Top 10 Lehigh Valley area wrestlers
If ranking wrestlers in every class is fun speculation and opinion, ranking the Lehigh Valley area’s best wrestlers regardless of weight is ... craziness.
But why not be daring?
Now that there has been consistent competition recently, here’s the 2021 debut of the top 10 pound for pound wrestlers’ list:
10. Ben Haubert, Palisades (22-0): The Citadel commit has a solid resume with six pins, six forfeits, two major decisions plus two decisions over Class 3A 100-match winners. The state’s No. 5-ranked wrestler in 2A at 172 could have a showdown Saturday with state No. 1 Gavin Garcia of Southern Columbia.
9. Carson Wagner, Northampton (9-0): The sophomore has been ranked first in the state all season and backed it up with nonstop action and good scrambling. He has filled out after finishing sixth last year in the state when he only weighed 106 pounds with a cheeseburger in his hand.
8. Sean Kinney, Nazareth (7-0): The freshman’s first varsity match was a District 11 tournament bout. He has five pins and two decisions over returning state qualifier Matt Cruise of Easton and two gold medals on his resume — which is all of two weeks old.
7. Dagen Condomitti, Northampton (9-0): The sophomore has three pins, three technical falls, two major decisions and a 12-5 record so far at 145 pounds. He has been a scoring machine in winning District 11 and Northeast Regional Class 3A titles.
6. Holden Garcia, Notre Dame-GP (11-0): The sophomore started the season with nine bonus-point wins (six pins, two technical falls and one major decision) before winning last Saturday’s Class 2A Southeast Regional with victories in the semis and finals by a combined 14-1 score at 160.
5. Tyler Kasak, Bethlehem Catholic (9-0): The sophomore has five pins and two technical falls. He has not yielded an offensive point so far. In order to earn PIAA gold, he’ll have to beat a pair of returning state champions at 126.
4. Evan Gleason, Bethlehem Catholic (10-0): The Harvard commit has quietly dominated every match — seven pins, two technical falls and two major decisions. I think he’ll prove his No. 5 state ranking to be a bit low. He has yet to yield an offensive point.
3. Brandan Chletsos, Notre Dame-GP (10-0): The junior Rutgers commit has nine pins, none taking longer than 2 minutes, 22 seconds, and one major decisions. The two-time state medalist’s only goal this season is state gold.
2. Brett Ungar, Notre Dame-GP (8-0): The Cornell commit has six pins and two technical falls. His real tests likely come in next week’s state semifinal and final against Reynolds stud Gary Steen, who beat Ungar in a 2020 classic state semifinal, and Bishop McCort freshman phenom Mason Gibson.
1. Jagger Condomitti, Northampton (10-0): The Nebraska-bound senior has seven pins and three technical falls so far this season. He is ranked first in the state and third nationally at 160 pounds.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order): Dom Falcone, Easton; Dante Frinzi, Bethlehem Catholic; Andrew Harmon, Bethlehem Catholic; Matt Mayer, Bethlehem Catholic; Ayden Smith, Notre Dame-GP; Mason Ziegler, Quakertown.