For the first time since 2009, the Wilson wrestling team is heading to the state tournament.
With their runner-up finish in the District 11 Class 2A tournament, the Warriors will take on District 3 third-place finisher Northern Lebanon in the PIAA preliminary round at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Nazareth Area Middle School.
“It’s big for the kids,” Wilson coach Tom Mertz said about being back in the state tournament. “They’re starting to see, the harder you work, the better your results are going to be. They put a ton of time in and we knew it could possible if those guys kept grinding and they’ve done it all year for us.”
Despite a 51-18 loss to Saucon Valley on Saturday night in the district final, Mertz said he saw improvement from the team’s 36-point setback to the Panthers in the regular season.
The Warriors took a cautious approach to the match as they could’ve had to face Northwestern in a true-second match if the Tigers beat Pine Grove in the consolation final.
“Better,” Mertz said about this matchup compared to the previous meeting. “We sat four starters out because we weren’t sure what was going to happen with that match on the other mat. Plus, we know Monday, big match with Northern Lebanon. But we had two kids that lost that came back and beat the two kids that they lost to in the first match. Lamont (Singletary), second-year wrestler, beating Dane Csencsits. That was huge. Jared (Corriere) reversing the outcome on Paul Miller there. 100th win, district dual final, so great opportunity for him to get it.”
Mertz thinks his team will be prepared for the state tournament thanks to having to face Saucon Valley, last year’s state runner-up, twice this season.
“In 2A, you’re not going to face any team that’s tougher than them,” Mertz said about the Panthers. “They’re a physical team. They’re well-coached. They capitalize on little mistakes. If some day we want to compete with those upper-echelon 2A teams, we’ve got to learn from them first.”
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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