Lehigh Valley area team wrestling rankings: Final set for 2023-24 season

Easton’s Brendan Bowman wrestles Gettysburg’s Isaiah Jackson in the 127 weight bout Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, during the PIAA Wrestling Team Championship at the Giant Center in Hershey.

It looked on paper like it was going to be a down year for the Lehigh Valley area wrestling teams.

It looked like it early in the season, too.

But as Hershey staff ushered everyone out of the Giant Center last Saturday afternoon, the locals left with the most hardware … by plenty.

Morning Call-area teams were represented on all four mats during the final round of the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships.

Five locals entered the building on Thursday. All five left with medals.

Faith Christian and Bethlehem Catholic repeated as Classes 2A and 3A champions, respectively.

Easton was second in 3A. Pennridge was fourth. Notre Dame-Green Pond was third in 2A for a second year in a row.

Not bad for a down year.

Bethlehem Catholic lost two transfers and had a new coach. Mike Cole guided the ship to more gold medals.

Faith Christian was ravaged by injuries since the preseason. Still, coach Ben Clymer made sure the healthy Lions stayed on course and derailed all the competition again.

Easton had its best season in more than a decade. Pennridge had its best season ever. Notre Dame-GP continued on the same successful path, losing again to just Bethlehem Catholic in the Holy War and Faith Christian in the state tournament.

It’s hard not to believe that Nazareth wasn’t one of the state’s top 3A teams, but District 11 only gets two berths.

And Quakertown and Saucon Valley also made the state teams tournaments but lost close first-round matches.

Can’t wait to see if 2024-25 is another down season.

Morning Call top 10 wrestling team rankings

(Final rankings of 2023-24 season)

Rank. Team (Record, last week)

1. Faith Christian (12-4, 1): Dominant run to a second consecutive PIAA Class 2A team title

2. Bethlehem Catholic (16-1, 2): Won its third 3A team title in a row, 10th state crown overall

3. Easton (22-3, 3): Best finish at state tournament since 2011; most wins in a season since 2012.

4. Notre Dame-GP (16-2, 4): Third year in a row with a top-3 finish in the state 2A tournament.

5. Pennridge (21-6, 6): Program-best fourth-place finish in 3A.

6. Nazareth (14-2, 5): Much better team than the one that started back in early December.

7. Quakertown (16-5, 7): Another SOL division title.

8. Northampton (9-6, 8): It will be interesting to see how well the Konkrete Kids do in the individual postseason after a topsy-turvy regular season.

9. Saucon Valley (15-4, 9): Hoping it’s healthier for the individual postseason than it was the team version.

10. Whitehall (18-3, 10): Started season with eight consecutive victories.

Honorable mention (in alphabetical order): Bangor (10-9), Emmaus (7-7), Freedom (11-9), Lehighton (11-4), Liberty (13-7), Parkland (8-6), Pen Argyl (12-4), Pocono Mountain East (13-8), Stroudsburg (12-7), Upper Perkiomen (11-6)

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at [email protected]

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