Log In


Reset Password

Tigers’ Fugazzotto captures Colonial title

Northwestern Lehigh’s Luke Fugazzotto has already authored an impressive freshman campaign.

He added another chapter on Sunday.

Fugazzotto powered his way to the 160-pound title at the Colonial League Championships at Catasauqua High School, punctuating the performance with his second pin of the day in the final.

The freshman was dynamic and dominant en route to the title, scoring points and showcasing the ability that has helped him secure 21 pins among his 26 victories this season.

“I like it,” Fugazzotto said of getting to his offense. “I just try and do what I do best.”

Fugazzotto picked apart No. 2 seed Mason Beckowski of Saucon Valley in the finals.

The Tigers freshman scored a takedown in the first period to grab an early 2-0 lead.

Fugazzotto dominated the second period, getting an early escape before securing a takedown and three back points to push his advantage to 8-0.

The third period was more of the same, with Fugazzotto getting a reversal to make it 10-0. After an escape by Beckowski with 1:01 remaining, Fugazzotto got his third takedown of the match before punctuating the performance with a fall at the 5:13 mark.

“He’s a strong kid,” Northwestern coach Joe Killar said of Fugazzotto. “He’s tough and a hard worker. He’s been growing through the season.”

After a first round bye, Fugazzotto, the top seed at 160, picked up an 11-2 major decision over Notre Dame Green Pond’s Nate Thomas in the quarterfinals before pinning Salisbury’s Toby Linn, the fourth seed, in 3:34 in the semis.

“The first two matches were iffy performances. I wasn’t really proud of myself,” said Fugazzotto. “But in the finals match, I felt like I really did better than the first two matches.”

Fugazotto might be his toughest critic, and he knows there’s always room for improvement. But he also has a pair of state qualifiers in the room with him in Dalton Clymer and Buck Miller, who both reached the finals on Sunday.

It also helps that the trio are close in weight, with Clymer wrestling at 172 pounds and Miller competing at 189.

“I like practicing with them. They really help me get better,” said Fugazzotto. “We always wrestle with each other. Sometimes I get the best of Clymer, he gets the best of me. We just make each other better. Hopefully we can just keep doing that.”

Being able to work with the likes of Clymer, a junior, and Miller, a senior, who both made it to states last year, on a daily basis has helped Fugazzotto mentally as much as it has physically.

“When I wrestle with them and I’m hanging in there with them, it really gives me a lot of confidence, to know that I can hold my own,” Fugazzotto said.

He’s done that and then some this season.

In addition to Clymer and Miller, Palmerton’s Derek King also advanced to the finals on Sunday.

Clymer and No. 2 seed Danny Haubert of Palisades delivered another close match in the finals, only this time it was Haubert coming out on top 5-2.

After Clymer topped Haubert 3-2 to secure his spot in the third-place match at the Coal Cracker last week, Haubert, who got out from bottom early in the second period, pushed his lead to 3-0 with a takedown with 1:02 remaining before Clymer made it 3-1 with an escape with 0:42 left in the period.

Clymer cut the deficit to 3-2 with escape early in the third period, but wasn’t able to generate enough offense the remainder of the match as Haubert - who placed second at districts and third at regionals to advance to Hershey a year ago, ­- hung on through several resets with the pair on their feet in the final period, scoring a takedown in the final 0:04 to make it 5-2.

Despite the setback, Clymer was more than happy to see his teammates also have success at the event, a product of the work the group puts in.

“That comes from what we do in the room,” Clymer said. “Having three in the finals, and Dartanyon (Delilio), who was able to take third today (at 285 pounds), which was awesome. It’s us battling it out every day, making each other better. So to see them have success, and for Luke, being a freshman and seeing him have success, it’s awesome. I love it. I love it for our team. It’s not the finish I wanted today, but it’s really good for them, and I’m happy for them.”

The top seed at 172, Clymer - who was a district champion as a freshman - pinned Northern Lehigh’s Chase Moffitt in 3:00 in the quarterfinals before topping Southern Lehigh’s Cade Sawyer, the fourth seed in 1:32 to reach the finals.

Miller ran into a tough opponent in No. 1 seed Jacob Jones of Saucon Valley in the finals.

Jones - who was second at states last season after winning district and regional championships - claimed the title with a pin in 0:56.

Miller, seeded third at 189, posted a technical fall (18-3, 5:39) over Bangor’s Sam Woolverton in the quarterfinals. Miller knocked off No. 2 seed Jakub Gloc of Salisbury 5-3 in the semis. Trailing 1-0 entering the third period, Miller went ahead with a reversal and increased his advantage to 5-1 with three nearfall points with 0:26 left before Gloc got a reversal near the end of the period to make it 5-3.

“It’s definitely helpful, because you’re going to see these guys again at districts,” said Miller. “It gives you that experience, kind of proving to yourself what you can do, which will help later on.”

The Bombers’ King also hit a tough opponent in the finals in top seed Jackson Albert of Saucon Valley, who was second at districts last season as a freshman.

Albert got the first takedown less than 15 seconds into the match and increased his lead to 5-0 with three back points midway through the first period before securing the title with a pin in 1:47.

“It’s good to know where the good competition is, and where they’re at,” said King.

King, the third seed at 139 pounds, rolled past Logan Winters of Palisades with a 10-2 major decision in the quarterfinals. King bounced No. 2 seed Hunter Greenawalt of Northwestern with a 7-4 decision in the semifinals.

King built a 2-0 lead in the first period with a takedown, and increased his advantage to 4-0 with a reversal early in the second period. Greenawalt responded in the third with a takedown and two nearfall points to tie the match at 4-4 with 1:20 left.

But King answered with an escape before securing a takedown with 0:55 left to seal the win.

“I knew it was going to be tough coming in,” King said of his match with Greenawalt. “I got to my offense early, which I thought was important. He came back and it was close, but I just stuck to what I know I’m good at.”

TEAM SCORES

... Saucon Valley won the team title with 186.5 points ahead of Notre Dame Green Pond (126) and Salisbury (99.5). Catasauqua (90.5) and Pen Argyl (87) rounded out the top five. Northwestern was sixth with 86.5 points, while Palmerton was 11th (46) and Northern Lehigh 12th (34).

NEW LOOK

... The individual tournament replaced the previous format, which brought the top four teams in the league together for a dual competition.

CL Wrestling Championships

First Place

107

- Tanner Berkenstock (Notre Dame Green Pond) dec. Santino Micci (Wilson), 4-1

114

- Giovanni Dibiagio (Wilson) pinned Gavin Hacker (Catasauqua) in 0:44

121

- Cole Hubert (Saucon Valley) maj. dec. Cooper Feltmann (Notre Dame Green Pond), 9-0

127

- Aiden Grogg (Saucon Valley) pinned Collin Ramsay (Pen Argyl) in 5:52

133

- John Haubert (Palisades) maj. dec. Rider Heckman (Wilson), 14-1

139

- Jackson Albert (Saucon Valley) pinned Derek King (Palmerton) in 1:47

145

- Gavin Fehr (Catasauqua) pinned Nino Morici (Notre Dame Green Pond) in 5:45

152

- Liam Scrivanich (Saucon Valley) tech. fall Josh Ludlow (Notre Dame Green Pond), 17-0 (2:00)

160

- Luke Fugazzotto (Northwestern Lehigh) pinned Mason Beckowski (Saucon Valley) in 5:13

172

- Danny Haubert (Palisades) dec. Dalton Clymer (Northwestern Lehigh), 5-2

189

- Jacob Jones (Saucon Valley) pinned Buck Miller (Northwestern Lehigh) in 0:56

215

- Tyler Pfizenmayer (Saucon Valley) dec. Chad Beller (Catasauqua), 4-0

285

- Mitchell Miller (Salisbury) dec. Gino Guerrisi(Notre Dame Green Pond), 7-2

Third Place

107

- Griffin King (Southern Lehigh) pinned Brock Schneiderwind (Palisades) in 1:51

114

- Carter Smith (Bangor) pinned Kellen Trotter (Palmerton) in 4:44

121

- Mikhail Hartranft (Catasauqua) pinned Cody Mazzocca (Northern Lehigh) in 1:31

127

- David Mballa (Wilson) pinned Mike Hurd (Notre Dame Green Pond) in 3:50

133

- John Samy (Salisbury) dec. Michael Fuller (Bangor), 4-0

139

- Sean Steckert (Southern Lehigh) maj. dec. Hunter Greenawalt (Northwestern Lehigh), 14-0

145

- David Sipley (Bangor) pinned Leonidas Zaharakis (Saucon Valley) in 2:41

152

- Alex Moser (Pen Argyl) pinned Tyler Scholato (Bangor) in 4:33

160

- Toby Linn (Salisbury) tech. fall Nuallan King (Pen Argyl), 17-2 (4:56)

172

- Cade Sawyer(Southern Lehigh) pinned Eddie Melhem (Notre Dame Green Pond) in 2:11

189

- Jakub Gloc (Salisbury) dec. Gian Greggo (Pen Argyl), 6-2

215

- Michael Fluck (Southern Lehigh) maj. dec. Noah Schoefler (Northwestern Lehigh), 15-6

285

- Dartanyon Delilio (Northwestern Lehigh) dec. Sam Frame (Northern Lehigh), 2-1 (TB2)

Fifth Place

107

- Evan Reed (Catasauqua) pinned Blayke Lacey (Pen Argyl) in 1:22

121

- Aiden Knorr (Pen Argyl) dec. Josh Merkel (Palmerton), 10-6

127

- Angelo Ziccardi (Palisades) pinned Edwin Serrano (Salisbury) in 4:26

133

- Luca Albanese (Pen Argyl) dec. Scotty Stevens (Southern Lehigh), 2-0

139

- Logan Winters (Palisades) dec. Danny Thatcher PA (Wilson), 6-0

145

- Mason Holva (Salisbury) maj. dec. Teddy Musselman (Palisades), 9-1

152

- Miles Melendez (Catasauqua) pinned Nathaniel Tone (Salisbury) in 2:58

160

- Daniel Lucykanish (Palmerton) dec. Nate Thomas (Notre Dame Green Pond), 5-2

172

- Landon Beckowski (Saucon Valley) dec. Kris Kessler (Pen Argyl), 7-3

189

- Jack Tosh (Northern Lehigh) dec. Sam Woolverton (Bangor), 4-3

215

- Michael Culver (Pen Argyl) pinned Sam Krauss (Salisbury) in 2:00

285

- Kevaughn Simpson (Wilson Area) pinned Ian Gill (Southern Lehigh) in 3:51

Northwestern's Luke Fugazzotto (right) battles Notre Dame's Nate Thomas in a quarterfinal round bout. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Buck Miller (top) of Northwestern works to pin Bangor's Sam Woolverton in the 189 pound quarterfinals. NANCY SCHOLZ/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS