Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe won an individual title and the Pittston Area wrestling team continued its improvement with a fifth-place finish when the Wyoming Valley Conference Championships were held Friday and Saturday at Lake-Lehman High School.

Pepe, a freshman who has won his first 20 varsity matches, captured the 106-pound title.

Pittston Area placed fifth out of 12 teams for its best finish since 2014. The 2014 team was second in the tournament, but the Patriots had not finished higher than eighth since and were 11th or worse each of the last three seasons.

Pepe opened the tournament Friday by needing just 20 seconds to pin Lake-Lehman’s Brendon Boston. He displayed a different type of dominance in advancing to the next day’s semifinals, winning a technical fall over Wyoming Valley West’s Dorian Hoffman, 16-1, in 5:16.

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The challenge for Pepe came in the semifinals where he got past Tunkhannock’s Owen Woods, 8-6.

Pepe then pinned Wilkes-Barre Area’s Joshua Warman in 3:10 of the finals.

Pittston Area did not have a champion, but A.J. Gorto did reach the final to finish second. The Patriots also had two wrestlers each take third, fourth, fifth and sixth place in their weight classes.

That combination produced 124 points.

Hazleton Area won the team title, 213½-208½, over Tunkhannock. Pittston Area wound up 10½ behind fourth-place Wyoming Valley West and 16½ in front of sixth-place Dallas.

Wyoming Area was 11th with 81 points.

Gorto reach the 160-pound final with first- and second-period pins, but once there, he was pinned by Hazleton Area’s Charles Everdale in 1:31.

Kevin Robey and James Spindler had the third-place finishes.

Robey pinned Lake-Lehman’s Brandon Ritinski with two seconds left in the 120-pound consolation final. Spindler beat Hazleton Area’s Christian Kislan, 3-1.

Keegan Bucci, at 106, and C.J. Demark, at 152, each finished fourth. Both tournament losses by Demark were in low-scoring decisions.

Jacob Granahan won a major decision in the 126-pound fifth-place match and Adrian Colon pinned Wyoming Area’s Nasir Condry for fifth at 220.

Joii Phillips and Nico Solano took sixth at 113 and 138.

Wyoming Area’s Rocco Pizano worked his way into the consolation final with consecutive pins in under a minute, then settled for fourth place at 138 pounds.

Connor Wrobleski from Wyoming Area also finished fourth, losing in double overtime of the 170-pound consolation final. Wrobleski lost twice by a total of four points in what was regarded as the toughest weight class at the tournament.

Vincent Bowers (195), Condry and Ethan Speece finished sixth in the last three weight classes, 195, 220 and 285.

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