NTL WRESTLING: TOWANDA TAKES SECOND AT FLYNN ENERGY DUALS (2025-01-04)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
TOWANDA — Towanda saw five wrestlers go undefeated as they took second at the Flynn Energy Duals on Saturday, going 5-1 overall.

The Knights rolled through pool wrestling, beating Troy (59-6), SVEC (70-0), and Commodore Perry (61-12). In cross-over action they defeated Sullivan County (52-21), and Port Allegany (44-25), but came up short against Berks Catholic in the finals, 48-18.

“Berks Catholic is a very strong team, and I thought we wrestled fairly well agains them,” said Towanda coach Bill Sexton. “They just had a lot more than we did in certain places. All in all, it was a good day for us. I thought we wrestled well against both Commodore Perry and Port Allegany. I thought we came out with big, big efforts in those matches. We started off really strong against Commodore Perry, got a real good sweep going on them, basically blew the match away early on, and then just continued through the rest of it.”

Mason Higley, Sawyer Robinson, Riley Vanderpool, and Rylee Sluyter all went 6-0 on the day, with Reese Sluyter going 5-0.

The highlight of Higley’s day was pinning Port Allegany’s Cam Neely, a fifth place finisher in the state a year ago.

“He had a big day today,” Sexton said. “(Muncy’s) Austin Johnson won the Outstanding Wrestler Award, and I take nothing away from Austin Johnson, because he’s a really, really good kid, but I think Mason really deserved Outstanding Wrestler consideration today, too. He beat some really good heavyweights. Heavyweight, I think, was probably the deepest weight class, and he dominated.”

Gage Evans, and Chase Geurin both went 5-1, as Zach Lantz, and Mason Harbst finished up 4-2. Hagen Jones, and Brayden Spencer were 3-3, Jayden Stranger was 2-4, and Jace Gunther went 0-1.

“I thought Mason stepped up really big,” Sexton said about Harbst. “He got his first actual wrestling win, and he’s up against it every time he goes on the mat - he’s probably eight, nine pounds under the weight class when he goes out, sometimes more now that they got that two pounds. He gives it everything he’s got, he works really hard in the room. I was very happy he could come up with a pin for us in the match against Port Allegany. We got two pins from our big guns at 215, and heavyweight, and then he got another one - three straight pins in a row - and really kind of set it up to close that match out.”

Towanda was short handed, missing Curt Maynard (121) and Tanner Vanderpool (127). While they had to forfeit at 121, Sexton liked what he saw out of Jones filling in for Tanner.

“Injuries are part of it, and, luckily, we have depth pieces that were able to step in and do some work for us,” said Sexton. “We unfortunately did not have any back-up for 121, but I thought Hagen Jones stepped in, and had a really fine day for us in his first varsity action tonight. I always tell the kids, you only get one chance to win your first match, and he stepped up. The first time he we out on a varsity match he got a pin for us.”

Towanda has a busy week as they hit the road early on to face NEB Tuesday, and Central Columbia Wednesday. They end the week by welcoming their rivals, Wyalusing, as they battle for the Standing Stone Trophy.

“We’ll think about Wyalusing when we get a chance to get there,” Sexton said. “We’ve got two to look at beforehand, and, obviously, the Wyalusing match is a big match, but let’s get those other two out of the way first, and then we’ll regroup and get ready.”

TOWANDA 59, TROY 6

121: Double Forfeit

127: Hagen Jones (To) fall Wilder Koch, 1:28

133: Gage Evans (To) fall Keagan Kerr, 3:12

139: Brayden Spencer (To) dec. Logunn Heasley, 10-3

145: Reese Sluyter (To) tech. Marcus Frisbie, 16-0, 3:17

152: Riley Vanderpool (To) tech. Carter Austin, 18-0, 2:51

160: Rylee Sluyter (To) fall Bridon Putnman, 4:44

172: Chase Geurin (To) maj. Rylan Breidt, 19-5

189: Zach Lantz (To) fft

215: Sawyer Robinson (To) fft

285: Mason Higley (To) fall Reed Palmer, 1:01

107: Garret Parks (Tr) fall Mason Harbst, 1:56

114: Jayden Stranger (To) fall Connor Dibble, 1:00

TOWANDA 70, SVEC 0

127: Hagen Jones (T) tech. Brennan Zimmer, 17-2, 6:00

133: Gage Evans (T) tech. Rodney Vawo, 17-0, 4:52

139: Brayden Spencer (T) fall Noah Banks, 2:52

145: Reese Sluyter (T) fall Gabriel Benjamin, 1:25

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Kaden Jameson, :41

160: Rylee Sluyter (T) fft

172: Chase Geurin (T) fft

189: Zach Lantz (T) fall Kaden Sims, :43

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Zak Smith, :21

285: Mason Higley (T) fft

107: Mason Harbst (T) fall John-Michael Bohling, 1:53

114: Jayden Stranger (T) fall Dante Davis, 1:25

121: Double forfeit

TOWANDA 61, COMMODORE PERRY 12

133: Gage Evans (T) fall Leyton Zacherl, 1:46

139: Brayden Spencer (T) tech. Shane Yeager, 17-1, 3:30

145: Reese Sluyter (T) fall Cole Geibel, 3:21

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Brayden Booher, :13

160: Rylee Sluyter (T) fall Konrad Drew, 1:35

172: Chase Geurin (T) maj. Ethan Johnson, 15-2

189: Zach Lantz (T) fall Jacob Barcheck, 1:06

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Chance Yeager, 2:10

285: Mason Higley (T) maj. Garet Guthrie, 19-6

107: Mason Harbst (T) fft

114: Drew Gilarno (C) fall Jayden Stranger, 2:37

121: Hoyt Lazzar (C) fft

127: Hagen Jones (T) fall Mason Anderson, 4:51

TOWANDA 52, SULLIVAN COUNTY 21

139: Keegan Bagley (S) dec. Brayden Spencer, 17-13

145: Reese Sluyter (T) tech. Nate Christopher, 16-0, 5:03

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) fall Layne Price, 1:57

160: Rylee Sluyter (T) fall Tucker Evans, :24

172: Chase Geurin (T) fall Riggin McGowen, 1:00

189: Zach Lantz (T) fall Jacob Burger, :44

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Evan Brown, :44

285: Mason Higley (T) fft

107: Mason Harbst (T) fft

114: Andrew Kapen (S) fall Jayden Stranger, 3:07

121: Cole Barto (S) fft

127: Colton Wade (S) fall Hagen Jones, 3:30

133: Gage Evans (T) tech. Wyatt Bagley, 18-0, 2:53

TOWANDA 44, PORT ALLEGANY 25

145: Reese Sluyter (T) fall Maddin Nelson, 2:36

152: Riley Vanderpool (T) tech. Brandon Ferguson, 21-5, 5:28

160: Rylee Sluyter (T) fall Mason Gordon, 1:01

172: Chase Geurin (T) maj. Zach Hungiville, 12-3

189: Aiden Bliss (P) tech. Zach Lantz, 20-5, 5:57

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Juuso Young, 4:52

285: Mason Higley (T) fall Carson Neely, 3:02

107: Mason Harbst (T) fall Holden Nance, :32

114: Collin Fergeson (P) fall Jayden Stranger, 1:08

121: Brennan Fillhart (P) fft

127: Ian Fitzsimmons (P) maj. Hagen Jones, 12-4

133: Gage Evans (T) tech. Ian O’Shea, 15-0, 4:25

139: Isaac Postlewait (P) maj. Brayden Spencer, 17-5

BERKS CATHOLIC 48, TOWANDA 18

152: Rylee Sluyter (T) dec. Coy Koller, 4-2

160: Layden Acevedo (B) fall Chase Geurin, :44

172: Juan Eduardo Franco (B) dec. Jace Gunther, 18-12

189: Carmine Lenzi (B) fall Zach Lantz, 1:45

215: Sawyer Robinson (T) fall Eric Bennethum, 1:14

285: Mason Higley (T) fall Palmer Reber, 2:37

107: Trapp Walsh (B) fall Mason Harbst, :45

114: Tyden Shuman (B) fall Jayden Stranger, :57

121: Neil Biting (B) fft

127: Kieth Messner (B) tech. Hagen Jones, 16-0, 2:48

133: Brayden Hartranft (B) maj. Gage Evans, 15-6

139: Gunner Maciejewski (B) fall Brayden Spencer, 1:10

145: Riley Vanderpool (T) dec. Andrew Messner, 7-3

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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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