This week’s 10 best potential matchups
There were nine bouts in last Saturday’s Bethlehem Catholic at Notre Dame-Green Pond match that went down to the last minute of the third period.
Three of those four that didn’t involved three of our top 10 pound for pound competitors. Golden Hawks Tyler Kasak, Nate Desmond and Dante Frinzi delivered big for coach Jeff Karam.
Desmond was fully engaged for six minutes at 106 against Crusaders sophomore Ayden Smith, though he won 7-1.
That was one of the few matches in the last week involving the top 10 that was competitive.
Northampton’s Dagen Condomitti worked for his major decision over Nazareth’s Dominic Wheatley at 152.
And Notre Dame-GP’s Brandan Chletsos showed his toughness on top in a 1-0 win over Bethlehem Catholic freshman Kollin Rath, who gave area fans a glimpse of how good he’s going to be for the next four years.
Other than that, it was not a challenging week for the area’s best.
In the best of the rest, Notre DameGP’s Evan Maag bumped up to 152 and rallied late to beat Bethlehem Catholic’s Andrew Harmon.
Quakertown 120-pounder Mason Ziegler came up just short in a match with Delaware Valley’s returning state runner-up Zac Jacaruso 3-2. Congrats to both coaches for making that meeting happen. Jacaruso is ranked No. 1 in the state at 113.
There are 10 potential postseason medal matches this week:
Emmaus’ Marco Albanese vs. Whitehall’s Tyler Cunningham at 132
Freedom’s Noah McIlroy vs. Liberty’s Christian Reid at 160
Pleasant Valley’s James Syracuse against Easton’s Michael Hynes and East Stroudsburg North’s Wayne McIntyre at 189
McIntyre vs. Central Catholic’s Jakub Gloc at 189
Parkland’s Adrian Gacek vs. Bethlehem Catholic’s Landon Muth or Luke Thomas at 160
Saucon Valley’s Jake Jones vs. Palisades’ Danny Haubert at 172
Maybe Catasauqua’s Jaryn Hartranft vs. Northwestern’s Dalton Clymer at 152 Salisbury’s John Samy vs. Southern Lehigh’s Braedon Alder at 132
Northampton’s Carson Wagner vs. Pocono Mountain East’s Scotty Raymond at 113
Top 10
1. TYLER KASAK,
BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
Class: Jr.
Weight: 138 pounds
Last week: No. 1
Resume: A 2-0 week, two wins in 4 minutes, 3 seconds of mat time. He picked up nine takedowns in the first period of one of those matches. Record: 24-0
2. SONNY SASSO, NAZARETH
Class: Jr.
Weight: 189
Last week: No. 2
Resume: A 2-0 week with two firstperiod pins. He has wrestled into the third period just twice in his last 13 matches. Record: 25-0
3. NATHAN DESMOND, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
Class: Fr.
Weight: 106
Last week: No. 3
Resume: A 2-0 week with a first-period pin and a 7-1 decision over Notre DameGP’s Ayden Smith.
Record: 21-1
4. SEAN KINNEY, NAZARETH Class: So.
Weight: 285
Last week: No. 4
Resume: A 2-0 week with a pin and a forfeit. He’s wrestled six minutes just three times in 22 matches.
Record: 20-2
5. GAUGE BOTERO, FAITH CHRISTIAN Class: Fr.
Weight: 113
Last week: No. 5 Resume:.
Record: 28-6
6. DAGEN CONDOMITTI, NORTHAMPTON
Class: Jr.
Weight: 152
Resume: A 3-0 week with a pin, technical fall and major decision.
Last week: No. 7
Record: 15-1
7. CHARLIE BUNTING, NAZARETH Class: Jr.
Weight: 120
Last week: No. 8
Resume: A 2-0 week that included a major decision and a pin.
Record: 13-0
8. JAKE JONES,
SAUCON VALLEY
Class: Jr.
Weight: 172
Resume: A 4-0 week with two forfeits and two pins totaling 52 seconds. Last week: No. 9
Record: 24-3
9. DANTE FRINZI, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC Class: Sr.
Weight: 126
Resume: A 2-0 week that included a major decision and a pin.
Last week: No. 10
Record: 24-5
10. BRANDAN CHLETSOS, NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND
Class: Sr.
Weight: 132
Resume: Beat Bethlehem Catholic’s Kollin Rath 1-0 thanks to a third-period rideout. Last week: Unranked
Record: 21-9
DROPPED OUT
Tahir Parkins, Nazareth (18-1): Did not wrestle last week in either of the Blue Eagles duals
BEST OF THE REST
11. Freddie Retter, Quakertown (19-3): A 6-0 week with six first-period pins
12. Matt Cruise, Easton (20-4): A 3-0 week with three pins.
13. Carson Wagner, Northampton (133): 2-0 with a forfeit and first-period pin
14. Collin Gaj, Quakertown (24-4): A 6-0 week with five pins.
15. Holden Garcia, Notre Dame-GP (199): 2-0 with a forfeit and a decision
16. Evan Maag, Notre Dame-GP (24-9): 2-0 including a comeback win over Bethlehem Catholic’s returning state medalist Andrew Harmon at 152
17. Eric Alderfer, Faith Christian (23-8): The program’s career wins leader (122) won his only match with a first-period pin
18. Mason Ziegler, Quakertown (23-4): A 5-1 week with five pins and a 3-2 loss to 3A state No. 1 Zac Jacaruso of Delaware Valley
19. Kollin Rath, Bethlehem Catholic (11): He picked up a technical fall in his first varsity match, then lost 1-0 to Chletsos two nights later
20. Ayden Smith, Notre Dame-GP (218): Lost 7-1 to Desmond after a forfeit win
MIA
Ryan Crookham, Saucon Valley (0-0)