As the end of January would bring postseason duals, the team finished the end of their regular season 11-3 with three back-to-back wins against Upper Dauphin Area, Bermudian Springs, and Williams Valley.
On Wed., Jan. 17, Newport hosted the Trojans of Upper Dauphin Area for an event that culminated in a takeover for the team. Determined to succeed utilizing bout wins consisting of one technical fall, seven falls, and one forfeit, Newport scored a total of 53 points compared to the Trojans’ 19 points. Cainan Benner, Kaj Miller, Dylan Vadasz, Marek Polcha, Roman Polcha, Lane Wright, Noah Bryner, Travis Lilly, and Mason Messick individually make up the total points for the Buffaloes.
Saturday, Jan. 20 brought the Bermudian Springs Eagles to Newport for a simple dual. Here, coach Michael Capozzoli received an ovation for his 400th career win before the match. He, his program alumni, and all Newport wrestling alumni spanning from 2021 back to 1958 additionally received recognition and plaudits. The close contest against the Eagles ended 33-32, placing another win under the teams’ belt. After Benner’s pin at the 160-pound bout, the Buffaloes froze their total points at 33. A pin and forfeit from Newport awarded the Eagles 12 points to result in a close contest. Miller, Jonah Bennetch, M. Polcha, R. Polcha, Wright, Messick, and Benner all gained wins at this event.
To end the regular season matches, the Buffaloes trampled the Vikings at Williams Valley on Mon., Jan. 22. Thriving with wins at the heavier weights, Newport won the entire match 48-21 with two decisions, five falls, and two forfeits. Both Polcha brothers, Wright, Lilly, Messick, Bryan Schue, Benner, Miller, and Vadasz earned a win.
The weekend before the first district dual, the team traveled to Bedford Area High School for the Thomas Automotive Tournament on Friday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Jan. 27. Lilly placed fifth at 139 pounds with a 6-2 decision over a Conemaugh Township wrestler and R. Polcha fell in the third place championship at 114 pounds 2-5 against a Derry Area wrestler. Bennetch was the only one to face an out-of-state wrestler who was from Northern Garrett High School in Accident, MD. The majority of the team had plenty of matches over the course of the two-day tournament. battling it out in championship and consolation brackets. Newport’s combined score of 83.5 points placed them 17 out of 33 teams, behind Central yet ahead of North Schuylkill.
Kicking off the district team duals, Newport hosted the Shamrocks of Trinity High School. Recording five pins and wins by one decision and five falls, the Buffaloes flattened the Shamrocks 33-29. R. Polcha set his pin in just fifteen seconds. Wright, Lilly, Messick, Benner, Schue, and R. Polcha all had bout wins this night.
In the bracket in the quarterfinals of the district 2A matchups, Newport faced the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders and the Tulpehocken Area Trojans on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at Bishop McDevitt High School. After a devastating postseason loss to the Crusaders 15-50 with three wins by decision, fall, and forfeit, the Buffaloes moved down into the consolation bracket that finalized in the third-place match. Able to out-wrestle their opponent was Messick, Benner, and Vadasz.
At the start of the consolations that same night, Newport faced Tulpehocken Area. This contest began at the 139-pound bout; clear down at the 127-weight class, the match was tied 30-30. For the 133-pound bout, Wright took the mat with dignity. He knew what had to be done, and that was to put any points possible to the team’s overall score. “When going on to the mat, I knew the team needed me to win to keep our dreams alive and advance further into districts… this put a lot of pressure on me…” Wright said. Wright, with a significant amount of power, took down his Trojan opponent by decision 13-8, awarding the team the win 33-30. Wrestlers who also had bout wins that night included Lilly, Messick, Vadasz, R. Polcha, Peyton Hertzler, and Jameson Peters.
The team’s last match of the season was a loss in the consolation semifinals against the Northern Lebanon Vikings at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday, Feb. 3. The Buffaloes were able to wrangle out wins through Miller, Aiden Crockett, Lilly, Messick and Benner. Messick, despite putting up a fight against the Viking wrestler aiming for a pin, was actually bitten during his match. Messick describes this encounter as “confusing” since he wasn’t sure why the opponent resorted to biting. The 160-pound Viking wrestler was disqualified and Newport was awarded six points respectively.
Leaving a mark as they have in past years, the Newport Buffalo mat club ends with a 13-5 overall record with a 4-1 interleague record.
