A | i PR SC ~ » ow ‘ << on Section 2 Wednesday, December 21, 1994 The Dallas Post Sports\Week BM School news BW Classified BW Calendar Mount wrestling program still building By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff Heading into his seventh year ‘as Dallas wrestling coach, Steve Kaschenbach is struggling to build a program against competing sports interests. More than a third of his 17 wrestlers played on this year's district championship football team, meaning they weren't able to participate in early practices. “It's tough to get serious when only five or six guys are in the room for the first practice,” Kasch- enbach said last weekend. Even so, Kaschenbach will re- turn a core of experienced wres- tlers while fielding a team heavy in sophomores. The returning lettermen include two grapplers who placed second in districts last season, one who took a third and another who came in fourth. “It looks like we've got a full roster, which was objective num- ber one,” Kaschenbach said. “It's been real slow coming. The num- bers have been building gradually The biggest problem is nobody wants to go out for wrestling in Dallas,” where football holds heavy emphasis. Even the existing wrestling programs in the Back Mountain generate more interest for Lake- Lehman, where “they have a strong wrestling tradition,” said Kasch- enbach. But the junior high pro- gram is growing, with 23 young grapplers out for the squad this year, and that bodes well for the future. Since Kaschenbach, a 1966 Dallas graduate, is an art teacher at the middle school, he takes every opportunity to intro- duce students to the wrestling program. The squad just finished com- peting at a tournament in Troy, where Mike Metz took first place at 112 Ibs., Aaron Gingo won the 160 Ib. class, John Crispell fin- ished second at 135 and Harry Hazeltine took third in the heavy- weight division. “I was pleased with that,” the Knights look solid on mat By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff A solid junior high program, experience and loads of talent point to a successful wrestling season for Lake-Lehman High School. “Expectations are defi- nitely high for the year,” says co- head coach Phil Lipski. “There's a lot of talent here.” But a loaded roster isn't the only factor in a wrestling team's success. It takes plenty of hard work and motivation, Lipski says, and one other thing. “We have to stay injury-free. Last year, we really got banged up early,” Lipski said last week. The best way to avoid injuries is to be in top shape. “If the kids are in condition, you'll avoid injuries,” especially the ones that occur after fatigue sets in. “Our goal is to get stronger as the season goes on.” The likely Black Knight start- ing lineup reads like a who's who of local wrestling, with five re- turning district champions, two runners-up and one third place. Three wrestlers are 4-year start- ers: Mike Stuart, Tim Sayre and John Wood, all district champi- Expectations are running high for a veteran team ons. This will be the sixth season Lipski has shared the head coach- ing duties with Tom Williams. Williams was a senior when Lipski began working at the Lake- Lehman middle school, and both wenton the lead junior high teams, Williams at Dallas and Lipski at Lake-Lehman. When both were hired to coach the varsity team, they agreed to share the head coach title and duties. Lipski gives a good deal of credit for the varsity team’s success toa continuing strong jr. high squad led by retired coach Paul Reinert and current head coach Ron Swingle. Lake-Lehman has a busy pre- season schedule, with two tour- naments and a number of other meets either on tap or under their belt. The team finished third in the Crestwood tournament, the best of any Wyoming Valley Con- ference team. But, “We wanted to "We have a very young team. We hope to get better with each week.” Steve Kaschenbach Dallas wrestling coach coach said. “But we have a very young team. We hope to get better with each week.” Among wres- tlers who Kaschenbach now ex- pects to see the most action, only three are seniors, six are juniors and five are sophomores. In part because the football season extended into playoffs, the squad hasn't seen as much pre- season action as Kaschenbach would like. “It's been a real slow start,” he said. He rescheduled two meets from early December because football team was still playing. Before the Troy tourna- ment, Dallas lost by six points to Mahanoy Area. Kaschenbach puts Back Moun- tain rival Lake-Lehman at the top of his list of competitors this year, . followed by Meyers, with Cough- ‘lin and Wyoming Valley West in the running. As for his team’s fate: “I'm hoping at least to be competitive, Adam Hoover will be big shot in the arm.” Hoover is still recuperating from a foot injury suffered in football, and expected to see action in mid-January. Kaschenbach explained that the addition of pre-regionals to the post-season is designed to give District 4 more chances to send wrestlers to the regional meet. That district, comprised of about 60 schools, is located west and north of the Back Mountain. “We only have nine schools in our district (11),” Kaschenbach said, and they will wrestle District 12 teams for slots at regionals. Dis- trict 12 also has only eight or nine schools, including Lackawanna Trail, Montrose and others to the north and east. The most likely starters are: 103: 112: 119: 125: 130; 135: 140: 145: 152: 160: 171. 189: Eric Maciejczak, fr., 130 Bill Humphreys, so., 160 Ned Walsh, so., 145/152 Mike Rogowski, jr., 160 Tony Tereska, jr., 189 Jake Santee, jr. 152 Tim Alters, sr., 189 Lake-Lehman wrestlers Thirty wrestlers are on the Lake-Lehman team this year. “That's a pretty good turnout,” says co-head coach Phil Lipski. Matt Raczkowski, jr. ‘94 district champion Bill Breha, so., new as a starter Alan Scott, sr., returning starter Joe Halowich, so., '94 district runner-up Mike Stuart, sr., 2-time district champion Tim Sayre, sr., 2-time district champion Brian Butler, jr., new as a starter Mike Pitcavage, jr., ‘94 district runner-up Ryan Gold, sr., strong record last year, until leg broken John Wood, sr., '94 district champion Paul Vandermolen, sr., returning, or Pat Rogowski, so.. Mike Budzak, sr., 3rd in districts last year Hwt.: Vito Pilosi, sr., ‘94 district champion Others who are likely to see action: win it,” Lipski said. Actually, their goal is to win a lot. “Our goal is to go undefeated and to win the district champion- “ship,” the coach said, followed by good showings at regionals and states. The post-season will pres- ent new challenges this year, with a “pre-regional” tournament in- serted between districts and regionals. That will make the post season a month long, which Lipski hopes his wrestlers are prepared for. The local competition will sound familiar. “It's the same old story," Lipski said, pointing to Wyoming Valley West and Meyers as the other powers in the West division, with Crestwood, Hazleton and Coughlin looking tough in the East. The Black Knight pre-season goes through the Tunkhannock tournament Dec. 29-30. The regu- lar season begins at Berwick Sat., Jan. 7. Returning lettermen: 119: Mike Heffron, sr. 135: John Crispell, jr. 189: Dan Natitus, jr., Others: coach said. 125: Steve Tomasura, so. 152: Tony Giardina, so. Hwt.: Harry Hazeltine, so., Dallas Mountaineer wrestlers Dallas head coach Steve Kaschenbach is assisted by Bill Janosky, a former Dallas wrestler in his fifth year of coaching. “I've got a young team,” with lots of sophomores, Kaschenbach said. The Mountaineers most likely to see action this year are: 112: Mike Metz, jr., 2nd in districts last year 140: Chris Kuderka, jr. 3rd in districts last year 160: Aaron Gingo, sr., 2nd in districts last year 171: Adam Hoover, sr., 4th in districts - now has broken foot from football, should start in Jan. 103: lan Linsinbigler, 87 Ib so. The minimum weight to wrestle is 88 Ibs. “He has to drink a soda to make the weight,” the 130: Joe Yaglowski, jr. saw limited action last year 145: Mike Misson, so., transfer from Meyers 171: Eduardo Lopez, jr. played football McMahon's 117 points take local Power Points honors Wouldn't you know it? On a week when the local winner hit the highest score of the year, it took a perfect card to win the statewide Power Points football contest. Martin McMahon took time out from his dental practice to pick a passel of winners and rack up 117 points in the 16th week of the game, well above any previous local winner. The statewide winner was Jimmy Pelusi of Norristown, with a perfect 120 point score. That alone wasn't enough to win, as three other entrants picked every game. But Pelusi, a ninth-grader, came within one point on the tiebreaker, predicting 30 total points in the Eagles /Giants game. The average of 27 local winners in the state was 116 points. As a local weekly winner, McMahon will receive $25 cash from The Dallas Post, and a free month of HBO from Tele-Media, the co-sponsor of the contest. Should a local entrant win the statewide contest, he or she would receive $750 from Power Points, plus the local prizes. Entries for this week's contest — the last of the season — must be deposited by 2 p.m., Friday. They may be dropped off at the office of The Dallas Post, at 45 Main Road, Dallas, or at Tele- Media on the Harveys Lake High- way. But that office will close at 12 noon Friday, so be sure to get them there before that time. Spikers place at Eastern Pike The Noxen Strikers wrestled in the Eastern Pike Wrestling Tourna- ment, December 11. Winners were: Midget: 50 lbs., John Houssock, Ist; 60 Ibs., Ryan Post, 1st; 70 lbs., Perry Coolbaugh, 2nd. Senior: Former wrestler Lenny MacMillan, 126 Ibs., 1st. Middle school skiers take top honors Dallas Middle School's ski team captured the first place trophy in the Fourth Annual Montage Interscholastic Race Series December 18. The team competed against other local schools including Lehman, Scranton Nativity and Wyoming Seminary. In the individual male category, Chris Nattress and CJ Tyrrell won Ist and 2nd place respectively. Other skiers competing were Chris Schneider, Stacey Wagner, Jonathan Schneider, Jonathan Kertesz, Matthew Kertesz, Jeff Ryan and Michael Senausky. POST PHOTO/LYNN SHEEHAN i Dave Raspen was blocked in this attempt to sink a bucket against Pittston Area last week. The Knights bounced back to beat Bishop Hafey 64-62 Saturday. POST PHOTO/LYNN SHEEHAN Tim Waslick drove to the basket in an exhibition game against Pittston last week. He didn't score this time, but hit two 3-point goals in the game. POST PHOTO/LYNN SHEEHAN Lake-Lehman's John Oliver put up the layup in last week's game against Pittston Area. Oliver was held to 8 points as the Knights fell 70-52.
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