It was the last time the Seniors of Wallenpaupack Area’s Wrestling Team were going to take the mat on their turf, in front of their home-crowd, in the Purple Palace, and they wanted to go out on a strong note. They did just that on Wednesday night with a 44-17 dismantling of East Stroudsburg North.

The match started at the 160 pound weight class with ‘Paupack’s Kit Swenson taking on Brandon George. Swenson jumped out to a big lead when the first period was over, up 12-0, and early in the second period he picked up the technical fall winning 18-2.

“I’m definitely sad that it’s over, this being our last home match,” said Swenson. “We didn’t reach all of our expectations that we had at the beginning of the season, but we all worked hard and we’re pretty happy (with tonight’s victory).”

Next up was Ryan Johanson (171) and North’s Chris VanderHeide. Johanson built a 2-0 lead after the first period, a 5-0 lead after the second, and cruised to a 7-1 decision to put the Bucks up 8-0 in the match.

Two matches later at 215, and to the chant of “Newcs”, Taylor Newcomer was on the mat against Robert Brekhausen.

In the first period Newcomer had a 5-1 lead, but in the second he was determined to get a pin, in his last home-match as a Buckhorn, and he did at the 3:07 mark, putting the Purple Pack up 14-4.

“I was excited, it was our last home match. I used a cross-face corkscrew (to get the pin). I’m really going to miss wrestling with these guys,” said Newcomer.

At 285 Frank Bruno took center stage in an emotionally charged match. Bruno was up 2-1 after the first period over North’s Lance Francois and in the second picked up the pin at the 3:46 mark. Bruno exploded up from the mat after the pin, and gave a huge fist pump, igniting a roar from the crowd, and giving his team a 20-4 lead and the momentum in the match.

Josh Rake (103) added the third consecutive pin in a row for the Bucks when he got the fall at the 2:48 mark over Miguel Bernardo, extending the lead to 26-4.

At 119 Grant Shafer earned the decision over Luke Kametz and at 130 Dan Ingulli recorded another pin for the Bucks putting them up 35-10.

Keith Tsuhako (135) kept the scoreboard turning for the Bucks when he collected an 8-2 decision over Tanner Clark and Taylor McClay (140) recorded the last pin in the Purple Palace of the year for the Varsity Bucks when he earned the fall at the 4:33 mark over Jece Wingerter.

“Overall I think we could have had a better season but I’m pretty happy,” said McClay. “I was trying to get as many near falls as I could, but I’m happy that I got the pin.”

On the night the Bucks recorded five pins in the 44-17 victory.

Editor’s note: Each senior will be included in future issues.
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