Shane Simononis had a bit of a scare over the weekend as he secured a spot in the upcoming Southeast Regional Tournament.

The Salisbury senior was sent to the hospital with a leg injury following his third-place match. The extent of the injury was not known when he left the mat, nor was his upcoming future at regionals.

Fortunately, the injury wasn’t as serious as anticipated. Simononis, who suffered a leg sprain, will compete at regionals this weekend at Wilson West Lawn High School. He went 2-2 at the 185-pound weight class over the two-day District 11 Class 2A Wrestling Championships, and finished in fourth place after falling to Pine Grove’s Carson Rittenbaugh on Saturday at Liberty High School’s Memorial Gymnasium.

“My goal heading into districts was to wrestle without regret and to make it to regionals,” Simononis said. “To qualify for regionals to me is big and has always been a goal of mine. But the next step being states is what I have always wanted.

“The leg is getting better and it shouldn’t be a problem for regionals.”

Simononis was one of two Falcons to participate in the district tournament. The other was Jonah Neisenbaum at 195 pounds.

Simononis’ spot in regionals was already clinched when he took on Rittenbaugh for third place on Saturday afternoon. And although his tournament run came to an end in that match with a pin, he had a successful two-day stretch.

Beginning at Freedom High School on Friday, Simononis opened districts with a convincing victory over Northern Lehigh’s Austin Rudolph. The pin sent him into the quarterfinals round, where Simononis defeated Dylan Rabuck of Williams Valley with a 9-4 decision.

“Overall, this is some of my strongest and smoothest wrestling,” Simononis said. “[I haven’t had] too many mistakes, and I also avenged two losses from the season.”

Those two victories clinched Simononis’ spot at regionals and a medal at districts. The only remaining question was what medal he would finish with on Saturday. Palmerton’s Jared Mooney, the eventual 182-pound champion, defeated Simononis by a 12-4 major decision in the semifinals.

“He [Mooney] was a very tough opponent,” Simononis said. “I came out conservative in the first period, considering I never took a shot. The second period I was wrestling badly from the bottom, and I couldn’t make anything happen for an escape or a reversal.

“I let him get simple moves for back points, which is where he pulled away in the match. I wrestled best in the third period when I let it fly, and I seemed to find a stride in my shots and was able to get two takedowns. I just tried a last-ditch effort throw that didn’t work and won’t work most times against wrestlers of that caliber.”

Shortly later, Rittenbaugh earned the victory in the third-place match.

Saturday was a bright spot for Salisbury under first-year head coach Juan Garcia. Despite going winless in the Colonial League as a team this winter, the Falcons will send a wrestler to regionals for the second straight year.

“I would have to say most of my focus has been influenced through my coaches and even the kids that we have on the team,” Simononis said. “Both coaches understand the point I am at in wrestling and know exactly what they are doing. From drilling with me in the room, to teaching me moves, they have shown me how to be successful in the sport.”

Wrestling will begin at 5:15 p.m. on Friday at Wilson West Lawn and continue at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The top six finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament, another goal Simononis has in sight before his career comes to a close.