NTL WRESTLING: TOWANDA TAKES SECOND AT DANDY DUALS AS ROBINSON NABS 100TH WIN (2024-12-15)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — Towanda’s Sawyer Robinson reached the 100 win milestone on Saturday, capping an 8-0 week, while the Black Knights took second at their Dandy Duals.

Towanda went 5-1, their only loss to eventual champions Bald Eagle, 40-32 in the finals. The Knights defeated NP-Liberty (54-20), Wilkes-Barre (58-9), and Honesdale (39-27) in pool action, then went on to beat Jersey Shore (64-5) and Montgomery (36-30) in cross-over matches.

“I would have liked to have gone 6-0, but we wrestled tough, we wrestled competitively,” said Towanda coach Bill Sexton. “They scored more points. Bald Eagle is a traditionally strong program, their kids know how to wrestle. They came to wrestle today. They got pushed, and their kids had a little bit more than our kids today.”

Robinson, Mason Higley, Chase Geurin, and Riley Vanderpool all went 6-0 on the day, while Tanner Vanderpool and Gage Evans went 5-1. Curtis Maynard, and Jazick Brown both went 4-2, as Rylee Sluyter finished the day 3-2. 

“We got good wins along the way from our younger veteran kids,” Sexton said. “It’s good to get everybody back in the line-up to begin with today, and would have been nice to have kept them the whole day, we had a few injuries along the way, but I don’t think it affected the outcome of the match. All in all, I think our kids showed up. I thought we wrestled hard, I thought we had a good taste of what it takes to wrestle against quality competition. We got pushed in the Honesdale match, we responded, we got pushed in the Montgomery match, we responded, and we got pushed in the Bald Eagle Area match, and we responded to that, just not far enough.”

Sexton was pleased to see Robinson get the 100 win milestone in front of a home crowd. It’s been a busy week for the Knights, with eight matches, and Robinson got them steady wins in all of them.

“It’s a big win for him,” Sexton said. “Sawyer has been a very steady competitor who has gotten better every year, growing from 145 to heavyweight. He’s been successful picking up the wins along the way. He’s off to a great start this year, he needed eight wins to get there, and he got eight in the first eight.”

Robinson was excited to get the banner after getting his win against Bald Eagle.

“It feels pretty good, it’s a good achievement for me,” he said. “It feels amazing. Hopefully I can build on what I did last year.”

He had a big win against Montgomery, tying the match up with his tech fall, and setting up Higley’s pin to secure the team victory.

“I just do what the team needed,” Robinson said. “Hopefully, if that was a fall or a tech, or whatever, I would get it done.”

After starting the day 4-0 the Knights faced Montgomery, one of the other top teams in District IV. It was a back and forth match, with the Raiders taking an 11-0 lead early, followed by Towanda tying them up.

The Raiders got three straight wins from 133 to 139 for a 25-11 lead, but Towanda answered with techs from Riley Vanderpool and Sluyter, with a major decision out of Geurin to tie things up again.

Montgomery got a tech at 189, but Robinson got those points back at 215, with Higley getting fall for the win.

“That’s become a really nice rivalry between our teams, going back and forth over the last few years,” Sexton said. “That gives us five in a row over them, which I’m sure doesn’t sit well with them, but I’ve got to be happy from our standpoint.”

In the finals Bald Eagles won the first six matches to take a 34-0 lead. Evans, Riley Vanderpool, Sluyter, and Geurin came back with four straight falls to cut it to 34-24.

However, Bald Eagle got a fall at 189 to secure the win. Robinson would get his 100th win at 215, followed by Higley getting a victory for the 40-32 final.

There’s no rest for the weary as Towanda turns around and hosts Montoursville on Wednesday, who are one of the favorites to win the District IV Duals title along with Towanda.

“That’s the schedule we built for ourselves,” said Sexton. “That’s the kind of schedule that we need to wrestle year in and year out. We wrestle a challenging schedule, but this year, bringing in Bald Eagle Area, and picking it up like that, and we have another really strong dual meet tournament ahead of us, too, so our kids are going to be well tested by the time we get to postseason, not to mention league matches.”

Robinson, for one, is excited for the competition.

“I’d like to get some more competition to improve my abilities,” he said. “Hopefully, we can stop giving up extra points with the pins, and stuff. If we clean that up, we should be pretty good.”

TOWANDA 54, NP-LIBERTY 20

160: Riley Oakes (N) maj. Rylee Sluyter, 11-2

172: Chase Geurin (T) fall Ryan Roupp, 1:41

189: Easton Cleveland-Pequignot (N) tech. Zach Lantz, 17-1, 3:36

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Gavin Stubblefield, :29

285: Mason Higley (T) fall Braden Route, 1:09

107: Bodhi Nickerson (N) fall Mason Harbst, 2:43

114: Jayden Stranger (T) fft

121: Bryce Pequignot (N) tech. Curtis Maynard, 17-1, 3:43

127: Tanner Vanderpool (T) fall Hoyt Pequignot, :29

133: Jazick Brown (T) fall Brayden Pequignot, 1:05

139: Gage Evans (T) fall Brady Bower, :26

145: Brayden Spencer (T) fft

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Terrell Rinebold, :47

TOWANDA 58, WILKES-BARRER

172: Chase Geurin (T) maj. Gene Ardo, 16-6

189: Zach Lantz (T) fall Ethan Osmanski, 1:50

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Gaven Griffith, 1:48

285: Mason Higley (T) fall Altamir Terry, :18

107: Luke Pollard (W) fall Mason Harbst, 4:36

114: Jayden Stranger (T) dec. Jayden Pena, 11-5

121: Curtis Maynard (T) dec. Carlo Salinas, 11-9

127: Tanner Vanderpool (T) fall Cameron Grohowski, :41

133: Jazick Brown (T) fall Emanuel Degante, :55

139: Gage Evans (T) fall Allen Raczkowski, 1:10

145: Brayden Spencer (T) fall Teagan Butler, 1:33

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Ethan Ethan Hooper, 1:21

160: Liam Evanko (W) dec. Rylee Sluyter, 7-0

TOWANDA 39, HONESDALE 27

189: Duke Martin (H) fall Zach Lantz, :41

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) tech. Levi Landry, 18-3, 5:20

285: Mason Higley (T) tech. Bobby MacDowell, 19-3, 1:30

107: Nathan Schuman (H) fall Mason Harbst, :53

114: Brody Walsh (H) fall Jayden Stranger, 3:52

121: Curtis Maynard (T) fall Jason Bronson, 1:35

127: Tanner Vanderpool (T) dec. Justin Scanlon, 8-2

133: Jazick Brown (T) dec. Cole Lamberton, 11-5

139: Gage Evans (T) tech. Connor Scanlon, 18-3, 3:55

145: Landen Estus (H) dec. Brayden Spencer, 9-2

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Kobe White, :29

160: Reese Sluyter (T) fall Chase Clemo, 1:50

172: Mason Avery (H) fall Kolton McPeak, 2:38

TOWANDA 64, JERSEY SHORE 5

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) dec. Slate Sechrist, 9-0

285: Mason Higley (T) fft

107: Bradley Derr (J) tech. Mason Harbst, 17-0, 5:13

114: Jayden Stranger (T) fft

121: Curtis Maynard (T) fall Camden Baker, :31

127: Tanner Vanderpool (T) fall Coltyn Rockwell, :41

133: Jazick Brown (T) fall Mason Winter, 2:52

139: Gage Evans (T) dec. Louden Spotts, 8-1

145: Brayden Spencer (T) fall Mazden Lupton, 3:22

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Tobias Morgret, 3:19

160: Rylee Sluyter (T) fall Jonathan Dincher, :59

172: Chase Geurin (T) fall Marshall Metzger, 1:05

189: Zach Lantz (T) dec. Riley Kanski, 5-2

TOWANDA 36, MONTGOMERTY 30

107: Manny Stoltzfus (M) fall Mason Harbst, :53

114: Liam Seeley (M) tech. Jayden Stranger, 19-3, 4:19

121: Curtis Maynard (T) tech. Porter Hall, 18-3, 5:20

127: Tanner Vanderpool (T) fft

133: Carden Wagner (M) fall Jazick Brown, 1:50

139: Brandt Harer (M) tech. Gage Evans, 15-0, 1:24

145: AJ Kroft (M) dec. Wyatt Stranger, 3-1

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) tech. Cameron Woltz, 15-0, 3:04

160: Rylee Sluyter (T) tech. Max Furman, 16-1, 5:44

172: Chase Geurin (T) maj. Raiden Felix, 9-1

189: Coy Bryson (M) tech. Zach Lantz, 15-0, 3:35

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) tech. Evan Hugar, 15-0, 2:12

285: Mason Higley (T) fall Layne Gingery, :30

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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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