District 11 3A wrestling semifinals
(at Freedom, 10:45 a.m.)
(4) Pottsville v. (1) Bethlehem Catholic
The Crimson Tide offers some solid wrestlers such as Nick Onea (113), Ryan Green (120), Richard Bentz (145), Cole Painter (170) and Kory Kleckner (182). But they barely scraped past Freedom 35-33 in the quarterfinals and will find the going much, much tougher against this particular Bethlehem squad. The #4 seed really should have been Liberty’s, and that matchup would have been a lot more interesting at any number of levels at this point. But, was not to be. Only question here is what margin Becahi wants to win by. Prediction: Bethlehem Catholic 71, Pottsville 3.
(3) Northampton v. (2) Nazareth
This will be by the far the best of the semifinals. The Blue Eagles defeated the Konkrete Kids 35-24 on Jan. 19, and would certainly be favored again because of their balance and depth. That 64-3 whacking of Easton in the quarterfinals certainly grabs one’s attention as well. However, Northampton is certainly red-hot as well, having wrestled its best dual of the season in a 41-28 quarterfinal win over Liberty. But with 170-pounder Cade Moisey not at his best, the Konkrete Kids may be just a little short of material for an upset. “We have to wrestle as a team and we can’t give up bonus points,” K-Kid sophomore Julian Chlebove said of his team’s chances. Chlebove vs, Ryan O’Grady could be a goodie at 120. The Kids have to be relatively successful at 220 (Ed Confer) and 285 (Alex Darabaris), just as they did against Liberty. Northampton can win, but needs everything to go in its favor, including the coin flip. Nazareth probably won’t allow that to happen. Prediction: Nazareth 33, Northampton 23.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
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