Glenn Kaiser recaps Thursday’s District One Duals and highlights some of the weekend’s top performances.
PENNRIDGE RUSH-ES BY GARNET VALLEY
By Glenn Kaiser
Pennridge got back on track in the first round of the District One Duals Thursday night at Council Rock South High School as the Rams defeated Garnet Valley 33-31. The unlikely hero for the Rams was not Kordell Rush in the final contested bout of the evening, it was his brother Austin Rush at 120-pounds. After a game of chess between the Rams and the Jaguars in which both teams bumped up and Garnet Valley forfeited to two of Pennridge’s studs, Josh Stillings (160) and Kyle Gentile (195), the score was 25-24 after the 106-pound weight class in the Jags favor. At 113-pounds the Rams received another forfeit to Matt Parker to push them ahead 30-25 with only the Rush brothers left to wrestle.
The anticipation of Kordell Rush and GV’s Matt Marino doing battle was generating some energy in the gym if it were to come down to them to decide the dual meet outcome. As the Jags moved up their 113-pounder Kevin Christie to face Austin Rush, the focus quickly changed. Garnet Valley clearly was looking for a victory at 120 to set up the Rush/Marino bout to close out the evening and have a chance to steal the win.
However, Pennridge’s Austin Rush was ready after the forfeit to Parker to take on whomever the Jags sent out.
Austin said, “I was warming up waiting for anything to happen.”
He stole the thunder away from his brother as he sealed the deal for the Rams with a solid 9-2 victory over Christie. When asked how it felt to steal the spotlight, he said, “It felt great just to get out there and put it on for the team, I came back to do this, and it felt great.”
With an eight-point lead (33-25), there was no need for Kordell Rush to step on the mat to face Marino. Kordell, who did not wrestle the night before against Hatboro-Horsham due to illness, got another day’s rest to recover and enjoy his brother‘s big win. Austin sat out as well against H-H with a sore wrist but got clearance to wrestle in the D1 Duals from the doctor even though it was pretty sore. Austin Rush joined the team for his senior year to help out the team when there was an opening at 120 pounds, and his timing could not have been better.
The match started at the 132-pound weight class, and the Rams got a huge win from freshman Evan Widing over a tough Nick Puliti from Garnet. The 3-2 win to start things off for Pennridge was just as important as the three match points earned at the end for the Rams.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH CRUISES TO QUARTERS
The Golden Hawks eased their way into the Elite Eight and will face Owen J Roberts in the lower bracket quarterfinal Friday Feb. 5, at Upper Dublin with their 46-12 win over Downingtown West in round one. Owen J Roberts defeated Council Rock North, on the adjacent mat to South, convincingly (49-26). North was in trouble early in this rematch, losing three of the first four bouts. The Shalinskys - Jacob (126) and Josh (182) - posted wins for the Indians along with Luke Ely’s fall to keep it close at 21-15, but Owen J put together two tech falls and two pin falls to close out North.
CR South was methodical in their victory over Downingtown West, as the Whippets never challenged the Golden Hawks. Zack Trampe (132) got things started with a fall and the Golden Hawks never looked back as Lucas Martoccio (145) and Joe Doyle (195) posted pins as well. The Whippets won only three bouts on the evening and forfeited the final match at 126.
NESHAMINY FALLS SHORT TO SPRING-FORD
Neshaminy battled Spring-Ford to a 22-22 tie after the heavy weight bout as Bruce Graeber pinned down his opponent, and the Skins again tied it up at 25-25 at 113. With two remaining bouts, it was looking like criteria may decide the match, but S-F posted a pin at 120, and Neshaminy’s Jackson Erb could only post a 3-2 decision win at 126 over the Rams Jimmy Frank to shut the door on the Skins’ bid for an upset (31-28). The Rams’ Brandon Meredith’s win over Neshaminy’s Colton Jordan may have been the difference after two of the best in the Southeast Region did battle at 106 pounds. Neshaminy’s loss of Matt Kisselback to injury not long ago surely hurt the Skins. Nonetheless, it was a great dual, and Neshaminy wrestled well to the end. Along with the Pennridge/Garnet Valley match, this one was down-to-the-wire, non-stop action.
In other District Dual matches for the SOL, North Penn was narrowly upset by host West Chester Rustin 34-32. The match at 195 between Rustin’s Costas Hatzipavlides and North Penn’s Owen Verespy may have been the difference in this one as Verespy dropped an 8-3 decision to Hatzipavlides in a strength on strength match-up in this one. So if you are following my predictions, I’ll need Pennridge to take down Downingtown East in the quarterfinals or have the Rams’ wrestle back to the consi-finals for our two SOL teams to advance to the PIAA Team Championships.
Quakertown was taken out by Downingtown East 44-20 at Rustin. Noah Wood returned for the Panthers, but dropped a 7-5 decision at 182 pounds.]
WEEKEND NOTEBOOK
QUAKERTOWN REBOUNDS AFTER DISTRICT DUAL LOSS
Quakertown responded well this past weekend after suffering a District One Dual loss in round one to the #3 seed Downingtown East Cougars 44-20 as the Panthers travelled to Exeter High School to compete in the Blue/White Duals. The Panthers got some respect back around here in District One as they knocked off two other teams competing in the D1 Team Championships - Downingtown West and Garnet Valley.
Quakertown - seeded 14th in the D1 bracket - downed Garnet Valley, the #11 seed in the D1 Duals, 45-30. The Panthers also topped Downingtown West, the #15 seed in the D1 Duals, 36-29. They finished 3-2 on the day Saturday with a victory over Daniel Boone (48-21). They dropped a pair to Coatesville 35-30 and host Exeter 49-14.
Noah Wood’s return at 195 pounds for the Panthers worked out well as he went 3-0 with two falls in Quakertown’s three wins at the Exeter Blue/White Duals. If he can remain healthy, he will look to go far in the postseason PIAA Individual events starting Feb. 20 at Pennridge for the SOL Continental League Individual Championships. Tanner Seislove, wrestling at 145 pounds, went 4-1 on the day, narrowly missing out on a perfect 5-0 performance as he lost in sudden victory overtime to Exeter’s Tyler Harkness 7-5. Q-town’s Gavin Caroff was perfect on the day at 220 pounds, going 5-0 as he looks to return to the PIAA Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey this coming March.
Elsewhere over the weekend, Central Bucks East finished third as they hosted a dual tournament. They won the third place bout over Springfield Delco 52-27. The Patriots also took down Carlisle 42-22 and non-league SOL foe Wissahickon 55-12. They went 3-1 on the day to improve to 6-10 overall this season. Wissahickon and William Tennent each notched a win with Wissy defeating Tennent 46-24, and Tennent downing Appoquinimink (DE) 54-18. Wissahickon got by Tennent due to a number of forfeits by the Panthers, as the Panthers won five of the eight contested bouts.
Abington headed to the Main Line on Saturday to Harriton High School to compete in the Ram Invitational, and they finished third in the team scoring in this eight-team individual tourney as Shane Rose (152) and Keshon Guilellmo (195) won their respective weight classes, and Elijah Heilman finished second at 220 pounds. The Ghosts Austin Hain (132) and Marcellus Martin (170) both finished third to help with the team scoring.
Springfield Township’s James Guckin (182) finished third for a Spartan squad that finished seventh at the Ram Invitational.
Neshaminy and Pennsbury competed in an American Conference tilt in their Alumni Match on Saturday as Neshaminy rebounded from their heartbreaking loss to Spring-Ford in the District Duals Thursday, downing the Falcons 43-32. The Skins picked up six falls in the dual to power past the Falcons. Jackson Erb (120), Asaph Alexander (132), Vincent Stabilito (170), Jon Albarran (182), Ben Stern (220), and Bruce Graeber (285) all recorded pins for Neshaminy in the win.
Truman’s Gunnar Fuss earned a 7-2 decision over Haverford’s Vince Tavani to capture the title at 120 at the New Oxford Invitational at Oxford High School. Truman finished 14th out of 32 teams.
Souderton was sixth out of eight teams at the Vanguard Invitational at Sun Valley High School and crowned a pair of champions – Brandon Bach (120) and Thomas Michaels (152).
As we round down the dual meet season some key matches this weekend around the SOL will feature Senior Nights and Hatboro-Horsham and Upper Moreland will face off in the “Battle of the Border” Saturday at Upper Moreland at noon in a Suburban One League non-conference match.
SOL Team Rankings (1/31/16):
1-Council Rock South 11-0
2-Pennridge 10-1
3- North Penn 13-4
4-Quakertown 13-8
5-Neshaminy 12-5
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