YATESVILLE — Alex Pierce has gone through a range of emotions recently.
The Tunkhannock wrestler nearly quit the sport earlier this season. Then a few days prior to Saturday’s District 2 Class 2A Duals championship against Lackawanna Trail, Tim Pierce, Alex’s father, underwent major heart surgery and was not able to make the match at Pittston Area High School.
Then on Saturday, Alex Pierce experienced another emotional swing by picking up one of the biggest wins of his career by hanging on to defeat Trail’s Kody Kresswell, 2-1 in the next-to-last match of the dual to clinch the Tigers’ first District 2 Class 2A Duals title with a 40-25 victory.
The Tigers had previously won the duals championship in Class 3A in 2016, but this was their first in Class 2A.
“I was thinking about him and thinking about everything,” said Pierce, a 160-pound senior. “I try to keep my mind clear and doing my best. But before the match, I think about how he’s doing and everything because it just happened recently.”
Pierce had to hang on to Kresswell, who was slippery and was squirming trying to get a point for an escape to tie or two points for a reversal for a late win. Kresswell nearly got away once, but the two were restarted for being out of the circle. That gave Pierce a little more energy to keep his opponent down.
The Tigers entered that bout with a 34-25 lead as Trail needed to win both final matches for the victory. But Pierce’s win solidified the championship as the team and fans erupted into celebration.
“I was really tired and saw there was 30 seconds and I looked back to my fans, crowd, hometown and I got a burst of energy,” said Pierce, who transferred from Wyoming Area last year. “This was probably one of my biggest matches all year. I really wrestled my heart out. I had a lot going on around Christmastime and almost quit. But my mind is right right now, and I’m really hyped about this match.”
The Tigers, who advance to the PIAA Team Championships on Thursday at Giant Center and will meet the District 9 champion at 2 p.m., never trailed in the match against the Lions. Tunkhannock won the first five bouts to take a 23-0 lead on the strength of pins from Jeff Meader and Frank Scranta at 182 and 195 to start things.
Those two victories might have been even bigger for the team because coach Gary Siegel thought those weights could have gone either way.
“At 182 and 195 we were putting in toss-ups, so getting pins there was huge for us. It was a lot better for us to start there than say, 113,” Siegel said. “We’re looking forward to Hershey because for these kids this is something that they’ll never forget. That’s the important thing. And this community has been backing these kids for so long. We’re excited to be going down.
“We’re going back to (Class 3A) next year. Lackawanna Trail is a good, young team that’s going to be going states for the next three, four years. So it’s good that we could get out this year.”
After Owen Woods defeated Max Bluhm at 106 and put the Tigers in front 23-0, the Lions began a comeback winning the next four bouts to pull within one point at 23-22.
But Tunkhannock’s Dave Evans followed with a win by technical fall at 138 to extend the lead to 28-22. Trail’s Seth Ross picked up a decision at 145 to close the Tunkhannock lead to three points. But the Lions forfeited to Gavin D’Amato at 152 to put the lead at 34-25 entering the final two bouts.
Hanover Area lost in the Class 2A third-place dual, falling 63-15 to Western Wayne. Cale Davis (113) and Nate Ayala (132) earned pins while Joey Rowley (120) won by decision. The Hawkeyes had defeated Blue Ridge 47-30 in the consolation semfinals while the Wildcats took down Wyoming Area 54-30.
District 2 Class 2A Duals Tournament
Championship
Tunkhannock 40, Lackawanna Trail 25
106: Owen Woods (Tun) dec Max Bluhm 5-0; 113: Deegan Ross (LT) pinned Jeb Stephens :17; 120: Ethan Lee (LT) pinned Matt Marone 1:01; 126: Robbie Schneider (LT) pinned Cole Stauffer 2:38; 132: Michael Bluhm (LT) maj dec Matt Rosentel 8-0; 138: Dave Evans (Tun) tech fall Dalton Klinges 18-3, 2:27; 145: Seth Ross (LT) dec Ethan Munley 7-3; 152: Gavin D’Amato (Tun) won by forfeit; 160: Alex Pierce (Tun) dec Kody Kresswell 2-1; 170: Luke Carpenter (Tun) dec Tyler Rozanski 6-4; 182: Jeff Meader (Tun) pinned Ethan Houser 2:41; 195: Frank Scranta (Tun) pinned Mark Dankle 1:46; 220: Nick Marabell (Tun) maj dec Tyrell Bracero 10-0; 285: Jhamal Zacharias (Tun) maj dec Kyle Austin 11-2
Note: Match started at 182 pounds
Third Place
Western Wayne 63, Hanover Area 15
106: Slifka (WW) pinned Tyler Mizell 1:45; 113: Cael Davis (Han) pinned Rohland :23; 120: Joey Rowley (Han) dec Arcadipane 5-2; 126: Koch (WW) pinned Zach Murphy 2:25; 132: Nate Ayala (Han) pinned Barletta 1:20; 138: Curtis (WW) pinned Aidan Frields 2:33; 145: Dubeau (WW) pinned Christian Torres :53; 152: Matt Leslie (WW) won by forfeit; 160: Lee (WW) pinned Hunter Thompson 3:37; 170: Murphy (WW) pinned Tyler Ulitchney 2:19; 182: Jacob Hollister (WW) won by forfeit; 195: Croney (WW) pinned Avdo Adzemovic 1:07; 220: Flood (WW) pinned Jacob Mercadante :35; 285: McAllister (WW) dec Tavon Hines 5-4
