALS

106: Soph. Ethan Lizak (Parkland, 34-1) vs. Soph. Tyrone Klump (Nazareth, 22-4).

113: Jr. Sean Bianco (Pleasant Valley, 36-2) vs. Sr. Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, 29-6).

120: Sr. Peter Stanley (Liberty, 27-3) vs. Jr. Grimaldi Gonzalez (Liberty, 29-3).

126: Sr. Corey Keener (Blue Mountain, 39-1) vs. Soph. Jose Roche (Easton, 8-0).

132: Sr. Devon Lotito (Liberty, 31-1) vs. Sr. DeMarquis Holley (Dieruff, 30-4).

138: Sr. Jason Stephen (Northampton, 24-5) vs. Sr. Alex Yanovich (Pleasant Valley, 34-8).

145: Sr. Mitch Minotti (Easton, 33-0) vs. Jr. Ray Nicosia (Pocono Mt. East, 27-0).

152: Sr. Cole Sheptock (Northampton, 28-5) vs. Sr. Bryson Berard (Parkland, 33-8).

160: Sr. Aaron Transue (Stroudsburg, 24-7) vs. Jr. Matt Bonshak (Whitehall, 24-2).

170: Soph. Nazar Haddad (Parkland, 30-8) vs. Jr. Shawn Cicero (Pottsville, 34-2).

182: Sr. Travis Moyer (Blue Mountain, 10-2) vs. Jr. Tyler Greene (Easton, 31-6).

195: Sr. Troy Newhard (Emmaus, 31-2) vs. Sr. David Wilke (Nazareth, 15-5).

220: Jr. Aaron Bradley (Nazareth, 18-1) vs. Jr. Evan Kauffman (Freedom, 18-1).

285: Jr. Daulton Romano (Southern Lehigh, 24-3) vs. Fr. Brandon Lance (Nazareth, 17-11).

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

106: Ethan Lizak (Parkland) dec. Anthony Parisi (Easton) 18-7; Tyrone Klump (Nazareth) dec. Kenny Yanovich (Pleasant Valley) 5-0.

113: Sean Bianco (Pleasant Valley) dec. Zach Valley (Northampton) 5-3; Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg) dec. Bryant Penberth (Blue Mountain) 8-0.

120: Peter Stanley (Easton) dec. Colby Ems (E.S. South) 5-1; Grimaldi Gonzalez (Liberty) dec. Chase Zemenak (Nazareth) 9-1.

126: Jose Roche (Easton) pin Mike Dahlstrom (Pleasant Valley) :54; Corey Keener (Blue Mountain) tech. fall Charles Sell (Bangor) 18-3 in 5:04.

132: Devon Lotito (Liberty) dec. Robbie Rizzolino (Easton) 6-0; DeMarquis Holley (Dieruff) dec. Codty Kievman (Blue Mountain) 5-1.

138: Jason Stephen (Northampton) dec. Josh Ortman (Parkland) 5-0; Kenny Yanovich (Pleasant Valley) pin Alex Gosch (Blue Mountain) 1:20.

145: Mitch Minotti (Easton) dec. Mike Marano (Parkland) 10-3; Ray Nicosia (Pocono Mt. East) tech. fall Matt Mirth (Southern Lehigh) 15-0 in 4:55.

152: Cole Sheptock (Northampton) dec. Kevin Finn (E.S. South) 12-2; Bryson Berard (Parkland) dec. Kyler Kilpatrick (Easton) 10-1.

160: Aaron Transue (Stroudsburg) pin Josh Young (Freedom) 1:57; Matt Bonshak (Whitehall) dec. Joseph Fogle (Pocono Mt. East) 5-2.

170: Nezar Haddad (Parkland) dec. Mitch Myers (Blue Mountain) 3-2 OT; Shawn Cicero (Pottsville) dec. Ryan Barry (Stroudsburg) 9-5.

182: Travis Moyer (Blue Mountain) dec. Marcus Newsom (Northampton) 6-3; Tyler Greene (Easton) dec. Thomas Alcaro (Emmaus) 4-1.

195: Troy Newhard (Emmaus) pin Francis Slover (Easton) 5:05; David Wilke (Nazareth) dec. Jovon Reyes (Dieruff) 8-4.


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