Winners on the mat and in class
Kinney, Fanelli, Smith earn Scholar-Athlete awards for season
History was made Sunday at the annual District 11 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete banquet at Steel Club in Hellertown.
For the first time in more than four decades of the event, two wrestlers shared an award.
Nazareth’s Sean Kinney and Easton’s Ben Fanelli were co-recipients of the Class 3A Scholar-Athlete award.
Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Ayden Smith was the 2A recipient.
Northern Lehigh’s Chase Moffitt (2A) and Emmaus’ Scott Furniss (3A) won the essay contests.
Only seniors are eligible for the awards.
Hall of Fame inductees were:
■ The late Mikey Racciato, a three-time PIAA champion who graduated in 2013 with 184 career victories. The District 11 Class 2A outstanding wrestler award is named in his memory. He died on Christmas Day 2020 at age 26.
■ Adam Columbo, a 1993 Nazareth graduate, stepped down last year after more than two decades as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
■ John Handlovic, a two-time state medalist and 1983 PIAA champion for Wilson.
■ Troy Handlovic, a two-time state medalist and 1984 PIAA champ for Wilson.
■ Joe McIntyre, who retired last season after 23 years as a PIAA official. He worked five state tournaments and was the head of District 11 officials for six years.
■ Mark Cesari was a two-time PIAA champ for North Schuylkill who then had a long career as a PIAA and EIWA official.
Phil Racciato’s, Mikey’s father, gave a wonderful tribute to his son who was one of the area’s most dynamic wrestlers and toughest competitors in District 11 history.
Northampton coach Joe Provini accepted Colombo’s award on behalf of his close friend. Colombo coached Provini at Nazareth. The two later were on head coach Dave Crowell’s staff until Provini moved to his current position two years ago.
Smith finished with a Notre Dame-record 152 career wins to go with his two PIAA, three Southeast Regional and four District 11 titles. The Rutgers commit also
finished third and fourth at states. The 114-pounder was a Beast of the East and Escape the Rock champion as a senior.
Kinney was a four-time PIAA finalist and three-time champion. The four-time District 11 and Northeast Regional champion finished his career with a 125-5 record with 98 pins. He was 39-1 with 32 falls as a senior. The 285-pounder became the first heavyweight to reach four finals and the first at any weight class to reach four finals at the same weight class.
Fanelli is ranked fifth in his class of 711 with 1,520 on his SATs. He won 97 matches at Easton and was a three-time District 11 and Northeast Regional medalist was a 2023 state eight-place finisher in 3A. The Red Rover had the decision in the final bout that clinched the team’s win over Bethlehem Catholic. It stopped a 15-match losing streak in the series and was the Golden Hawks’ only loss of the year.
Other scholar-athlete nominees were: (Class 2A) Blue Mountain’s Payton Fasnacht, Catasauqua’s Chad Beller, Jim Thorpe’s Richard Kenna, Lehighton’s Wyatt Sherer, Mahanoy Area’s Cael Quick, North Schuylkill’s Ricky Halford, Northern Lehigh’s Chase Moffitt, Palisades’ Danny Haubert and Saucon Valley’s Leonidas Zaharakis; (Class 3A) Bangor’s Noah Hillis, Bethlehem
Catholic’s George Pavis, East Stroudsburg North’s Robbie Bibeau, East Stroudsburg South’s Darryl Meeker, Emmaus’ Scott Furniss, Liberty’s Kam Abboud, Northampton’s Austin Noe, Parkland’s Blake Dergham, Pocono Mountain West’s Brandon Stiehler, Pottsville’s Parrish McFarland Southern Lehigh’s Ryan King, Stroudsburg’s Aamir Sohail and Whitehall’s Seth Pascoe; (Girls) Katie Brensinger, Northwestern; Shannon Fratus, Parkland; Symarah Drey, Liberty; Mia Ariola, Pocono Mountain West.
Nominees were judged on wrestling, academics and school/ community activities.
Moffitt is headed to Penn State to major in environmental systems engineering.
“I could have said a lot of different explanations as to what wrestling means to me,” he wrote, “but I believe for all wrestlers whether you’re a state champ or you haven’t won a single match all year, in the end you have a second family.”
Furniss also is going to Penn State where he’ll major in computer science.
“Wrestling has taught me more about myself and life than I ever thought possible,” he wrote. “It showed me that success comes from hard work and discipline and that losing is just a chance to learn and grow.”