What a year it was in the sports world

Trio of Lions All State

Lackawanna Trail’s Ray Melnikoff, RJ Schirg and Mark Dunckle earned a spot on the Pa. Football Writers’ Class 1A all-state team.

Tigers capture silver

Tunkhannock Area placed second in the Wyoming Valley Conference wrestling tournament with 10 wrestlers earning top-six medals.

New football coach

The Montrose school board appointed Kerry Patton as its new head football coach.

Annual hunt nets 46

Forty-six coyotes were removed across the region with hunters having to contend with rain, sleet, snow and winds.

Dunckle top lineman

Trail DE Mark Dunckle is one of two winners of the Hookey Reap Award, given to the best linemen from Lackawanna County.

FEBRUARY

TA heads to states

The Tigers topped Trail for the District 2 title and state team qualification on Feb. 1.

Montross to Big 33

Jaxson Montross was named as kicker to the Big 33 football team.

EL cheer places

EL varsity basketball cheerleaders won two trophies at a cheer competition, placing second in competition dance and third in competition cheer.

21 Lions, Tigers excel

21 wrestlers qualified in the D2 AA tourney to advance in the march to Hershey, with 12 Lions and nine Tigers qualifying for the honor.

Tigers place in diving

Tunkhannock divers Nicho LaChase and Hunter Snay finished first and third in the boys competition, respectively, at districts to earn a trip to states. Ana Jerome finished third in the girls contest and also advanced.

More hardware

The Back Mountain ice hockey club team took home the Championship Trophy after defeating Wilkes-Barre for its third consecutive championship.

KC takes second

Keystone’s cheerleading team finished second in the Intermediate College Division during the Reach the Beach Nationals in Ocean City, Md.

Evans, D’Amato advance

TA’s David Evans secured his second straight Class 2A Northeast Regional wrestling title, while Gavin D’Amato also reached the podium and punched a ticket to states placing second.

MARCH

KC women rule CSAC

The Keystone College women’s basketball team claimed the program’s first championship, earning its first trip to the NCAA DIII tourney.

Archers qualify for states

Tunkhannock and Elk Lake have a combined six archers competing in the first tier of the NASP state competition.

Tigers capture hardware

Gavin D’Amato (second) and David Evans (fourth) landed on the podium in Hershey as the first Tunkhannock state medalists since 1989 — and the team’s first teammates to place at the same state tournament.

KC’s Shevchik gets 600th

KC baseball head coach Jamie Shevchik earned his 600th career victory with game one’s 4-1 win over RIT on Mar. 8. He is 600-205 during his tenure at Keystone.

Athletes hold out hope

On Friday, Mar. 13, Gov. Wolf declared that all schools in Pennsylvania will close for two weeks due to concerns over the coronavirus, stopping all practices and games.

CSAC suspends spring

The CSAC has announced the suspension of all athletic activity, including contests and championships, for the remainder of the 2020 spring semester.

More PIAA delays

The PIAA said that it is following Gov. Wolf’s lead, postponing the start of spring sports another two weeks while further delaying the state playoffs in basketball and swimming and diving.

APRIL

D’Amato gets Hooper

Gavin D’Amato earned the George Hooper Memorial Wrestling Award, awarded to the best high school wrestler in the WVC each season.

Early trout opener

The PFBC opened the statewide 2020 trout season on Apr. 7, 11 days before the traditional opener.

PIAA cancels season

2019-20 sports are officially over, as on Apr. 9, PIAA canceled the remainder of the season.

MAY

Local golfing to open

Gov. Wolf announced that the state’s golf courses will be allowed to reopen May 1.

Disc golf course completed

Evan Talcott, named the recently completed disc golf course after Billy Kresge at Lazybrook Park.

All-Academic wrestlers

Mark Dunckle and Michael Bluhm of Trail, along with Tunkhannock’s Lucas Carpenter, have been named first team All-Academic wrestlers for the 2019-20 season. In addition, TA, LT, and EL are represented by 16 athletes on the PIAA teams, in what is being called the largest class of D2 ever.

Papi released

Mike Papi, a Tunkhannock graduate, was one of 11 minor leaguers released by the Cleveland Indians organization.

JUNE

Summer league forms

More than 130 players are set to participate in the new Baseball U PA Collegiate Summer League, an effort spearheaded by local college coaches and the owner of the title-sponsor organization.

Wolf issues guidelines

Sports teams in the PIAA can move forward with plans to conduct workouts in preparation for fall, but under strict guidelines in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

EL two POY

Elk Lake sophomores Krista Jones, cross country, and Chloe Sipe, golf, have been named the Scranton Times-Tribune Performers of the Year for their respective sports.

JULY

Rattlesnakes cancelled

The Noxen Fire Company officially cancelled its largest fundraiser, the Rattlesnake Roundup, citing COVID-19 cases on the rise and community safety.

Horse racing returns

A local regulation track, Silver Springs Ranch near Beaumont, hosted a two-day fair featuring Pa. Sire Stakes Races.

PIAA stays course

PIAA is moving forward with the start of the fall sports season while following state guidelines and continuing to monitor the coronavirus pandemic. Heat acclimatization is set for Aug. 10 and the first day of practice is Aug. 17.

Wrestling to 13 classes

PIAA will reduce the number of weight classes from 14 to 13, beginning with the 2020-21 season.

PIAA releases guidelines

PIAA released Return to Competition guidelines, a 26-page document that provides recommendations for a safe return to play on a sport-by-sport basis.

Locals win $10K

Donald ‘Doc” Stacknick Jr., Dalton, caught a 30 pound, 6 ounce Chinook salmon, netting the crew of his Grey Fox $10,000 in prize winnings in the 2020 Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby in upstate New York.

AUGUST

PIAA delays start

PIAA delayed the start of the fall season by two weeks while it seeks guidance from Gov. Wolf, who a day earlier recommended the shutdown of scholastic and youth sports until Jan.1.

Olympic bound- next year

Tunkhannock native Josh Colley is still training for the long jump, but has to put his plans on hold as the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo have been pushed out to 2021.

Silver Linings

Fran and Phil Urie and friends collected $106.30 in found money along their runs and donated it to Randy White for the Damon Young Memorial Scholarship Race.

Rare fish found

Jim Marino hauled in a 19-inch blue pickerel from Saddle Lake on Aug. 11. A biologist with PFBC said the blue markings are thought to be a genetic mutation specific to the chain pickerel species.

PIAA moves forward

The PIAA’s board of directors voted to move forward with fall sports beginning Aug. 24 for schools choosing to participate.

SEPTEMBER

Wolf relaxes attendance

Gov. Wolf lifted his ban on spectators at sporting events, however, the new guidance does not change the limit on gathering sizes. Attendance is still capped at 25 for indoor events and 250 for outdoor events.

40 Fish

During the pandemic, Levi Bonnice was determined- and successful- to catch 40 different species of fish before his 40th birthday.

Lions make all-decade team

Trail’s Ray Melnikoff (37), Nate Rolka (49), Shawn Jones (55), and Mark Dunckle (93) were named to the NEPAFootball.com’s Top 100 high school players for the decade list.

Sipe sizzles at predistricts

EL’s Chloe Sipe carded a career-best tournament score of 1-under par 71, topping the entire field of boys and girls in the LL district 2 qualifying tournament at Elkview.

Trail pair advances

Trail seniors Andrew Kazmierczak and JP Gilroy advanced in the LL district 2 qualifying tournament at Elkview.

LT golf goes undefeated

The Lions linksters finished an undefeated season with a Lions win over Western Wayne.

EL D2 golf champs

Elk Lake claimed the Class 2A girls title, beating Tunkhannock, 289-310.

OCTOBER

Tigers vs. Sem vs. clock

The Lady Tigers soccer team battled to the final 0:03 of 1-1 regulation game before Wyoming Seminary left the field after a player injury. TA coaches appealed the reporting of a tie game, and WVC officials agreed, eventually awarding the Tigers the win by a Sem forfeit.

Sipe sixth in state

EL’s Chloe Sipe posted 81 and was sixth overall in the PIAA Class 2A girls individual golf championships.

Montrose breaks streak

The Montrose Area football team, with a roster including Elk Lake players, broke a 26-game losing streak for the Meteors dating back to 2017.

Lady Warriors third in state

Elk Lake’s girls golf team finished third in Class 2A at 49-over par for their three-player score.

Districts moved

Cross Country districts, scheduled at Lakeland, have been moved to the Wyoming County Fairgrounds as Lakeland shifted to full virtual learning due to COVID case increases.

Jones third in district

EL’s Krista Jones finished third in district competition, sending her to states.

NOVEMBER

Chilson sets mark

With his 291 yards passing against WBA, TA senior quarterback Jack Chilson cleared 5,000 yards passing for his career.

Expanded Sunday Hunting

The first ever day of regulated Sunday big-game hunting was Nov. 15.

LL delays start

After PIAA moved ahead with plans to start official winter sports practices on time, the LIAA chose to delay the start for them by two weeks.

HOF inductees

The Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2020, an eight-member group that includes Tunkhannock’s Glenn Frey and Kathy Goeringer.

DECEMBER

Gov. Wolf says shut down

Gov. Wolf issued a declaration to shut down winter sports on Dec. 10 until Jan. 4.

PIAA adjusts practices

The PIAA voted unanimously on Dec. 22 to lower the number of preseason practice requirements from 15 to 10 before a team can compete in a contest.