Lehigh Valley pound for pound top 10 wrestlers
Collin Gaj bumped up one or two weight classes in five of his six matches last week. It led to stiffer competition for the Quakertown sophomore, but the 145-pounder did just fine.
Gaj pinned Pennridge’s Ryan Gallagher at 160, took down returning Class 3A state medalist Kelly Kakos of Perkiomen Valley 11-5 at 152 and finished off Council Rock South’s No. 7-ranked Bekhruz Sadriddinov in overtime 5-1 at 160.
The Quakertown standout (36-0) moves up a spot in the latest Lehigh Valley pound-forpound top 10 rankings.
The top seven are stars who will continue shuffling through the state individual tournament based on their strength of schedule.
Nazareth’s Sean Kinney faced a challenge in St. Joseph’s Prep’s Maxwell Roy, who is 27-4 this year, a 2022 Northeast Regional qualifier and big and athletic enough to be a threat.
But Kinney turned Roy several times before finishing him off in 2 minutes, 56 seconds. That’s the second-longest this season anyone has lasted against the returning 3A state champion.
“It was good to see Sean get to go against a very talented, athletic, tough guy,” Nazareth coach Dave Crowell said. “That was a good test.”
It is a shame that Kinney could not have faced Bishop McDevitt’s Riley Robell, the returning 2A state champ who received a forfeit against Saucon Valley in Monday’s PIAA preliminary match which followed the Nazareth/St. Joseph’s Prep 3A preliminary.
Bethlehem Catholic’s Kollin Rath had eight takedowns, a reversal and two sets of back points in a 23-8 technical fall over Nazareth’s Jake Doone in the District 11 3A final. It is that pace that makes Rath among the nation’s best at 139.
“Kollin Rath is just unbelievable,” Golden Hawks coach Jeff Karam said. “I’ve been doing this a long time. When he’s in a zone, you better strap it on because he’s not going to let up. He gets better as the match goes on and he’s relentless.”