The wrong call
Silver and the NBA have gotten a lot of things right during the pandemic. The decision to hold an All-Star Game in March is not one of them.
a wrestling mat in the family’s home. In this COVID-19-marred wrestling season, teams have been deprived of their usual postseason cross-training with other programs.
Clymer simply dials up an older sibling du jour to toughen him up.
“They are the reasons I am at where I am at,” he said. “All my brothers, they’ve all been coming up to work with me in the room or I’m going down and wrestling with them somewhere. They’ve all made me the priority to make me the best I can be, which I’m super appreciative of.”
Clymer might have been the most outstanding, but, with his three pins, Ungar was the most dominant as he and his Notre Dame teammates romped to the team title with 266 points at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township. Saucon Valley (166.5) was
a distant second, followed by Tamaqua (113) and Palisades (96).
If Clymer hadn’t been named outstanding wrestler, the honor could have just as easily gone to Saucon Valley’s Dante Mahaffey, who prevailed in a loaded weight class at 215.
Mahaffey won 2-1 over Notre Dame’s Jason Sine in the semifinals, then beat Tamaqua’s Dante Wickersham by the same score in the finals when Wickersham was given a second stall warning with 38 seconds to go, breaking a 1-1 deadlock marked by an escape for each.
“Dante’s been working hard all year,” Panthers coach Chad Shirk said. “And it’s all about putting things together. I’m extremely proud of him and his work ethic and excited that he’s a district champion.”
Other district champs Sunday were Palisades’ Ben Haubert (172), Saucon Valley’s Ty Csencsits (189) and Pen Argyl’s Aiden Compton (heavyweight).
can be reached at 610-778-2243 or nfierro@mcall.com.
District 11 Class 2A wrestling tournament
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Notre Dame-Green Pond (NDGP) 266; 2. Saucon Valley (SV) 166.5; 3. Tamaqua (T) 113; 4. Palisades (Pali) 96; 5. Lehighton (L) 93.5; 6 (tie). Catasauqua (C) and Pen Argyl (PA) 84; 8. North Schuylkill (NS) 75.5; 9. Tri-Valley (TV) 64; 10. Northern Lehigh (NL) 59.5; 11. Jim Thorpe (JT) 55; 12. Northwestern (N) 52.5; 13. Central Catholic (CC) 49.5; 14. Salisbury (S) 44.5; 15. Wilson (W) 36; 16. Palmerton (Palm) 32; 17. Mahanoy Area (MA) 27; 18. Williams Valley (WV) 21; 19. Pine Grove (PG) 5; 20. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 4.
CHAMPIONSHIPS 106:
Ayden Smith (NDGP) tech. fall Gabe Erbe (T), 15-0, 4:20
113: Adam Schweitzer (NDGP) dec. Brenden Smay (NL), 7-0 120: Brett Ungar (NDGP) pinned
Danny Grigas (NS), 1:04
126: Evan Maag (NDGP) pinned Lukas Ferguson (L), 2:49
132: Brandan Chletsos (NDGP) pinned John Samy (S), 2:22
138: Joshua Bauman (NDGP) dec. David Kreidler (CC), 3-1
145: Dalton Clymer (N) dec. Jaryn Hartranft (C), 4-1
152: Joey LaPenna (NDGP) major dec. Mason Smeland (Pali), 11-2 160: Holden Garcia (NDGP) tech. fall Cesar Rivera (MA) 15-0, 4:11 172: Benjamin Haubert (Pali) dec. Jacob Jones (SV), 3-1 (OT)
189: Ty Csencsits (SV) dec. Jacob Scheib (TV), 10-6
215: Dante Mahaffey (SV) dec. Nate Wickersham (T), 2-1
285: Aiden Compton (PA) dec. Derek Hunter (JT), 3-2
TRUE SECOND-PLACE MATCHES
103: Gabe Erbe (T) major dec. Noah Gilgore (NS), 8-0
113: Brenden Smay (NL) dec. Aiden Gruber (L), 3-2 (2 OT)
138: David Kreidler (PA) pinned Lorenzo Reto, 4:45
145: Cael Markle (SV) dec. Jaryn Hartranft, 3-2
152: Mason Smeland (Pali) dec. Gabe Heaney (JT), 9-2
160: Liam Scrivanich (SV) dec. Cesar Rivera, 6-0
189: Jacob Scheib (TV) dec. Jared Blobe (NDGP) 5-0
215: Nate Wickersham (T) dec. Jason Sine (NDGP) 7-5
SEMIFINALS 106:
Ayden Smith (NDGP) dec. Mikhail Hartranft (C), 2-0; Gabe Erbe (T) pinned Giovanni DiBiagio (W), 4-3
113: Brenden Smay (NL) major dec. Hennessey Ruppert (PA), 12-2; Adam Schweitzer (NDGP) pinned Alden Gruber (L), 3:39
120: Brett Ungar (NDGP) pinned Nicholas Zeigenfuss (L), 5:48; Danny Grigas (NS) dec. Austin Brett (C), 4-2
126: Evan Maag (NDGP) pinned Tristan Minnich (W), :39; Lukas Ferguson (L) pinned Connor Nicholas (SV), 2:38
132: Brandan Chletsos (NDGP) pinned Gavin Fehr (C), 1:45; John Samy (S) major dec. Travis Riefenstahl (SV), 11-2
138: David Kreidler (CC) tech. fall Mason Beckowski (SV), 16-0, 4:27;
Joshua Bauman (NDGP) major dec. Lorenzo Reto (PA), 8-0
145: Dalton Clymer (N) dec. Aaron Coccio (T), 3-2; Jaryn Hartranft (C) dec. Bryson Vaughn (NDGP), 5-1
152: Joey LaPenna (NDGP) pinned Benjamin Griffith (N), 1:45; Mason Smeland (Pali) pinned Trevor Amorim (NL), 5:09
160: Holden Garcia (NDGP) major dec. Liam Scrivanich (SV), 10-1; Cesar Rivera (MA) dec. Daniel Kelleher (Pali), 2-1
172: Benjamin Haubert (Pali) dec. Garrett Tettemer (NDGP), 8-3; Jacob Jones (SV) dec. Richard Fronheiser (L), 2-0
189: Ty Csencsits (SV) major dec. Jared Blobe (NDGP) 10-1; Jacob Scheib (TV) pinned Daniel Haubert (Pali), 5:51
215: Nate Wickersham (T) major dec. Austin Winters (Pali), 11-1; Dante Mahaffey (SV) dec. Jason Sine (NDGP), 2-1
285: Aiden Compton (PA) inj. default Roger Russell (W), 2:27; Derek Hunter (JT) dec. Joshua Schaffer (NL), 6-4
ATLANTA — The NBA had done a lot of things right during the pandemic.
Not this time.
For absolutely no justifiable reason other than boosting its bottom line, the NBA is going through with dubious plans to stage a made-for-TV All-Star Game in Atlanta on March 7.
Yep, the league is holding an exhibition game — a totally unnecessary contest — while the country is still in the grips of a deadly virus.
The NBA is trying to sell this as some sort of altruistic pursuit, joining the players’ union in pledging to donate more than $2.5 million to support historically black colleges and universities, as well as communities impacted by COVID-19.
“The All-Star Game will honor the vital role HBCUs play in our communities and focus attention and resources on COVID-19 relief, particularly for the most vulnerable,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement filled with such spin it left us a bit dizzy.
He failed to mention that his league — which has 30 franchises worth an average of more than $2 billion each — could’ve made that sort of donation from its spare change jar.
The Pandemic All-Star Game is nothing more than a money grab, an attempt by the league to mitigate its financial losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Led by the biggest star of them all, the players saw through the charade as soon as the idea was floated a few weeks ago.
LeBron James, who has played in 16 All-Star Games and will again be a captain for this one, called it “a slap in the face” to the players. Two-time reigning league MVP
Giannis Antetokounmpo said he would much prefer to have a few days off.
“If they tell us we’re going to show up, then we’ve got to do our job,” the Milwaukee Bucks megastar said when the subject first came up. “I will show up and set the right example. But at the end of the day, I don’t want to do it.”
This is a major misstep by a league that drew much-deserved kudos last summer for setting up a stringent bubble inside Walt Disney World, allowing it to complete the regular season and the playoffs without so much as a single positive test.
The NBA also managed to deftly navigate the social justice protests that roiled America, staving off a possible player boycott by listening to their concerns and embracing the cause.
But this season has been a struggle. Without a bubble, 30 games have already been postponed because COVID-19 protocols. Teams are playing in largely empty arenas because it’s simply not safe enough to allow large crowds.
This year’s All-Star Game, which was supposed to be held in Indianapolis, was initially called off because the league recognized the folly of attempting to hold its
biggest party — a city-wide, weekend-long celebration — in the midst of a highly contagious virus that has caused so much heartache.
But that all changed as the league tallied up its financial losses from the first two months of the season. The All-Star Game was a way to mitigate the damage, giving valued TV partner Turner Sports one of its signature events — even though it comes without all the usual bells and whistles.
No parties are planned. Only about 1,500 fans — representing local HBCUs and essential workers — will be allowed at 17,000-seat State Farm Arena for the game, which also will feature a skills competition beforehand and a Slam Dunk competition at halftime.
This will be an All-Star Game catering strictly to those watching at home, an audience that Silver estimates at 130 million around the globe.
But the players’ clear disdain for playing the game — not to mention all those empty seats — will undoubtedly suck much of the joy from the antics we’ve grown to love.
The outrageous shots. The dizzying dunks. The good-natured trash talk.
“The ultimate experience of the weekend isn’t there,” Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal said. “It’s mainly for the fans, for entertainment.”
Even so, Silver insists a watereddown All-Star Game is better than no All-Star Game.
“All-Star is a part of our league, no different than the games we play,” he said Thursday night during an interview on TNT. “It begins and ends with the fans. This is an event our fans love to see. They love to see the players come together.
“But,” he added ruefully, “nothing comes without controversy during a pandemic.”
Silver said he’s not overly concerned about the league’s best players contracting the virus during their brief time in Atlanta, since they will be confined to a bubble similar to the one that worked so well in Orlando.
He’s probably right about that one.
A bigger risk is reckless fans converging on Atlanta by the thousands to take part in impromptu parties, the kind that gridlocked the city the last time it hosted the All-Star Game in 2003.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Christopher Bell chased down Joey Logano on the winding Daytona road course Sunday for his first career Cup victory and a coveted spot in NASCAR’s playoffs.
Bell won in his second race driving for Joe Gibbs Racing to give the team a pair of surprising victories at Daytona International Speedway. Ty Gibbs, the 18-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, won the Xfinity Series race Saturday night in his first career national series start.
Bell’s victory wasn’t quite as stunning, but he still delivered far earlier than expected in his return to JGR. He was loaned to Leavine Family Racing last year for his rookie season, but Gibbs pulled him back to JGR this year.
It gave Bell a competitive Toyota, but a victory, this soon, was a big ask.
“This is one of the highlights of my life,” Bell said. “I’ve prepared my whole life for this moment to race in the Cup Series, last year was such a learning curve for me. I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity to run in Cup and it definitely prepared me to go to Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Bell had an underwhelming rookie season driving for Leavine with just seven top-10 finishes in Toyotas not quite as strong as Gibbs’ fleet. Now driving some of the best cars in NASCAR, Bell joined Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell as surprise first-time winners to start the season.
It’s just the third time in NASCAR history the first two races of the season were won by first-time winners. It was previously done in 1949 and 1950 — NASCAR’s first two seasons.
Bell and McDowell now have two of the coveted 16 playoff berths, a troubling trend for mid-pack teams that need all 26 regular-season races to point their way in to the championship picture. Race winners earn automatic berths and the remaining spots are decided by the point standings.
“To have Christopher in the playoffs, that’s a big deal,” Joe Gibbs said. “We don’t take that for granted.”
McDowell, meanwhile, backed up his Daytona 500 win with a career-best road course finish of eighth.
Bell, had to chase down Logano, who had built a decent lead on the field but couldn’t fend off Bell once he’d caught him. Logano finished second; last week he and teammate Brad Keselowski crashed each other racing for the Daytona 500 win.
“I hate being that close,” Logano said.
Denny Hamlin was third to give Gibbs two cars in the top three. Kurt Busch finished fourth and Keselowski wound up fifth for a decent Team Penske rebound.
Keselowski and Logano before the race had their first interaction since they crashed on the final lap racing each other for the Daytona 500 win one week ago.
“We’re as good as we can be,” Keselowski said. Kevin Harvick finished sixth and AJ Allmendinger, in his first Cup race since the 2018 season finale, finished seventh. It was the highest finish in three Cup races for Kaulig Racing, an Xfinity Series team formed in 2016 that wants to be fulltime Cup next season.
Ryan Preece was ninth for a pair of top-10 finishes at Daytona. JTG-Daugherty Racing no longer has a charter to guarantee Preece a spot in the field every week, and without it the team can’t promise it will race every week this season. With this start, Preece is currently seventh in the points standings.
Chase Elliott again had the most dominant car but his streak of four consecutive victories in points-paying road races was snapped. He led a race-high 45 laps and was out front when caution for rain 15 laps from the finish forced Hendrick Motorsports to make a strategic call.
Elliott traded track position for new tires, pitted from the lead and fell to 15th. He worked his way up to to fifth but spun when he ran into the back of Kurt Busch. Elliott finished 21st.
“Cautions like that make for a mixed bag,” Elliott said. “I thought tires was the right move. But you get back into traffic and it just gets to be so chaotic and just depending on who who gets through and who doesn’t and it determines how it shakes out.”