Top four remain the same

The high school dual-meet season is just gaining traction ahead of Christmas, but several standout wrestlers have yet to compete:

Faith Christian state champion Gauge Botero and third-place finisher Cael Weidemoyer

Pennridge state third-place finisher Colby Martinelli

Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Joey LaPenna Bethlehem Catholic’s James DeLuise That has not stunted those teams’ performances so far, which makes for a promising January, February and March when they return.

Despite being short-handed, Faith Christian was second in the team race with eight medalists at the Beast of the East.

There are many stellar dual meets involving top 10 teams in January, including Bethlehem Catholic at Notre Dame-GP and Easton at Bethlehem Catholic.

Several teams among the honorable mentions are off to strong starts, including Salisbury, Stroudsburg and Whitehall.

Mountaineers coach Sean Richmond won his 100th career match. He is 101-42 in eight seasons entering Wednesday’s match with Northampton.

Below is the second series of rankings as the 2023-24 season gets rolling. Only the 38 teams in The Morning Call coverage area are considered until we get deep into January ahead of the team postseason.

Morning Call top 10 wrestling team rankings

(entering Wednesday’s matches)

Rank. Team (Record, last week)

1. Faith Christian (1-4, 1): Returning 2A state champ Gauge Botero could be back for the start of January schedule

2. Bethlehem Catholic (1-0, 2): Was fifth with three medalists at the Beast of the East

3. Notre Dame-GP (2-0, 3): Beast of East champ Ayden Smith nominated for SBLive’s Lower Weight National Wrestler of the Week

4. Easton (7-0, 4): Knocked off Parkland in its only action of the week despite missing injured starters James Geiger, Chris Kelly

5. Pennridge (8-3, 7): Won Kiski’s Cavalier Duals without top wrestler Colby Martinelli

6. Nazareth (1-1, 6): Was 17th with two medalists at the Beast of the East

7. Saucon Valley (3-0, 5): Did not have any medalists at the Beast of the East

8. Northampton (1-0, 8): Freshman Gabe Ballard won six matches in a row to take third at Beast of the East

9. Quakertown (0-1, 9): Three medalists at the Beast of the East and a 12th-place team finish

10. Parkland(1-1, 10): Michael Gavrilesku was third at King of the MountainHonorable mention (in alphabetical order): Emmaus (0-2), Freedom (4-3), Lehighton (2-1), Liberty (1-1), Palmerton (4-5), Pen Argyl (2-1), Pocono Mountain East (9-3),

Salisbury (4-0), Stroudsburg (7-0), Whitehall (8-0)

Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic When/where:

Thursday-Friday, Dec. 28-29, Liberty’s Memorial Gym

Schedule: (Thursday) 9 a.m., first round, second round, first-round consolations; 6 p.m., quarterfinals, third- and fourth-round consolations; (Friday) 10 a.m., semifinals, fifth- and sixth-round consolations; third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches; finals Participatingteams: Blue Mountain, Council Rock South, Dallastown, Greater Latrobe, Easton, Emmaus, Freedom,

Garnet Valley, Fauquier, Va.; Hazleton Area, Hempfield, Honesdale, Liberty, Nazareth, North Penn, Northampton, Northern Lebanon, Northwestern, Parkland, West Scranton, Boyertown, Phillipsburg, Southern Lehigh, Quakertown, Saucon Valley, North Allegheny, Delaware Valley, Spring-Ford, Stroudsburg, Warwick, Whitehall, Wilson, Wilson-West Lawn, Wyoming Valley West.