Last year, the Saucon Valley Wrestling Team won its first ever team state championship title.

This year, the Panthers were looking to do so once again. 

“Our expectation was to defend our state title,” claimed senior Travis Riefenstahl.

They started off on the right foot, winning the Top Hat tournament, which they compete in every year. This momentum carried into their first two regular season matchups, with wins against both Bangor and Pen Argyl.

But Saucon took a step back, placing 12th at the Beast of the East tournament, which is held at the University of Delaware. They battled some injuries prior to and during the tournament. 

They then won their bout against Northwestern Lehigh, and placed fifth overall at the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic.

This set them up for a 7-match win streak. Which includes a 1st place finish at the Big Red Duals tournament, where the team went 4-0. 

This then brought them to their first regular season dual meet loss against AA powerhouse, Notre Dame Green-Pond, by a score of 40-20. 

“We had to bounce back from this, and take it one match at a time,” Riefenstahl said of the loss.

The team did just that in the Northern Lebanon Berseker Duals tournament. The team went 4-0 and won yet another tournament. 

This just about wrapped up the regular season, as they won their last bout against Palisades, 44-21.

The Panthers won the colonial league championship, with a total score of 186.5.

“It was an exhilarating performance, we were hyped,” senior Tyler Pfizenmayer exclaimed.

This was the expectation, but they are also expected to make the District XI finals, which they did. In order to get there they beat Blue Mountain and Lehighton, respectively. This led to another matchup against Notre Dame, which they unfortunately lost 49-15. 

They had secured a spot in the PIAA state tournament though, with a first round matchup against Bishop McDevitt. They took care of business and won 41-34.

Next up was against United, which Saucon won 42-21.

In the quarterfinal round, the Panthers were up against Burgettstown, a team located just outside of Pittsburgh. 

Saucon battled extremely hard, and had a heartbreaking loss, 30-28.

“The team was frustrated and upset, but we had more matches left and had to fight back,” said Pfizenmayer.

They went 2-1 in the consolation matches, losing to Berks Catholic, and had a top 6 in the state finish. 

“We fell just short of our ultimate goal, but fought hard and got some big wins,” said Riefenstahl.

“We felt great considering we were battling several injuries as a team,” Pfizenmayer claimed.

It was going to be difficult for Saucon Valley to replicate what they did last year. They lost a few very good seniors, which created holes that were difficult to fill. But it was yet another successful season for the historic Saucon Valley Wrestling program.

Individual Accomplishments:

Senior Jake Jones: District XI Champion, PIAA 5th place, 150 career wins, first in Saucon Valley Wrestling history to achieve 100 pins. (189 lbs.)

Senior Liam Scrivanich: District XI Champion, PIAA 5th place, 100, career wins. (152 lbs.)

Senior Travis Riefenstahl: District XI Runner-Up. (145 lbs.)

Senior Tyler Pfizenmayer: 100 career wins. (Weight class varied)

Sophomore Aiden Grogg: District XI Champion, PIAA 6th place. (121 lbs.)

Sophomore Cole Hubert: District XI Runner-Up, PIAA 5th place. (114 lbs.)

Sophomore Jared Rohn: District XI Runner-Up (160 lbs.)

Sophomore Jackson Albert: District XI Runner-Up (139 lbs.)

*All but Pfizenmayer (injured) were state qualifiers.