oe & Sunday, January 7, 2007 Tue DALLAS POST PAGE 7 SPOrts FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Dallas junior P.J Precone (rear) is expected to be one of the best 103-pound wrestlers in the Wyoming Valley Conference. He is shown wrestling Lake-Lehman's James Rosencrans during a recent non-conference match. Dallas looking to repeat By DAVE KONOPKI Dallas Post Editor DALLAS TWP. — Forget about the devastating injuries and the winless exhibition record. The Wyoming Valley Conference wres- tling regular season begins this week. And Division II defending championship Dallas is thinking repeat. The Mountaineers open de- fense of their WVC Division II championship when they host GAR at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the school gymnasium. Last sea- son, Dallas captured its first wres- tling championship in more than 30 years. But it’s been a tough season al- ready for head coach Dan Natitus and the Mountaineers. Three starters, including senior co-cap- tain Kyle Hazleton, suffered sea- son-ending injuries as Dallas lost its first four non-conference matches. Hazleton shattered his ankle during a practice, requiring seven pins to be inserted during a sub- sequent surgery. In addition, sophomore David Fetchko dislo- cated his elbow and sophomore A.J. Thomas suffered injuries in a car accident. “We just have to keep working hard in the wrestling room,” said Natitus, whose team is participa- ting in the Zephyr Duals at White- hall High School this weekend. “I have to give credit to our kids. We've been devastated by injuries and they keep working hard. They're not giving up.” Despite the injuries, there’s rea- son for optimism. The Mountain- eers return a solid nucleus from last year’s team, led by three Dis- trict 2 Class 2A runners-up. Junior P.J. Precone (103 pounds), sopho- more Mitch Artsma (125) and ju- nior Joe Hayes (140) each cap- tured second place at last year’s district tournament. And junior Craig Nilsson (215) finished third. “Each of them has a shot to win a district title this year,” said Nat- itus, a former Dallas standout who begins his third season as head coach. “They have experi- ence and they're getting better. I think Scott Daube can also make some noise.” Sophomore John Eisenhauer (119), senior Matt Hufford (135), sophomore Darrius Fetchko (130) and senior Nick Appleby (145) al- so return to the starting lineup for Dallas. And it’s the ‘experienced wrestlers who could make the dif- ference inmost matches, says Nat- itus. “There’s no doubt about it, in our biggest matches our better kids are going to need to get six points (a pin),” he said. “That will help make up for our other inexpe- rience.” Although he’s focused on this season, Natitus is excited about the future of the Dallas wrestling program. There are almost 30 wrestling competing on the junior high school team - the highest turnout in recent memory, says the coach. And there are almost 60 kids in the Back Mountain Wres- tling Club program, most of them residents of the Dallas School Dis- trict. “I think we have things moving in the right direction,” said Nati- tus. “We're trying to build on last year’s success. This season, the ju- nior high meets are held before the high school meets so I'll be able to watch a lot of them. I think we have a bright future.” But for'now, he’s anxiously con- centrating on the present. “I can’t wait for‘the start of the (regular) season,” said Natitus, whose team competes against GAR, Meyers, Wyoming Area, Tunkhannock, Nanticoke Area and Hanover Area in the division. “We wrestled some very good teams (Hazleton Area, Berwick, Lake-Lehman and Elk Lake) to get ready for our division. Our goal is to win the division. We know there are some good teams, but we feel we have a chance to compete for it. We'll just give it our best shot and see what hap- pens.” Lake-Lehman head coach Phil Lipski did not immediately return telephone messages for this story. BACK MOUNTAIN GIRLS HELP POCONO WIN GOLD Several Back Mountain residents were part of the Pocono U-16 field hockey team which cap- tured first place in its division of the National Hockey Festival near Palm Springs, Calif. More than 3,500 athletes competed in the event. Members of the team, from left, first row are Leigh Hillman, Dallas; Sunny Stirewalt, Wilkes-Barre; Amanda Banks, Dallas; Nicole Clemson, Dallas; and Kylie Licata, Mountain Top. Second row: Callie Berryman, Kingston; Emily Leo, Mountain Top; Madeleine Hackett, Shavertown; Lauren Hochreiter, Mountain Top; Katherine Granger, Kingston; Anne Marie Kline, Mountain Top; coach Caroline Blaum, Wilkes-Barre. Gaby Olshem- ki of Shavertown, coach Karen Klassner and Stroudsburg residents Nicole Grimaldi, Brielle essel and Caitlin Toleno are also members of the team. Dunbar scores Zl in DYB girls victory Ashley Dunbar scored 21 points to lead Diagnostic Imaging to a 29-20 win against Eye Care Specialists in Dallas Youth Basketball’s fifth and sixth grade girls ac- tion. Jen Yannuzzi added four points, while Kelley Jacobs and Briana Konecke added two points each. Marlee Nel- son led Eye Care Specialists with nine points. Allyssa Menzel added six. 3RD/4TH GRADE BOYS Zach Connolly and Omar Nijmeh each scored six points as Intermountain Health Group edged the Fieldhouse, 12-9, in Dallas Youth Basketballs third and fourth grade boys action. Ja- cob Ondish was the leading rebounder for the winners. Mikey Shutlock led the scor- ing for The Fieldhouse while Jesse Kincer and Paul Smith played well defensively. e Jesse Goode scored 12 points and David Simpson and Donald Michalisin added six each to lead Duke’s Con- struction to a 32-10 win against CDI. Stephen Strum- ski played well defensively for Duke’s, while CDI was led by Ray Ostroski’s three points. Alex Kurent and Aa- ron Becker added two points and one point, respectively for CDI. ¢ Chad Phillips scored two points, while Adam Alelman and Nicholas Malkemes played well defensively to lead Intermountain to a 22-16 win against Bishop Photo. Ryan Martin led Bishop Pho- to with six points. James Flores and Tanner Gattuso added two points each and Daniel Sweeney had several key rebounds. e Allen Fell scored a game- high 20 points and Adam Niz- nik added eight to lead DJ Charlie Hayes to a 28-20 vic- tory against The Fieldhouse. Daniel Mingey played well for Charlie Hayes, while Jo- nathan Wilson led The Field- house with eight points. Con- nor Motley played well de- fensively. ¢ Nick Muldoon scored six points and Jake Archer added four as Quad Three Group remained undefeated with an 18-6 win against CDI. Andrew Matcho, Jack Tomko, and Joe Bevevino scored two points each for CDL e Spencer Bowanko scored six points and Eric Pincofski added two as C&C Sheetmetal edged Duke’s Construction, 14- 12. Christian Wargo was the leading rebounder for C&C, while Jesse Goode scored eight points for Duke’s. Donald Michalisin and David Simpson added two each points each for Duke’s, while Dylan DeAr- mitt played well defensive- ly. 5TH/6TH GRADE BOYS Mariano Medico was the leading scorer as Medico Industries posted a 32-25 victory against the Center For Diagnostic Imaging. Chad Debona chipped in seven points while Brian Banas added four. Vinny Parente played well defen- sively. Diagnostic Imaging was led by Kyle Razawich’s game-high 15 points. Mike Boland chipped in four points while Mike Pierce played well defensively. ¢ Chad Debona scored 14 points to lead Drs. Ba- nas Byron and Kim to a thrilling 36-34 victory against previously unde- feated Gem Therapeutics. Justin Brojakowski played well, scoring eight points, while Brian Banas grabbed 10 rebounds and added eight points. John Murray scored a game-high 20 points for Gem Therapeut- ics. Mike Carey added eight points and Dylan Pil- ger chipped in five. e Kyle Razawich scored 11 points and Blake Wil- liams added seven as the DYB fifth grade travel team suffered a 29-27 loss against Northwest Area in Lake-Lehman league. Mar- iano Medico and Justin Brojakowski chipped in with four points each for DYB. BACK MOUNTAIN ATHLETES EARN SPORTS AWARDS AT WYOMING SEMINARY Eight Back Mountain residents recently received sports award at Wyoming Seminary Prepar- atory School for the fall season. Senior Kaitlyn Snyder of Shavertown received the Gold Award in field hockey and senior Kaytlin Kopen of Shavertown earned the Gold Award tennis. Sopho- more Alexandra Hackett of Shavertown was named the Most Valuable Player in cross country, senior Kendra Sirak of Dallas received the Gold Award in field hockey and senior Rebecca Tha- lenfeld of Dallas earned the Coaches Award in tennis. Also, senior Stephen Levandoski of Dallas received the Gold Award, cross country, Shavertown senior Abigail Sordoni earned the Gold Award in field hockey and senior Jonathan Janerich of Shavertown won the Coaches Award and Gold Award in golf. Attending the awards ceremony, from left, first row are Snyder and Kopen. Second row: Hackett, Sirak and Thalenfeld. Third row: Levandoski, Sordoni and Janer- ich.
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