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12 Lebanon County wrestlers set sights on top 6


The goal in the postseason for District 3 Class AA wrestlers is to simply keep advancing, and eventually you'll find yourself in the PIAA Championships.

The two sectional tournaments, with 13 teams each, qualified the top six place winners for the District 3 Championships. From that tourney last week, the top five wrestlers at each weight - and six in some - advanced to the PIAA Southeast Regional, which is this Friday and Saturday at Wilson West Lawn H.S.

The regional tournament has a 15-man bracket and the top six qualify for states.

For the 12 Lebanon County AA wrestlers who have made it this far, the object is to finish at least in that top six and earn a trip to Giant Center for the PIAA event on March 10-12.

Northern Lebanon will take an impressive array of talent to the regionals, a contingent of 11 wrestlers.

Three Vikings - Quinn Blatt (38-8 at 170), Luke Funck (35-1 at 182) and Matt Vines (35-10 at 220) captured district titles last week. Two more were district runners-up - Trevor Leonard (40-7 at 132) and George Thompson (26-10 at 285).

The other area district second-place finisher last week was Annville-Cleona's Josh Renninger at 138 (35-4).

The Southeast Regional combines Districts 3, 1, 11 and 12. District 11 is considered one of the strongest wrestling areas in the state and District 3 isn't far behind, so wrestlers from those districts will likely duke it out for most of the championships. Quite a few entries from Districts 1 and 12 come in with records near or below .500.

Note: Friday's wrestling begins at 5:15 p.m. and continues through two rounds. On Saturday, a consolation round starts at 9:30 a.m., followed by semifinals at 11. Championship finals and place matches begin at 5 p.m.

Below are county wrestlers and their first-round pairings.

PIAA Class AAA Southeast Regional

Lebanon County Pairings

106 — 3-4 Kyler Anspach, Northern Lebanon (31-11) vs. 1-2 Caedmon Curry, Springfield (11-12) . 120 — 3-6 Colin Leonard, N.Lebanon (36-14) vs. 11-3 Zachary Kemmerer, Lehighton (30-9). 132 — 3-2 Trevor Leonard, N.Lebanon (40-7) vs. 11-4 Blake Daniel, Notre Dame Green Pond (29-8). 138 — 3-2 Josh Renninger, Annville-Cleona (35-4) vs. 11-4 Hunter Kennedy, Panther Valley (34-10); 3-3 Zach Kelly, N.Lebanon (29-15) vs. 3-6 Evan Hoffman, Upper Dauphin (34-13). 152 — 3-5 Blaise Bressler, N.Lebanon (25-23) vs. 11-1 Nathan Harka, Saucon Valley (30-7).

160 — 3-5 Luis Negreiros (N.Lebanon (32-12) vs. 1-1 Cameron Beckett, Bristol (16-3). 170 — 3-1 Quinn Blatt, N.Lebanon (38-8), bye. 182 — 3-1 Luke Funck, N.Lebanon (35-1) vs. 11-5 Blayne Hirshbeck, Saucon Valley (25-9). 195 — 3-4 Hunter Wallace, N.Lebanon (29-14) vs. 11-2 Nathan Black, Pen Argyl (26-9). 220 — 3-1 Matt Vines, N.Lebanon (35-10), bye. 285 — 3-2 George Thompson, N.Lebanon (26-10) vs. 11-4 Dane Tarantelli, North Schuylkill (22-13).