NTL WRESTLING: CANTON POSTS STRONG 2025-2026 SEASON (March 11, 2025)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
A year of change for Canton wrestling as they brought in former standout wrestler, Garrett Wesneski, to helm the program, with the Warriors finding their stride late in the season.

“It was a solid season,” said Wesneski. “Personally I thought the transition back to Canton where I grew up and wrestled went very well. The culture and relationships with this group was exceptional. They were a group that worked hard and were very coachable. They loved being together and the process of getting better as a whole.”

They opened with a narrow win over NP-Liberty (36-340, but then fell to Williamson.

Canton went 3-3 at the Line Mountain Duals, then fell to Athens (39-21).

They rallied to beat Wellsboro (54-9), after suffering back to back losses to district powers Montoursville (63-12) and Wyalusing (52-20).

Then came their best stretch of the season as they won four straight duals to make district duals with wins over Sullivan County (40-30), NEB (44-29), Towanda (45-24), and Troy (43-24).

In district duals they fell to Williamson (41-29).

“The boys made a goal in the fall to strive to have a full lineup and make District Duals,” said Wesneski. “We ended up with making a District Duals appearance where I thought we competed very well.”

They took third at the North Section tournament with Carson Rockwell winning a sectional title, while a total of seven qualified for districts.

“The main message is always to use the regular season as practice,” said Wesneski. “It’s a time to learn and grow. I truly thought our entire team wrestled their best come post season. Watching the freshman and sophomores develop was fun to watch. Getting the team to wrestle free and understand this is just a game was a motive.” 

At the District IV Championships Canton was the highest finishing NTL team, taking eighth, with five regional qualifiers in Rockwell, Levi Vermilya, Leland Pepper, Tommy Preston, and Blane Wesneski.

Rockwell took third at the Northeast Regional tournament with Preston falling in the blood round.

Rockwell went 0-2 at states in two hard fought bouts.

“We had five guys qualify for Regionals with three of them it being their first time,” Wesneski said. “I am excited to see how the three returning respond to falling short of their goals. For our seniors, Leland Pepper was our work horse! He had a phenomenal run in the post season and that was on work ethic and heart. Carson ended his career reaching Hershey for the first time and even though he didn’t accomplish a medal, we are super proud of him. He always wrestled hard and brought physicality. We will miss both our seniors moving forward and now it’s time for someone else to take the lead.”

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