This week’s wrestling notebook features some of the SOL highlights from the past week. To view photos of the North Penn/CB South and CB West/CB East matches, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Andrew Marcus
Never get too comfortable with your position. A loss of focus for one second may result in points flying the other way, and a reversal of fortune happens far too often.
Never get comfortable with your position in a match and in your own abilities. There are always underclassmen emerging, ready to take down the incumbent king of his weight class. Some of those underclassmen reside at Neshaminy, Souderton, and Plymouth-Whitemarsh.
Council Rock South’s P.J. Steinmetz continued her terrorization of the 195-pound weight class last weekend at Central Mountain High’s prestigious King of the Mountain tournament. It is the hard work of Steinmetz, who captured an individual gold, that has allowed him to stay on top of his game.
Steinmetz is one of the few to head into his senior year with over 100 wins. The most recent wrestler to cross that elusive benchmark was Neshaminy’s Ryan O’Connor.
Around the National Conference
Looking beyond 100 - Early opportunity is an open door to a successful career, but what you do once you are in the room will determine how successful that stint will be.
Ryan O’Connor has spent an unimaginable amount of time in the wrestling room, refining his skills and working toward bigger goals each season with the Redskins. After racking up over 25 wins as a freshman, the 145-pounder was on the right track, and after finishing his junior season nine wins away from the century mark, O’Connor knew 100 wins was obtainable. Wednesday’s 3-1 decision over Bensalem’s Josh Shalinksy allowed O’Connor to celebrate the achievement.
“I was a little nervous because I wanted to get the 100thwin at home,” O’Connor said. “And I really wanted the points for the team. I credit our coaches who put together a good, tough schedule. It comes down to hard work. Just because you go out there does not mean you are going to win. You still have to perform on that mat.”
Now that he has reached triple-digits, O’Connor is still nowhere near the goals he has set out for his senior season. The three-time regional qualifier wants more. O’Connor wants to be one of the few to say they were a state qualifier.
“It feels good to get the 100thwin out of the way,” he said. “I was looking forward to it, but I have bigger goals. I want to get a state medal this year.”
O’Connor, amidst the notoriety he has received in the early part of this season, has also done a great job of leading a young team. There are a handful of new faces to the Redskins’ lineup, none more impressive than freshman Bruce Graeber. The Redskins’ heavyweight looks to be one of the rising stars in the Suburban One National Conference.
“We have a good mix, and O’Connor is a great captain,” Redskins’ coach Dan Winter said. “He really has taught the younger kids what to do and how to work hard.”
“Graeber, all 260, is really impressing me,” Winter said. “He has only been wrestling for two years, but as a freshman heavyweight, he has turned it on. Last Wednesday with the match on the line he picked up a first round pin. He really has done a great job.”
Around the Continental Conference
It’s in the bloodlines - Souderton’s 160-pounder was a spitting image of a former state qualifier. And after his aggressive and dominating performance against Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday, there was no doubt it was a Stolfi. Every time the Hatter got to his feet, freshman Philip Stolfi was there to take his opponent down.
“Philip is just a hardworking kid,” Indians’ coach Tristan Boyd said. “The Hatboro-Horsham kid was hardnosed too, and while I did not think he was going to pin him, I wanted him to get as many points as possible. He did a great job of getting that tech fall.”
Philip is the younger brother of Joe Stolfi, the Indians’ three-time state qualifier and career and single-season wins leader who is now a sophomore at Bucknell, and the Souderton freshman showed off the same skills that set his brother apart from the pack.
As can be expected, it has been an up and down start for the freshman, but on Wednesday it was all up. Stolfi recorded 26 points in the tech fall win over his opponent.
“Philip is not Joe, and that is not to say he is not going to be a stud,” Boyd said. “He is his own wrestler and a great kid. They are both very aggressive wrestlers and never stop moving. But I am excited to see what Philip Stolfi does.”
Around the American Conference
One falls down, the rest step up – Plymouth-Whitemarsh coach Nate Wachter has seen good and bad from his Colonials in the first several weeks of the winter season. He is pleased to be sitting at 2-0 in the National Conference, considering the Colonials are doing it all without their returning state qualifier Justin Staudenmayer.
“We are 2-0 in the league, but last Wednesday (37-33 win over Cheltenham) was ugly,” Wachter said. “When we get Justin in our lineup, our team will be a lot tougher. We will be able to play around a little.”
The New Year signifies a fresh start for the Colonials, especially for their senior captain, who will come back shooting to wrestle at 160 pounds. A torn tendon in Staudenmayer’s ankle has kept him off the mats for far too long. The extra attention to the weight room has allowed him to get stronger and move up from the 145 he wrestled at as a junior. Staudenmayer is ready to start his push for a state title and hoping the late start will be a blessing in disguise.
“Justin has been doing a lot of physical therapy,” Wachter said. “He has been swimming, a lot of lifting, and he looks good now. Toward the end of year as guys start getting burnt out, hopefully he will be peaking while everybody else is plateauing.”
The absence of Staudenmayer has also allowed a string of sophomores to show that their freshman season was no fluke. Sophomores Rob Brooke (160), Francesco Palagruto (113), Gianpiero DiBattista (126), Ray Clarkson (145), and Dan Smith (120) have all proven their district appearances a year ago were the building blocks for something big. The future of PW wrestling is bright, and it could be a sudden climb to success behind Staudenmayer and the sophomores.
“I would say right now we are a mediocre club,” Wachter said. “But as a coaching staff, we have gone back to basics and we have hit the weight room hard. We had seven wrestlers make it out of sectionals last year and we have them all back. We may drop Palagruto to 108 and I think he can make it to states. The future here looks bright here.”
Top Guns
106 – Collyn Dorney (Quakertown)
113- Zach Fuentes (Norristown)
120- Dan Martoccio (Council Rock South)
126 – Jason Bing (Pennsbury)
132 – Tommy Stokes (Bensalem)
138 – Anthony DiEmidio (Pennsbury)
145 – John Dutrow (Council Rock North)
152 – Dan Schueren (Wissahickon)
160 – Pat Fennell (Wissahickon)
170 – Dominic Rigous (Central Bucks South)
182 – Brett Harner (Norristown)
195 – Kody Lupfer (Neshaminy)
220- P.J. Steinmetz (Council Rock South)
285 - Andrew Van Buskirk (William Tennent)
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