With Wednesday night’s 61-15 win against Palisades, the Saucon Valley Panther wrestlers have crossed the finish line for another unbeaten regular season in the Colonial League. Having the Pirates surrender six forfeits before the match even got underway was a bit of an anticlimactic finish to the regular season for Panther fans. Nonetheless, with the victory over Palisades, Saucon Valley secured a perfect 8-0 Colonial League regular season record. Coach Shirk and the Saucon Valley wrestling program have now won an amazing 73 Colonial League dual meets in a row!
For the Palisades match, Coach Shirk pointed to Nick Warnke (285) as “Wrestler of the Match” due to him adjusting, and executing, his technique. Nick’s style seems to be more of an upper-body grappler. He likes to hand fight and work from his tie-ups that usually start up around the head of his opponents. However, against Palisades it looked as if Warnke diversified his offense by incorporating more of a leg attack. Warnke was able to convert six takedowns before pinning his Pirate opponent.
So, the table is now set for the 2018-19 Colonial League Championships to be held tomorrow (Jan. 28) at Catasauqua High School. The Panthers have been practicing hard and now direct their full attention to Monday night’s showdown. Saucon looks to claim a seventh consecutive Colonial League title. With their 8-0 record, the Panthers have locked up the #1 seed. Notre Dame (7-1) claims the #2 seed. Wilson (6-2) earned the #3 seed while Catty (5-3) was awarded the #4 seed.
Freshman Dante Mahaffey picked up a first-period pin for the Panthers against Catasauqua in their first meeting.
Here is a look at the head-to-head season results of the four finalists. It is worth noting that Catty defeated Northwestern 42-31 on Jan. 23 to claim the #4 seed. It is a safe bet that the Panthers will advance while most eyes will be on a brutal battle between Notre Dame and Wilson in the semifinals. For the most part, a six-point swing (or less) could be critical in the outcome of these matches. Either way, the championship is shaping up to be a knock-down, drag-out affair!
Neither Notre Dame nor Wilson wrestled Catty during the 2018-19 season.
Thomas Spirk and the Panthers squared off against the Crusaders in front of a packed house back in December.
The winner of each semifinal will square off for the Colonial League Championship!
Freshman Ty Csencsits came up big for the Panthers against the Wilson Warriors on Jan. 17, 2019.
A Saucon Source Shout-Out to senior wrestler Jarrett Hirschbeck for being named Coordinated Health’s Athlete of the Week! Mcall.com, as well as sports fans throughout the Lehigh Valley, really appreciated Jarrett’s big pin against Wilson back on Jan. 17.
Another Shout-Out to the Saucon Valley junior high wrestling coaches, Andy Koch and Bryan Israel. They loaded their boys up at 6 a.m. Saturday morning and gave them a 2-hour tour of Pennsylvania on their way to the Line Mountain junior high wrestling tournament.
A BIG Shout-Out goes to those Panther junior high wrestlers. They represented their hometown and performed very well against 24 other teams who are primarily from central Pennsylvania. Saucon Valley certainly brought home a sizable share of hardware from the Line Mountain tourney!
The junior high wrestlers represented Saucon Valley very well at the Line Mountain junior high wrestling tournament.
Up Next: The Colonial League Championships at Catasauqua High School (5:30 p.m.) C’mon out and support the Panthers!