Bes
Section 2
Wednesday, March 6, 1996
The Dallas Post
SportsWeek
BW School news
HM Classified 1
BM Calendar 3
By LEN KRYESKI
Sports writer
LEHMAN - Matt Raczkowski
has won 88 percent of his bouts
during three years as a member of
the Lake-Lehman wresting team.
He's established himself as one of
the most dominant wrestlers of
the Wyoming Valley Conference
in recent memory and is a rare
three time champion at the dis-
trict level. Heading into this
weekend's state competition, his
victory total stands at 92 — and
counting.
Yet, if you hang around the
Lehman wrestling team long
enough, you get the feeling that
Matt's favorite match is the one
he’ll be faced with next.
“That's a true statement,” said
Raczkowski who also admitted
there hasn't been one particular
bout that’s memorable or a win
that carries an extra special mean-
ing over the others.
Courteous and friendly away
from the sport, Raczkowski is a
fierce, well-respected competitor
on the mat. Energetic, yet fo-
cused, Matt is constantly better-
ing himself - mentally and physi-
cally - for the future.
The match he's faced with next
is set for Thursday in Hershey at
the PIAA, Class AA state tourna-
ment. His first battle is with the
number one seed out of the south-
west regionals, Vince Peleski of
North Star High School. Peleski
carries a 27-3 mark, while Matt
stands at 34-1 on the season.
This being his second consecu-
tive state tournament, Matt is
going through the wrestling pro-
cedure one last time at the high
school level this week. He may be
more focused and determined
than ever.
“My preparation is about the
same as always,” Raczkowski said.
“I'll probably go a little harder on
the conditioning.”
Matt won the Class AA 112
pound District 2 and pre-regional
championships in February. Un-
defeated, he was the odds-on fa-
vorite to take the Northeast Re-
gional crown last weekend, before
being upset in the semi-final
round.
The Lehman senior jumped out
to a 5-1 lead, and nearly regis-
tered a pin over Barry Wise of
* Raczkowski is Mat(t) man for the Knights
Benton, but suffered a momen-
tary loss of focus for the first time
all season. Wise pulled offan 11-
9 come-from-behind victory and
went on to win the 112 pound
division.
A narrow 2-1 victory over Bra-
dley Keister of West Snyder fol-
lowed. Matt then bounced back
with a vengeance, winning the
consolation bout over Sayre's Erik
Franklin 13-2.
As a result of his third place
finish, the road to a state champi-
onship got a little rougher, but
Matt has never been one to back
down from a good challenge and
isn't about to start now. If any
wrestler has the determination,
skill and strength to bounce back,
it's the senior from Lake Silkworth.
Matt's attitude on reflecting on
past glory draws plenty of praise
See RACZKOWSKI, pg 10
Agony
and ecstasy
Alisa Harris consoled Dean
Evans, in right photo, after he
missed qualifying for states in
last week's district swimming
meet. Below, Tim Herbert
celebrated his finish in the
100-meter butterfly.
POST PHOTOS/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK
SPORTS SHORTS
BMT softball tryouts Saturday
Back Mountain Softball will hold tryouts for all girls on Saturday,
March 9, 1996 and Saturday, March 16, 1996 at the old Dallas
Township School gymnasium (by the softball field), 1 p.m.: 8and 9year
oldsnotonateam;2 p.m.: 10, 11 and 12 year olds not on a major league
team; 3 p.m.: 13, 14 and 15 year olds not on a senior league team. All
players must make one tryout.
BMT baseball tryouts Saturday
Back Mountain Baseball will hold tryouts on Saturday, March 9,
1996, at the Dallas Middle School gymnasium. All players not on a
major league team and interested in playing on "AA", "AAA" or major
division team must try out. Times are as follows:
American League - age 12 & 11, 9a.m.-10a.m.; age 10, 10 a.m.-11
a.m.; age 9, 11 am.-12 p.m.; age 8, 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
National League - age 12 & 11, 1 p.m.-2 p.m.; age 10, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.;
age 9, 3 p.m.-4 p.m.; age 8, 4 p.m.-5 p.m.
Dallas skiers win third
straight high school title
The Dallas Ski Racing Team
won first place in the high school
division at the Montage
Interscholatic Finals Competition
on Feb. 24. The win marked their
third consecutive Finals victory
as well as a record in Montage
Interscholastic racing.
Dallas participated in the event
along with several area schools.
Unfortunately, the end-of-the sea-
son match with rival Nanticoke
never materialized when their
team declined to compete. The
Dallas team consisted of Jon and
Matt Kertesz, Mike Senausky,
Chris Schneider, C.J. Tyrrell and
Stacey Wagner.
Chris Schneider skied to a sec-
ond place finish in the Individual
Male category with the fastest time
in the first heat. Stacey Wagner
placed second in the Individual
Female category.
During the 95/96 ski season,
the team has so far accumulated
a total of 20 medals and trophies
while competing in Montage,
ASRA, PARA, and Keystone Game
events.
Dallas girls
(continued from page 1)
Robin Suda, on the way to two or her
game-high 20 points against Bishop
Hoban.
POST PHOTO/JIM PHILLIPS
remaining. Dallas simply inbounded
the ball before claiming victory.
“This feels tremendous,” Baseski said.
“Being a senior you want to make the
best of it. This is what you work for.”
The Lady Mountaineers trailed 22-16
at halftime, but outscored Hoban in
both the third and fourth periods. With
their season on the line, the senior-
laden team came out of intermission a
determined bunch. Less than 2 1/2
minutes into the third period, Dallas
tied up the score with a 6-0 run.
They may have come out of the
locker room scoring, but with the Suda
sisters leading the way, the second half
rally can be attributed to maintaining
control of the boards. Robin and Stacey
combined for 17 rebounds in the second
half.
“They hit the boards really well,”
Barbacci said. “That and our defense
was the key."
Strong, tough defense is becoming a
Dallas trademark with Barbacci at the
helm. She keeps the opposition guess-
ing by constantly mixing up the defen-
sive sets.
Saturday the Mounts worked the
diamond to near perfection. In the
diamond set, four girls basically played
a zone while Stacey Suda, one of the
league’s most underrated players, went
man-to- man on Stacie Miscavage. The
strategy worked as Miscavage, the
second-leading scorer in Division 1 at
19.1 ppg. was held to 11, only seven of
which came from the floor.
Dallas also displayed the ability to
mix up defenses in the middle of play.
Whenever Hoban point guard Carlene
Kratz got into the flow of the offense
without the ball, the Mounts shifted to a
type of triangle and two, with Baseski
guarding Kratz.
“We've been working hard on defense
since our last game,” Baseski said. “We
knew what to expect from (Hoban).”
Robin was a force inside scoring 12 of
her 20 points in the second half. Most
came within eight feet of the bucket.
“Coach told us that the inside was
open,” Robin said. "We just had to
concentrate and look for the opening.”
This week Dallas has been concen-
trating their efforts on preparing for
Shamokin. They'll battle the 18-9
champs from District 4, at 2 p.m. this
Saturday at Susquehanna University.
All six girls who entered the game got
on the scoreboard for Dallas. Stacey
added seven points to her 10 rebounds,
while Adrienne Camp finished with five
points and Sarah Barlow had four.
Baseski and Austin contributed two
apiece.
3 Wry
Matt Raczkowski, taking control over an opponent at last
weekend's regional wrestling tournament in Williamsport.
Heat tops Warriors to
take 7th-8th grade title
The Heat defeated the War-
riors 37-30 in the finals of the
7th-8th grade Dallas Youth Bas-
ketball League. Both teams got
off to a slow start, with the first
quarter going to the Heat 6-2. The
Heat used a well balanced offense
in the second quarter to increase
their lead to 14-8 at half time. It
was much the same in the third
quarter, with the Heat outscoring
the Warriors 8-6 in the third
stanza. The Warriors had their
chances in the fourth quarter,
however costly turnovers and
some key missed shots sealed the
win for the Heat. The Heat offense
was led by Joe Stupino and Danny
Fetko with 12 points apiece fol-
lowed by Al Pisaneschi with six
points. The Warriors’ offense was
led by Paul Dougal with 12 points,
followed by Kevin Piekara with
eight points.
In the first of two semi-final
games it was the Heat defeating
the Bulls by a score of 32-25. At
the end of the first quarter, the
Heat took an 11 to 5 lead over the
Bulls on a well-balanced scoring
attack. The Bulls trimmed the
lead at the end of the second
quarter to two, by outscoring the
Heat 7-3. The Bulls cut the lead
to one in the third quarter, by
outscoring the Heat 4-3. How-
Miami edges Georgetown
for 5th-6th grade crown
Miami and Georgtown met in
the 5th/6th grade Dallas Youth
Basketball finals, and the Hurri-
canes came from behind to claim
a 32-31 victory.
Georgetown led at the half 12-
11, and increased their lead to
22-19 at the end of the third quar-
ter, but could not hold on for the
win. Blake Saba hit three free
throws in the fourth quarter and
nine of his game high 19 points as
Miami edged Georgetown 32-31.
Chris Hiester added five points
and Matt Carey five rebounds and
four points. For Georgetown, John
Simonitis had 10 points and eight
rebounds and Paul McCue added
another seven points.
In the semi-finals, Georgetown
advanced with a win over St.
John's, 27-24. St. John’s at-
tempted to come back from an
eight point deficit at half time and
narrowed Georgetown's lead to
FSU claims grade 3-4 title
John McGeehan scored 11
points to lead Florida State to a
23-7 playoff victory over Duke.
Kevin Domzalski and David
Heister scored five each and D.J.
Tasselmyer chipped in with two
points. Leading Duke were Mitch
Mitchell and Ken Regan.
In the other playoff semifinal,
Tyler Droppers scored six points
with four rebounds to lead Geor-
gia Tech over North Carolina 22-
* Warriors’ offense was led by Paul
PHOTO BY DAVE KOZEMCHAK
=
7:
ever, the Heat woke up in the
fourth quarter and outscored the
Bulls 15-9, to seal the win. The
heat offense was led by Jared
Karalunas with 11 points, followed
by Joe Stupino with six points
and Kevin Yurko and Jason Race |
chipped in with four points apiece.
The Bulls’ offense was led by Mike ~~ |
Regan with agame high 18 points,
followed by Lloyd Droppers with
four points. b/s
In the second game, it was the
Warriors upsetting the Celtics 49-
40. The Warriors took a com-
manding 18-8lead over the Celtics
attheend of the first quarter. The |
Warriors and Celtics traded bas- A]
kets in the second quarter and
the score at half time was the
Warriors 24-17 over the Celtics. A
The Celtics narrowed the gap in y
the third quarter to a two point |
Warrior lead 31-29. However, |
Paul Dougal and T.C. Harding |
combined for 13 points in the
final quarter to seal the win. The
Ca SRG En VAG NEE
Dougal with a game high 22 points
See 7-8 BALL, pg 10
three points before the final = |
buzzer. Georgetown was led by a |
balanced offensive attack; Paul = |
McCue and Angelo Recchia each |
had eight points and John =
Simonitis added another seven
points for the win. Herby Bressler
had a game high 13 points and
Brian Downey had five pointsand =~
seven rebounds for St. John's. = |
The other semi-final matchup -
put Miami against Seton Hall with b
Miami holding on to the lead in = |
the closing minutes for a 30-27 = |
win. For Miami, Chris Hiester ©
had 15 points and Blake Saba « |
seven points. There was some key =
rebounding by Miami's big boys,
Chris Arnaud, five rebounds and
Matt Carey, 5 rebounds. Seton
Hall's high scorers were John J
Pambianco with 15 points and E
Tim Faneck with six points. Tony ;
VanHorn had a strong defensive 3
game with five rebounds.
20. Also scoring for Tech were
Colin Baird, Brian Gage, JeffPace, He
Sean Leary and Matt Rattigan. Fy
North Carolina was led by ared- |
hot Tim Kerestes with a game
high 16 points. |
In the championship game, |
John McGeehan scored five points i
to lead Florida State to a 13-6 i
victory over Georgia Tech. Kevin =
Domzalski had four for Florida q
State. Sean Leary led Georgia
Tech with three points.
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