SOL Wresting Notebook: SOL Wrestling Teams Off to Hot Start (12-10-17)

Glenn Kaiser highlights some of the SOL’s top performances in the opening weekend of the 2017-18 wrestling season. Check out his preseason team dual rankings for the SOL and District One.

SOL TEAMS OFF TO HOT START

By Glenn Kaiser

Several SOL teams traveled outside the area to compete in some early high-level wrestling tournaments, both of the individual and team variety.  Although, early season events are not a precursor to the postseason, they certainly are the start of wrestling season and indicate team strength - both dual-wise and individually.  In addition, they begin to set the table for which weight classes individual wrestlers will be, not only in the early season, but after the 2-pound allowance come Christmas, and eventually where they descend or ascend to for the PIAA postseason.

Expectations are high for wrestlers, coaches and fans in the SOL, and this weekend did not damage those forecasts, as Council Rock North and South, Pennridge and Hatboro-Horsham got off to fast starts to kick off the 2017-18 season.  Abington surprised many with a team victory at the New Hope-Solebury Tournament with a very young and inexperienced team.  Here is a look at the highlights from this weekend’s action and a look at the SOL’s top teams.

Cumberland Valley Kick Off
Council Rock South finished as the runner-up in the team score at CV’s Kick Off individual tourney, topped only by Pennsylvania’s #1 ranked team by PA Power Rankings, Nazareth.  CRS showed why they are a perennial state power, both as a tournament team and dual team as they finished only 20 points behind the Blue Eagles in the team score, 161 to 181.  The Golden Hawks could not top head coach Brad Silimperi’s alma mater Nazareth, which is led by one of the nation’s best wrestler’s in Sammy Sasso.

Nonetheless, CRS lightweight Kyle Watterman was crowned the 106-pound champ with a pin in the finals over CV’s Ruston Dzielak in 4:33 of the third period.  Ben Radner was South’s other finalist, but he lost a tight 1-0 match to Easton’s Jonathan Miers, finishing second.  The Golden Hawks had four 4th place finishers in Braden Ricchini (113), transfer Shane Hanson-Ashworth (126), Eric Wososhyn (145) and Nik Korbich at 170-pounds.  Cole Flanagan finished 6^th at 160 pounds, losing to Nazareth’s Jake Dressler 6-4.

Pennridge, one of the SE Region’s stronger tournament teams, finished 5^th with the strength of Josh Stillings’ crown at 182, downing Nazareth’s Cade Wilson 8-3.  Stillings is the PA’s #1 ranked wrestler at 182-pounds by many ranking sources, including PAPowerWrestling.com.  Stillings, however, was joined by his teammate Logan Green as a CV champ, as surprisingly the sophomore reached the finals and outlasted CV’s Jacob Lucas in overtime 1-0.  Evan Winding grabbed the bronze at 152 with a solid 7-2 victory over Shikellamy’S Noah Supsic to start his 2017-18 season, making a statement that he will be in the state mix, with his only loss coming to Sasso in the semis.  David Blanchard finished 4^th at 195 for the Rams, and Stephen Dadio finished 6^th at 285.  FreshmAn Ram wrestler James Gieger failed to place in his debut at 126 for the Rams, but nonetheless provided some scoring for the Ridge with three falls.

Brian Bealer Bear Duals at Boyertown
Council Rock North showed their team strength, and supported their preseason #1 team ranking in District One by PA-Wrestling.com as they placed 2^nd to Bethlehem Liberty 25-38 in the championship final in this early season team litmus test.  The CRN Indians knocked off host Boyertown 40-30 in third round pool action.  The Indians started this highly competitive dual tourney with a solid 48-30 win over a rugged Governor Mifflin team.  North demonstrated their power, posting six falls and a forfeit to rack up bonus points. This continued throughout the day in the Indians’ dual matches with their Murderer’s Row starting at 126 and running through to 170 with Luke Lucerne (126), Sammy Hayes (132), Shane Thompson (138), Gianncarlo Flores (145), Cam Robinson (152), Nick Nucero (160) and Dillon Sheehy (170).  CRN adds freshman phenom Kyle Hauserman at 106 pounds to complement its stellar lineup.

North demolished Interboro in the second round of pool action 69-12 and easily dismissed Unionville in the fourth round 63-15, but it was a third round matchup that everyone wanted to see.  Questions surround a new look Boyertown team with a new coach and all, but it was the same old Boyertown that showed up in their own gym.  Boyertown jumped out to a 30-13 lead after nine bouts, but then the Indians shut the door on them with five straight victories, four by fall.  Luke Lucerne started the pin fest at 126 and Sammy Hayes (132), Shane Thompson (138), and Cam Robinson (145) followed with pins of their own to put the match out of reach at 37-30 with one bout left.  Gianncarlo Flores put an exclamation point on the victory with a 6-4 win over Boyertown’s Broc Babb 6-4 to close out the scoring for North.  Although North could not complete a perfect day, losing to Liberty in the finals, they certainly established themselves with a fine team showing to open up their 2017-18 campaign.

Solanco Mule Classic
Hatboro-Horsham traveled to Lancaster to do battle at the rugged Mule Classic at Solanco High School this past weekend.  The Hatters crowned a champ in 220 pounder Nick Chapman, who pinned his way through the tourney to easily win an individual championship.  Central Dauphin easily took the team title, but the Hatters, after a rough start Friday night, wrestled back to finish tied for 9^th in the 24-team field.

The Hatters, known as the Wrestling Warriors on the mats, touted three other medalists with Davis Wheeler (152) and Brad Mallon (160) finishing 5^th.  Senior transfer from LaSalle, Matt Needleman, placed 6^th in the 182-pound bracket, easily the toughest weight class won by OW and returning PIAA (AA) runner-up Dalton Group (Susquenita), who downed Needleman in a second round match.  Needleman was tenacious in the wrestlebacks, downing Carlisle’s Matt Carrion 3-1 to advance to the consi-semis.  Mallon and Wheeler also wrestled back after dropping quarterfinal bouts Friday night to post 4-2 records over two days.

The Hatters will stay local this coming Saturday as they head to the Abington Ghost Town Duals, joining SOL American rivals Upper Moreland and Wissahickon.  Pennsbury joins this 10-team field hosted by Abington.

For complete tournament info, please click on the following link:  http://thewrestlingtourney.com/pub-tourney-reports.php

New Hope-Solebury Tournament
Abington was the team champion at Pope John Paul II this weekend, as Jake Rose led the way with a championship at 120 over Belmont Charter’s Jayshawn Copeland with fall in 5:30.  The Ghosts had three champions, a runner-up, three thirds and four 4^th place finisher to capture the team title.  (Additional details were not available.)

PRE-SEASON SUBURBAN ONE LEAGUE DUAL TEAM RANKINGS:
1-COUNCIL ROCK NORTH
2-COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH
3-PENNRIDGE
4-NORTH PENN
5-HATBORO-HORSHAM
HM-SOUDERTON
HM-QUAKERTOWN
OTHERS TO WATCH (Alphabetical Order):  Harry S Truman, Neshaminy & Wissahickon

DISTRICT ONE (Pre-season) DUAL TEAM RANKINGS:
1-COUNCIL ROCK NORTH
2-DOWNINGTOWN WEST
3-OWEN J ROBERTS
4-COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH
5-SPRING-FORD
6-BOYERTOWN
7-WEST CHESTER RUSTIN
8-PENNRIDGE
9-NORTH PENN
10-HATBORO-HORSHAM
11-WEST CHESTER EAST
12-METHACTON
13-WEST CHESTER HENDERSON
14-GARNET VALLEY
15-SOUDERTON
16-QUAKERTOWN

SOLANCO MULE CLASSIC
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 48, GOVERNOR MIFFLIN 30
145 - Gianncarlo Flores pinned Connor Harr, 2:27 (6-0)
152 - Cameron Robinson pinned Jacob Blanski, 0:36 (12-0)
160 - Nick Nucero pinned John Arentz, 5:02 (18-0)
170 - Dillon Sheehy dec. Dante Cavallucci, 5-3 (21-0)
182 - Will Kitsch pinned Blake Silber, 1:57 (21-6)
195 - Evan Dobson won by forfeit (21-12)
220 - Jacob Makosch pinned Tykee Jackson, 5:24 (21-18)
285 - Jordan Espinosa pinned Chantz Kouveras, 3:12 (21-24)
106 - Kyle Hauserman won by forfeit (27-24)
113 - John Shalinsky pinned Jalon Lavine, 0:17 (33-24)
120 - Michael Raab pinned Dan Fitzgerald, 3:27 (33-30)
126 - Luke Lucerne pinned Nathaniel Price, 0:49 (39-30)
132 - Sammy Hayes dec. Kyle Seibert, 3-2 (42-30)
138 - Shane Thompson pinned Derek Defrece, 1:51 (48-30)
Council Rock North wrestlers in bold.

COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 40, BOYERTOWN 30
160 - Nick Nucero pinned Preston Fox, 1:25 (6-0)
170 - Dillon Sheehy maj. dec. Evan Mortimer, 17-5 (10-0)
182 - Jacob Miller pinned Blake Silber, 1:27 (10-6)
195 - Zak Reck won by forfeit (10-12)
220 - Elijah Jones won by forfeit (10-18)
285 - Jacob Sonder pinned Tykee Jackson, 1:26 (10-24)
106 - Kyle Hauserman dec. Julien Maldonado, 7-0 (13-24)
113 - Chase Stehman dec. John Shalinsky, 8-4 (13-27)
120 - Brendan Smith dec. Dan Fitzgerald, 6-5 (13-30)
126 - Luke Lucerne pinned Aidan Hager, 3:55 (19-30)
132 - Sammy Hayes pinned Connor Neiswender, 1:10 (25-30)
138 - Shane Thompson pinned Ethan Himes, 1:12 (31-30)
145 - Cameron Robinson pinned Brett Breidor, 0:35 (37-30)
152 - Gianncarlo Flores dec. Broc Babb, 6-4 (40-30)
Council Rock North wrestlers in bold.

BETHLEHEM LIBERTY 38, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 25
195 - Damen Moyer won by forfeit (6-0)
220 - Jake Ahmad pinned Tykee Jackson, 0:42 (12-0)
285 - Jaden Freeman pinned Chantz Kouveras, 2:25 (18-0)
106 - Kyle Hauserman pinned Connor Werner, 0:58 (18-6)
113 - Matthew Maloney dec. Jacob Shalinsky, 6-1 (21-6)
120 - Sebastian Mateo dec. Luke Lucerne, 6-3 (24-6)
126 - Travis Brown won by tech. fall over Dan Fitzgerald, 15-0 2:00 (29-6)
132 - Sammy Hayes dec. Michael Torres, 5-4 (29-9)
138 - Shane Thompson maj. dec. Jason Rezac, 11-2 (29-13)
145 - Gianncarlo Flores dec. Joseph Barbella, 7-5 (29-16)
152 - Cameron Robinson pinned Daniel Santiago, 4:57 (29-22)
160 - Nick Nucero dec. Elias Santiago, 10-8 (29-25)
170 - Kevin Hennessy dec. Dillon Sheehy, 5-1 (32-25)
182 - Joseph Hennessy won by forfeit (38-25)
Bethlehem Liberty wrestlers in bold.