Saucon Valley returned to the top of the District 11 Class 2A wrestling mountain for the second straight season with a convincing win over Wilson on Saturday night at Freedom High School.
The Panthers were helped in their climb to district gold by a couple of guys who were watching the action a year ago.
Sophomore Justin Kyra and freshman Thomas Spirk put together back-to-back pins to turn a 3-0 deficit into a nine-point lead.
The undefeated and top-seeded Panthers then rolled to a 51-18 victory.
“It was exciting. They’re good kids and they work really hard,” Saucon Valley coach Chad Shirk said about Kyra and Spirk. “For them to pick up pins in a district championship match is hopefully an awesome confidence boost for both of them and we can use that momentum going into next week.”
Saucon Valley, which improved to 23-0 on the season, will wrestle the Bishop McDevitt (District 12 champion) in the first round of the PIAA tournament on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Wilson, which fell to 20-4 on the season, opens its first appearance in the state team tournament since 2009 with a preliminary PIAA matchup against the District 3 third-place finisher Northern Lebanon at 6 p.m. Monday at Nazareth Area Middle School.
After Wilson senior Jared Corriere fought off Paul Miller for a 1-0 decision and his 100th career victory to open the match, Kyra made the Warriors’ momentum disappear in 35 seconds.
The Panthers sophomore pinned Wilson’s Brandon Trumbauer in 35 seconds at 132 pounds to give Saucon Valley a lead that it built onto the rest of the match.
“We get to go to Hershey. That’s what the best part is. That’s why we’re here,” Kyra said.
Spirk followed that with a fall in 2:42 at 138 pounds against Wilson’s Ashtyn Berberena to extend the Panthers’ lead to 12-3.
“I was here to watch,” Spirk said about sitting in the stands during last year’s final. “I was hoping I could (be in the lineup this year) and it feels good to be in it now.”
Seniors Abe Lugo (3:41 at 182), Stephen Good (0:34 at 195) and Trey Polak (1:48 at 285) added pins for the Panthers. Jason Jones (152) and Josh Jones (120) each had a major decision for Saucon Valley.
Elijah Bundro (1:59 at 106) and Jonathan Consorti (5:55 at 113) had pins for the Warriors.
For the Panthers, it was another district team title after winning their first last season.
“It’s been elusive, let’s just say that,” Shirk said. “Any time you can win a District 11 title and there’s such a rich tradition of wrestling in District 11. So it feels good. But I told our kids, we can enjoy it tonight, but we have some work to do on Monday to fine-tune some things.”
Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshFolck. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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