H.S. WRESTLING: ATHENS HAS FIVE ALIVE IN WRESTLEBACKS AT COAL CRACKER INVITE (January 23, 2026)

Valley Sports Report
LEHIGHTON, Pa. — Athens has five wrestlers alive headed into Day 2 of the rugged Coal Cracker Invitational, including two — juniors Zaine Campbell and Connor Davidson — who reached the quarterfinals before falling into the consolation bracket.

Freshman Chace VanDyke and senior Ryan Howard each won four matches in a row in wrestlebacks after losing in the opening round, and junior Brendan Cooke is also alive in the consolation bracket.

The Wildcats are in 20th-place in the 57-team field here at Lehighton Area High School with 74 points.

Faith Christian leads the field with 151 points, while Salesianum is second with 123 points, and Honesdale in third with 122.5 points.

Campbell was 3-1 in the 129-pound bracket.

Campbell won his opening-round match via injury default, then scored a 17-1 technical fall of Honesdale's Jesse Balsam in 2:19.

In the round-of-16, Campbell forged an 11-8 win over Warrior Run's Chase Wirnsberger.

In the quarterfinals, Campbell lost via first-period fall to Salesianum's Dominic Lucian in 1:33.

Junior Connor Davidson was 3-1 at 174 pounds, winning his first two bouts via fall.

Davidson scored his quickest fall of the night, decking Western Wayne's Norman Phillips in 14 seconds, then pinned Abington Heights' Ayden Kane in 1:30.

In the round-of-16, Davidson blanked Crestwood's Nathan Wisnewski, 7-0.

Davidson dropped into wrestlebacks after a 15-3 major decision loss to Warrior Run standout Max Wirnsberger in the quarterfinals.

Freshman Chace VanDyke was 4-1 in the 109-pound bracket, winning four in a row in the consolation bracket.
 
Following a technical fall loss to Boiling Spring's Wyatt Kiner, VanDyke scored a 20-3 technical fall of East Stroudsburg's Payton Torres in 3:00.

VanDyke followed it up with a 10-second pin of Wyoming Area's Tyler Randazzo, and a pin of Halifax Area's Kamden Schadel in 2:04.

He closed out the night with a 17-1 technical fall win over Pocono Mountain East's Mikael Oh in 2:34.

Senior Ryan Howard was 4-1 in the 162-pound bracket, and also won four in a row in wrestlebacks.

Following a technical fall loss to unbeaten Warrior Run standout Reagan Millheim in the opening round, Howard bounced back with a 12-second pin of Archbishop Wood Catholic's Anthony Schmid, and a 32-second fall over Crestwood's Jack Hoovler.

Howard then forged a 19-3 technical fail over Lehighton's Konner Nalesnik, then finished off the night with a pin of Salisbury's Michael Segata in 1:50.

Junior Brandon Cooke was 4-1 in the 191-pound bracket, closing out the night with two wins in the consolation bracket.

Cooke opened the day with a 20-4 technical fall win over Jim Thorpe's Phineas Benyo, then scored a 22-6 technical fall win over Montgomery's Gage Furman.

After a loss to Crestwood's Mariusz Bibla via second-period fall, Cooke bounced back with a pin of Upper Dauphin's Wyatt Troutman in 2:01.

Cooke finished the night with a 10-2 major decision of Germantown Academy's Jack Breme.

Junior Lucas Persun was 3-2 in the 135-pound weight class.

Persun opened the day with a 22-4 technical fall of East Stroudsburg's Anthony Almonte in 2:57, then won a 21-5 technical fall over Hanover Area's Jace Thomas in 2:16.

In the round-of-16, Cooke dropped a 7-5 decision to Wallenpaupack's Giovanni Lomonaco.

He bounced back with an 8-4 decision over Dieruff's Theodore Ties, but was eliminated via second-period fall to Bangor Area's Carter Smith.

Senior Brenden Comstock was 3-2 in the 285-pound bracket, winning three in a row in wrestlebacks after an opening-round loss.

After a loss via first-period fall to Wallenpaupack's Rocco Emilio, Comstock bounced back with a 46-second pin of Jim Thorpe's Lucas Knopf, and a 15-0 technical fall of Scranton's Austin Gottstein in 4:00.

Comstock's third win was a 4-0 decision over Palmerton's Domenick Brown.

Comstock was eliminated via an 8-7 loss to East Stroudsburg's Josiah Rodriguez.

Wyatt Clink was 2-2 in the 141-pound bracket.

After a loss via first-period fall in the opening round, Clink scored an 18-3 technical fall of Pocono Mountain West's Anthony Garza in 4:15, then won via pin of Jim Thorpe's Joshua Mantilla in 1:40.

Clink was eliminated via second-period fall to Lehighton's Connor Dugan.

Freshman Josh Saxon was 1-2 at 109 pounds, with his lone win a pin of Wyoming Valley West's Zariel Cedano in 4:01.

David Janiszeski was 1-2 at 141 pounds, with his lone win a 1-0 decision over Wyoming Area's Damon Swartwood.

Wilson Kinsman was 0-2 in the 123-pound bracket, and junior Landon Layman was 0-2 at 217 pounds.

Day 2 action begins 9 a.m.

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