From The Express-Times Ciasulli, Krom help Rovers claim rare conference title Sunday, January 30, 2005 By MIKE WEILAMANN The Express-Times BETHLEHEM -- For a change, it was Easton drawing first blood. And it's also what Red Rovers coach Steve Powell hopes is the first of three championships for his wrestling team in three weeks. Easton Area High school won all the key bouts, including huge victories by seniors Seth Ciasulli and Alex Krom, and the Red Rovers posted a 28-20 victory Saturday night over Northampton in a Lehigh Valley Conference showdown before a crowd of 2,000 at Liberty High School's Memorial Gym. "I knew it was going to be close," said Powell, who uncharacteristically juggled his lineup the first time around against an opponent. "I knew what to expect. We lost a couple of close ones, but this is as rested as we've been the month of January." Easton (14-1 overall, 7-0 LVC), ranked No. 1 in The Express-Times region, also wins its first LVC title by beating two-time defending champion and third-ranked Konkrete Kids (8-4, 3-2). The Rovers hadn't won a league crown since winning the Mountain Valley Conference title in 2000-01 -- thanks to Northampton. In a turnaround from the two previous seasons, Easton got a leg up by winning the first meeting in this series. Northampton won the last two regular-season encounters only to fall to the Red Rovers a week later in the Class AAA final of the District 11 Duals. The two rivals could very well hook up again in next weekend's Duals -- as they've done the last six seasons. Needless to say, Northampton and coach Terry Daubert are hoping the trend doesn't continue. "I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way the kids battled," said Daubert, who must now get his team prepared for Monday's LVC matchup with Nazareth. "There will be another day." In what may be the first of five meetings this season, Ciasulli earned a thrilling 5-4 win over Steve Mytych in a bout between the two best 125-pounders in The Express-Times region. The top-ranked and unbeaten Ciasulli (29-0), a two-time PIAA Class AAA state runner-up, countered a single-leg takedown attempt by Mytych (20-3) near the edge with 15 seconds left to win it. Mytych, fourth in the state last year, went up 4-2 early in the third period with a reversal after catching Ciasulli riding high with the legs in. "I was just trying to plug away," said Ciasulli, who never led until getting the takedown. "In a tough match you can't stop at any time. This time I was just trying to feel him out. The next time we meet I'll really open up and take it to him." Krom followed with an equally big 2-1 double-overtime victory over Dave Gilio at 135. Krom (28-1), the top-ranked 135-pounder, held on in the 30-second rideout phase to earn the win over the second-ranked Gilio (11-3). That gave the Rovers a 19-12 lead while clearly deflating the Northampton bench and its vocal fans. Now in total control of the match, Powell bumped his lineup from 140 to 171 to further extend Easton's advantage. It paid off handsomely when heavily-favored Northampton senior John Paukovits managed just a 7-1 decision at 140 over Easton reserve Colin Dailey, a freshman wrestling in his first varsity match. The Rovers' lead swelled to 25-15 after back-to-back one-point decisions from Andrew Goldstein and Braylin Williams at 145 and 152. In an unpopular move -- particularly with the Northampton fans -- Powell bumped Sal Crivellaro away from the Konkrete Kids' two-time state champion Joey Ecklof at 160. Up 10 points with two bouts left, Powell felt it was the safe move, figuring Crivellaro would be an underdog against Ecklof while the 171-pound bout between Dave Crowell and Jimmy Zuber rated a tossup. Ecklof (15-3), who weighed in at 155, worked Kyle Hershey for a 22-6 technical fall victory that made it 25-20 with one bout remaining. Crivellaro defeated Zuber 5-1 to close out the match. "I have total confidence in Sal and I believed he could've won (against Ecklof), but the score being what it was we had to go for wins." said Powell, whose teams have now won seven of the last nine against Northampton. "We weren't getting bonus points, so we had to put our better guy on their weaker guy."