NTWSR TOP 20 TIOGA COUNTY STORYLINES OF THE 2025-26 SPORTS' SEASONS .. #6 to #3 (2026-08-16)

Northern Tier West Sports Report
TIOGA COUNTY — NTWSR continues the countdown of the Top 20 storylines of the 2025-26 school sports year in the West with #6 through #3.
Senior Luke Kreger won the NTL high jump title while junior Colton Pellett was 3rd at the league meet. Pellett brought home the District IV gold medal and Kreger was 4th, with both qualifying for the PIAA Championships. 
Kreger won a State high jump medal by placing 8th and Pellett was 24th.

#5 .. North Penn-Mansfield’s Andy Hermansen Wins District IV Golf Championship

Senior Andy Hermansen shot a 2-under par 69 on Day 2 of the District 4 individual championships at Williamsport Country Club to claim the Class 2A gold medal for the Tigers.
“It feels amazing,” said Hermansen of being crowned the District 2A champ, “especially after not shooting the greatest on Thursday.”
Hermansen shot an 81 at White Deer in the championships’ first round, collecting three birdies, six pars, seven bogeys and a triple and a double bogey that left the two-time State qualifier in eighth place and five strokes back of the leader. The top seven finishers qualify for States.
On Saturday, Hermansen bogeyed his first two holes but found his stroke and parred holes 3, 4 and 5 and got back to even with birdies on holes 6 and 7. He finished the front nine with a bogey and a birdie to pull even with a 36. 
Hermansen made the turn and went par, birdie and par to move to 1-under, but a bogey on the par-4 13th put him back at even-par on the day. Three pars and a pair of birdies in his final five holes gave him a 69 for the round and a spot at the top of the leaderboard.
“When I went birdie, birdie on 6 and 7 I started to think I had a shot,” said Hermansen,  “I didn’t look at the scoreboard all round until I finished, then I found out I had a 4-shot lead.”
North Penn-Mansfield Coach Shawn Mitcheltree had high praise for his most decorated golfer.
“At the end of last season, Andy told me he had the silver and a bronze, but his goal for the his last season was the gold,” said Mitcheltree, “to get all three color of medals in a four year period is impressive .. I hope people understand how rare it is to have won all three in a short time.”

#4 .. North Penn-Liberty Wrestling’s Nickerson and Pequignot Make Impressive Postseason Runs

Junior Bryce Pequignot (121) and sophomore Bodhi Nickerson (107) each won a North Section title. 
Nickerson proceeded to take 2nd at Districts and 4th at the North East Regional to qualify for States. His win in the 7th/8th place match in Hershey left Nickerson with a 32-12 record on the season, including a 10-5 mark in the postseason. In his five losses during his run to the State podium, Nickerson fell to the PIAA runner-up (twice), the 3rd place winner and the 8th place finisher. 
“Bodhi had a outstanding season and surpassed my expectations,” says Coach Pequignot, “He’s a competitor and turns it on in the post season. It was great for the program to get a state medalist.”
Pequignot followed up his Sectional title with a 2nd place finish at both Districts and Regionals. After going 2-2 and being eliminated one win away from a medal in Hershey, Pequignot finished the season 35-7 and sits at 104-22 as he enters his senior season next year. His 9-4 record in the postseason included losses to the PIAA 3rd-place winner (twice) and to the 4th and 8th place finishers.
“Bryce fell a little short of where he wanted to be,” says Coach/Dad Craig, “He was a little undersized in a very deep weight class. He knows where he needs to improve and is already back to work.”

#3 .. Kosek Wins NTL & District IV Titles, State XC Bronze for Wellsboro

Junior Lauren Kosek won an NTL title, a District IV championship and a 3rd-place medal at States and was named the All-Tioga County girls’ cross country ‘Runner of the Year’ for the 3rd straight season.
Kosek cruised to the NTL title, winning in 18:24.1 .. 36 seconds ahead of the runner-up .. and beat returning champ Baylee Espinosa at Districts for the championship. 
At the PIAA Championships, Kosek ran against the State’s best and finished 3rd. 
“I’m so excited,” Kosek said about taking third. “This is not really what I expected the outcome to be, honestly. I was hoping for it, but to be third is so exciting, especially in such a competitive field.”
4-time state champion Virginia Knauss out of Saucon Valley was in her race, running a meet best 17:48, while Kosek finished in 18:45.
She ended up taking third by 24 seconds and was just one of 10 runners to break 19 minutes on the day between all three girls’ races.
The two girls in front of her are seniors making Kosek the highest finisher returning for next year.