HS WRESTLING: Obrzut playing role of hunted this year

Hanover Areas CJ Caines, top, wrestles at Wyoming Area in Exeter on Dec.

11.

BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Wyoming Areas Nate Obrzut, left, defeats Hanover Areas Ricardo Feliciano in Exeter on Dec.

11.

BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Wyoming Areas Connor Novakowski, left, wrestles Hanover Areas Derek Warman in Exeter on Wednesday, Dec.

11, 2024.

BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Hanover Areas CJ Caines, top, wrestles at Wyoming Area in Exeter on Dec.

11.

BILL TARUTIS / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Nate Obrzut loves a good sports card collection.

Its an avid hobby for the Wyoming Area heavyweight.

Its a passion he grew with his father as they frequent shops looking for rare finds.

My dad and I, we love to open sports cards at home and collect all the autographs, he said.

Ive always watched football, and I watch a little bit of basketball and baseball.

We have a card shop close to my house that we like to go to.

What cards is he hunting these days? Right now, I have few Victor Wembanyama rookies, and my favorite guy in the NFL right now is Bo Nix.

Ive been watching him since he was playing at Oregon, so Im collecting some of his cards now, Obrzut said.

Just like the Warrior is hunting for those rare finds in the sports memorabilia world, hes the person heavyweights in Class 2A will be hunting when the district tournament rolls around later this month.

Its a different role for Obrzut as a senior.

One year ago, the Warrior big man was the hunter, an underdog in his own words.

He was in the midst of a solid junior season, entering the district tournament on the verge of a 30-win campaign.

In terms of seeding, he was in good shape entering the bracket as the No.

3 seed with four advancing to the regional tournament.

Meaning, if he wrestled true to his seed, he was going to grab one of those coveted spots inside of Williamsports Magic Dome for the PIAA Class 2A Northeast Regional Tournament.

Obrzut had other plans.

He won his first two matches by fall, sending him into the semifinals against No.

2 seed Paul Borowski of Western Wayne where he pinned the Wildcat in just 90 seconds.

That springboarded him to the final against Scranton Preps Max Schnipes, who was 22-2 at the time and ranked No.

11 in the state.

There, Obrzut caught the Cavalier on his back during a mat scramble to earn the upset win.

Thats why this year is different.

Hes no longer the underdog.

Hes the reigning district champ.

I like that I had a higher status as a district champ, and I knew that some people would follow along with my season and see how it went, Obrzut said.

Its tough, because when you win a district title, it does come with higher expectations.

Ive been working hard all year to live up to those expectations.

Its different than last year, definitely.

I was the third seed in the district tournament last year, and I was kind of the underdog.

This year, I want to be at the top of the bracket with that No.

1 seed.

I like the role.

Dont get me wrong, I like being the underdog.

But I also like knowing that Im one of the top dogs, too.

I want to keep that same mindset going into the tournament.

You cant go in with a big head.

Obrzut has put together a really strong senior year.

Hes 32-5 with 22 falls.

Recently, he reached his 100th career win as hes sitting with a record of 106-37.

Looking at my freshman year, I think I had 20 wins.

If you are fortunate enough to start your freshman year, you know that you need 25 wins a year to reach that 100-win mark, Obrzut said.

Ive been working hard since then, and the 33 wins in my junior year, that was huge for helping me to get close to that milestone.

Once I got those wins, in my eyes, it became a good possibility that I could reach it.

Hes also recently committed to wrestle in college where hell join former Dallas standout Lucas Tirpak at Delaware Valley College.

Del Valley was just the perfect fit for me because it had everything I wanted in a college, the coaches made me feel welcome, the team was welcoming to me, and it just seemed like everything fit there for me, he said.

Theres still goals in place, starting with defending that district title.

Obrzut knows it wont be easy with Borowski and Honesdales Logan Dietrich prepared to chase him.

He also understands what it would mean to qualify for the state tournament.

Ive started off pretty strong, and Im still going well.

Im just preparing for districts, regions, and hopefully, states this year, he said.

Its been a special year.

In the school now, me and my buddy Connor (Nowakowski) are now on that 100-win banner that hangs in the rafters.

Its great to be on that banner because you know your name will always been there.

Right there, its a special thing.

Hitting 100 Theres been a slew of local wrestlers that have picked up their 100th win recently.

In addition to Obrzut, teammate Novakowski picked up his milestone win at the Coal Cracker Tournament.

Hes currently sitting at 102 victories.

Others who recently reached the 100-win plateau includes Pittston Areas Dominic Innamorati, Crestwoods Lincoln Bibla and Wyoming Valley Wests Louden Giza and Caleb Hoffman.

The next one to keep an eye on is Pittston Areas Brody Spindler.

Hes currently sitting at 91 wins heading into the postseason.

Its possible he could reach that mark at either the regional tournament in Bethlehem or down at the Giant Center if hes able to grab one of the state berths to qualify.

Hazleton Areas Simon Zamudio is also nearing his 100th win after missing most of the season with an injury, and Hanover Areas Derek Warman is 11 victories shy of 100.

Hanovers young guns The future is definitely bright at Hanover Area.

Freshman sensation CJ Caines will end the regular season with a record of 39-2, second in the district in wins two behind Abington Heights Brian Heard.

Classmate Chase Smith is fourth in the district, picking up 37 wins in his first year.

There will be high hopes for both entering the postseason.

Caines is ranked No.

9 in the state by Pa.

Power Wrestling at 114 pounds as no wrestler is ranked higher than him in the Northeast Regional.

One of his two losses is to Freddy Bachmann of Faith Christian Academy, who is No.

1 in the state and ranked nationally.

Smith will have a tough road at 107.

Standing there is Honesdales Nathan Schuman, ranked No.

24 in the state.

Regionals wont be easy, either.

Montgomerys Manny Stoltzfus, Montoursvilles Branden Eisenhour, Williamsons Zander Wilson, Southern Columbias Rowen Humphrey and Northeast Bradfords Mason Alexander are all ranked in the top 25, according to Pa.

Power.

Hanover Area finished third at the District 2 Class 2A Team Tournament, and fielded a lineup of mainly freshmen and sophomores.

Add to it a few junior-high hammers coming up through, and the Hawkeyes could be a team to watch in the future.

Girls rankings Pa.

Power Wrestling also released their first set of girls wrestling rankings.

Leading the way is Nanticoke Area junior Sierra Ripka, who is ranked No.

4 at 170.

Looking at the rankings, that 170-pound bracket at regionals is absolutely loaded.

State champ Jael Miller of Punxsutawney is No.

1, while Ripka, Jersey Shores Isabella Gotschall, Central Mountains Kendall Wagner and Bald Eagle Areas Grace Crestani are all ranked in the top 10.

There are only four spots to advance to states, so thats definitely one to watch.

Other ranked girls are Santina Saraka, 112, 19th; Bella Seip, 118, 7th; Emily Kivler, 118, 11th; Rachel Shoemaker, 124, 13th; Miah Molinaro, 136, 17th; Brooke Long, 155, 16th; and Taydem Sanchez, 190, 19th.

A first at Valley West Last Sunday, Wyoming Valley West hosted a girls tournament for the first time as 11 teams participated in the event.

Its the second school that hosts an area girls tournament as Hanover Area started a holiday event two years ago.

Stroudsburg won the event with a total of 188 team points.

Nanticoke Area was second with 169, while Hazleton Area, Valley West and Milton rounded out the top five.

Champs in the bracketed weights included Valley Wests Seip (118), Hazleton Areas Shaniece Brown (124) and Molinaro (136), Bentons Callie Hess (130) and Honesdales Maddison Miller (142).

Round-robin winners were Nanticokes Matilda Serrano (100), Penelope Serrano (106), Kivler (112), Ripka (170) and Michelle Pastuizaca (190), Wyalusings Alexa Jayne (148), Valley Wests Long (155) and Crestwoods Samara Bailey (235)..

This article has been shared from the original article on citizensvoice, here is the link to the original article.