NTL WRESTLING: VETERAN LED TOWANDA HAS BIG EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON (2024-12-01)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
For three years this is the season Towanda wrestling has been building towards. They’re anchored by a very talented senior class, flanked by a group of emerging underclassmen.

“We have a lot of familiar faces, a lot of people with a lot of good varsity experience, and it should be a year that we’ll enjoy,” said Towanda coach Bill Sexton. “We also have some talented newcomers coming into so it’s not like we’re all just about seniors. There’s talented kids in all of the weight classes.”

Starting with those seniors they bring back state medalist and 2-time district champion Sawyer Robinson (32-6 a year ago), state qualifiers Mason Higley (34-3) and Riley Vanderpool (33-6), along with stalwarts Rylee Sluyter (30-7), Chase Guerin (20-16), Jace Gunther (12-15), Zach Lantz (15-10), and Wyatt Stranger (19-15).

Sexton, for one, will be sad to see them go.

“It means we’re coming to the end of a very good road, but we still have one year ahead of us,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be the best of the years ahead of us. They’ve certainly been a good group of people that have written a very important chapter in our program’s history.”

Robinson will be looking to be the first 3-time district champion in Towanda history, having done so wrestling above his weight class.

“Hopefully I’m building on what I did last year,” said Robinson, who finished seventh at states a year ago. “It was a big confidence boost, I think I needed it, and I think it’s going to help me out throughout the season.”

He bumped up two weight classes to 285 a year ago, but didn’t mind tussling with the big boys.

“I kind of like it,” said Robinson. “It’s more my pace, and I had fun last year.”

Robinson is coming off a very productive football season on the offensive line, which he believes helps him in the circle.

“You’re in the weight room and you’re lifting,” said Robinson. “So I’m used to pushing around people.”

Higley has gone through the most change this offseason, hitting the weights to bump up to 215 pounds from 189 a year ago.

“I will be wrestling 215 or 285, I haven’t made up my mind where I want to go,” he said. “But I have the same goal, a state championship.”

It wasn’t a conscious decision for Higley, simply a product of hitting the weights in the off season.

“I mostly just grew over the summer,” he remarked. “I just hit the weights hard, and I ate a lot of food. I love food.”

The past two seasons Higley has come up just short of the state podium so he doesn’t need any more motivation than he already has.

“Since I’ve been seven years old I’ve dreamed of being on the podium at Hershey, especially on top,” he said. “I think the biggest problem that I really fixed over the summer was I put all this pressure eon myself, that if you don’t place at the state tournament, you fail. Instead, this year I’m just going out having fun, letting it fly, and focusing on scoring points. If I wrestle hard, and do everything the right way, I know the wins will come.”

Sluyter will be toggling between 152 and 160 this year.

“It’s definitely going to be rough because I will be wrestling guys way heavier, but I’ve also gotten bigger,” he said. 

After coming up short at districts last year Sluyter is looking to finally break through to that state berth.

“I just need to work harder than the other person,” he said.

They return several key underclassmen, as well, with Tanner Vanderpool (27-3), Jazick Brown (20-3), Brayden Spencer (18-9), and Curtis Maynard (14-6) among them.

“I’d like to see continued growth out of them, continued maturity,” said Sexton. “I’d like to see them wrestle at a consistent varsity level. We have some talented sophomores, and hopefully they’re going to take a big step forward in all aspects of their wrestling careers this year.”

They also have a bumper crop of freshmen in Gage Evans, Hagen Jones, Colin Parker, and Reese Sluyter.

“We have kids that have wrestled for quite some time, and have ability,” Sexton said. “Hopefully they continue to grow that ability, you don’t want to rest on what you’ve done getting to this point, you want to build a legacy for yourself at the varsity level, as well.”

They’re hoping to start that legacy this year with a District IV Duals title. The Knights return pretty much everybody from last year’s run to third place, but know last years champions (Warrior Run) and runners-up (Montoursville) will be reloading this year.

“You never know what those teams are going to have in terms of who’s coming in, who’s going to mature at what level, and who’s going to transfer in to some of them,” Sexton said. “They’re all on our regular season schedule. We’ll find out, but duals is a long ways away, but hopefully we’re there, and we’re competitive.”

It’s one of the seniors biggest goals to take the team to states.

“I don’t think there’s a team that we can’t compete with or take out,” said Higley. “Obviously, we’re not hiding this year. We’ve had success the last three years, four years as a team. Everybody’s going to know that we’re going to come, and we’re going to come hard.”

They lost two close duals to Warrior Run and Montoursville, so that’s give them an idea of what they need to do going in.

“We know what we need to do this year,” Sluyter said. “We know how close we were, and how short cut we were.”

First they’ll defend their NTL title, and Sexton knows every team in the league will be gunning for them.

“We always have tough matches in the league,” he said. “Canton, Athens, Wyalusing, they’re all competitive teams, it’s a matter of how we can be competitive against them.”

Also for the seniors, it’s about keeping the legacy of Towanda wrestling going by leading this new group of talent.

“I would definitely say it’s motivating,” Higley said about being a leader. “Being a guy that once was that freshman that looked up to the Bryant Greens, and the Cody Wheelers, and guys that have had success in the this program. Knowing that I’m that guy now that these younger guys are looking up to, to chase down, it’s definitely really cool. It’s surreal, knowing that it’s my last year in high school, and then four more years in college, but I’m must taking everything in this last year.”

ROSTER

Jeremy Arrieta (12)

Caleb Austin (12)

Caden Delamater (12)

Damen Dougherty (12)

Chase Geurin (12)

Jace Gunther (12)

Mason Higley (12)

Zach Lantz (12)

Aiden Miller (12)

Mateo Perez (12)

Sawyer Robinson (12)

Rylee Sluyter (12)

Wyatt Stranger (12)

Trey Torres (12)

Jason Valdez (12)

Riley Vanderpool (12)

Matt Harbst (11)

Mason Harbst (11)

Charles Johnson (11)

Blane McCarty (11)

Gable Tenny (11)

Tanner Vanderpool (11)

Bryghton Yale (11)

Cameron Allis (10)

Tommy Bowen (10)

Jazick Brown (10)

Joseph Diaz (10)

Jevon Gunther (10)

Maricio Maldondo (10)

Curtis Maynard (10)

Kolton McPeak (10)

Dillon Sbragia (10)

Carter Schoonover (10)

Brayden Spencer (10)

Jaydon Stranger (10)

Clinton Tuttle (10)

Gage Evans (9)

Hagen Jones (9)

Colin Parker (9)

Reese Sluyter (9)

ROSTER

Dec. 10 vs Horseheads, 7 p.m.

Dec. 12 at Williamson, 7 p.m.

Dec. 14 hosts Dandy Duals, 11 a.m.

Dec. 18 vs Montoursville, 7 p.m.

Dec. 20 at Central Columbia, 7 p.m.

Dec. 27 at Windsor Tournament, 10 a.m.

Dec. 28 at Windsor Tournament, 10 a.m.

Jan. 4 hosts Flynn Duals, 11 a.m.

Jan. 7 at NEB, 7 p.m.

Jan. 10 vs Wyalusing, 7 p.m.

Jan. 14 at Warrior Run, 7 p.m.

Jan. 16 at Wellsboro, 7 p.m.

Jan. 18 vs Canton, 7 p.m..

Jan. 22 vs Athens, 7 p.m.

Jan. 24 at Ultimate Warrior

Jan. 25 at Ultimate Warrior

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