This week’s notebook highlights the upcoming district duals, recaps the Escape the Rock Tournament and looks at the leaders for a conference crown.
WRESTLING NOTEBOOK 1/20/14
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH LEADS THE WAY FOR SOL TEAMS AT DISTRICT DUALS
Council Rock South earned the 5th seed in this year’s edition of the District One Dual Team Championships. The Golden Hawks will receive a bye into the second round Thursday night and take on the winner of #12 Bayard-Rustin vs. #21 Chichester. CR South will look to advance to the Elite 8 to be contested at Upper Dublin H.S. on Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1. Rock South, always a good tournament team, may be coming into its own as a solid dual team. If they can have a full line-up starting Thursday night, many coaches have said that they are a team you would not want to wrestle. Nick Palmer (113 lbs) did not wrestle this weekend at the Escape The Rock. Harry S Truman will join CRS at Bayard-Rustin on Thursday night as the #20 seed as the Tigers take on West Chester Henderson, the #13 seed.
Pennridge will represent the Continental Conference as the #6 seed and await the winner of #11 Penncrest vs. #22 Downingtown West match at Interboro. Neshaminy, seeded #14, will also head to Interboro to wrestle #19 Unionville. In the top half of the bracket, #8 Quakertown will sit and watch their potential opponents, #9 Owen J Roberts vs. SOL American Conference’s Upper Moreland, the final entry into the duals at #24. They will be wrestling at Central Bucks East where CB East (#18) will do battle with #15 Coatesville, with the winner having to grapple with 2nd seeded Downingtown East in Round 2.
Council Rock North joins the top ten seeded teams as the #10 seed and will take on #23 Pottsgrove at Methacton. The winner will move on to Round 2 against the host Warriors. Preliminary matches will begin at all sites at 5:30pm, and the 2nd Round will commence immediately following the completion of both preliminary bouts. Surprisingly, Norristown and North Penn did not apply for the duals. Both teams had the potential for top 10 seeds in the tournament.
On the AA side of the Duals, Springfield secured the #1 seed and will take on #4 Bishop McDevitt from District 12. With only four teams in the field and Lower Moreland, the #2 seed, taking on #3 New Hope-Solebury, Springfield has a golden opportunity to advance to the State Duals to represent D1 as the Spartans already hold an early season win over Lower Moreland.
Handicapping the AAA tournament in which the top four teams will advance to the Pennsylvania (AAA) State Dual Championships is rather easy, as the clear favorite to win are the Boyertown Bears. The Bears destroyed perennial District 11 power Easton 46-11 and are one of the top ranked dual teams in PA. The other top three seeds - #2 Downingtown East (2nd last year), #3 Spring-Ford, and #4 Garnet Valley - will be challenged by Council Rock South for the remaining spots. Do not count out Pennridge, as with the Rams’ strong lightweight contingency and upper weight tandem of Ezra Outlaw (220) and heavy Joe Kracz, they could be a team that could match up with just about anyone here in D1.
The large field of 24 teams in the District One Duals has somewhat watered down the tournament, as outside of the top five or six teams, not to many other teams really have a shot at advancing to the State Duals. Preliminary rounds of the State Duals will be contested on Tuesday, Feb. 4, with the main event commencing at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA, Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 6-8. But with the opportunity at extra matches against quality opponents, the duals over the years have grown from eight to 16 to 24 teams. It is a good experience for individual wrestlers and teams to compete on the big stage. However, it is realistic to reconsider the tournament’s size and reduce the field back to eight teams to limit the wear and tear on the kids and put our teams in a good position to advance and place at the State Duals. On the flip side, from a fan standpoint, it is exciting to get to watch many local teams compete with the best teams in D1. For coaches, it is a good measuring stick to check their team’s dual season success in the other post-season.
ESCAPE THE ROCK
The Escape The Rock tournament lived up to its billing this weekend. It truly has become one of the majors for high school wrestling. Many nationally ranked (FloWrestling) wrestlers were on stage in the finals, and numerous state champs and place winners took to the mats to do battle at Council Rock South. The eight-mat event can certainly boast that it is among the country’s elite wrestling tournaments with only the Ironman, Powerade and the Beast seemingly ahead of this one. The King of the Mountain and Reno are still top tier events, but the Rock, with its championship belts awarded to the champs, has put itself right on the national stage.
Jordan Burroughs, an Olympic Gold Medalist and New Jersey native, handed out awards and greeted the fans and wrestlers and, believe it or not, shot tee shirts into the crowd during the breaks Sunday. It was a nice touch to cap off a tournament that benefited the Beat The Streets Program that supports young wrestlers and high school wrestling in the city of Brotherly Love.
The SOL was represented at the Rock (with 32 teams) by Pennridge (9th place), CR South (12th), Norristown (21st), and CR North (27th). Pennridge’s Scott Parker failed to capture the belt at 120 pounds after defeating Ethan Lizak (Parkland), defending PIAA State Champ 2-1 at the buzzer in the semis. Facing Blair Academy’s Charles Tucker in the finals, Parker was unable to score from his feet, where his strength is and lost a 4-3 decision. Tucker maintained solid position, moving forward at all times, and with his powerful strength and compact size, it prevented Parker from opening up on his feet.
Pennridge finished with four place winners to put them in the top 10 in the overall team standings. The Rams’ Kordell Rush had an outstanding tournament wrestling back through to the consolation finals to face Solanco’s returning state runner-up Connor Sheehan. Rush battled the Mules’ senior tooth and nail, coming up short on a 4-1 decision and a spot above the number four on the podium. At 126, Ben Ross had a few lapses during the two-day tournament Saturday and Sunday but rebounded to capture fifth place with a win over Paulsboro’s Sam Morina 13-6. And Kyle Gentile continued a brilliant sophomore campaign at 160 pounds with a fourth place finish, losing to Chad Reese (Central Mountain) 5-3 in the bronze medal match.
Norristown’s Mikey Springer was dominant throughout the tourney, finishing with his patented headlock decking Southern Columbia’s Blake Marks in :48 seconds. Rashon Lusane finished in sixth place at 170 pounds with a loss to Big Spring’s Cody Seibert, and Shaheed Hill placed fourth for the Eagles to boost their team score with a 3-0 loss to Delaware’s Zack Parker from Caesar Rodney.
The hosts Golden Hawks managed to place six wrestlers for a 12th place finish in the team standings: Riley Palmer 6th at 106, Zack Trampe (120) 8th, Dan Martoccio (126) 8th, Harry Murray (132) 8th, Dylan Schwartz (138) 8th, and Lucas Martoccio 8th at 145 pounds. CR North’s Tim Ambacher won his fifth place bout 4-3 over BC LaPrade of New Kent, Ambacher, a senior, will look to go deep into the postseason at this weight with aspirations to compete at the Giant Center in the field of 16 in the PIAA (AAA) State Championships March 6, 7, & 8, 2014.
DUAL LEAGUE TITLES SHAPPING UP
With the dual meet seasoning heading into the final stretch, league championships are on the line. Several teams have positioned themselves well with victories the past couple of weeks. Most notably is Pennridge. The Rams battled their way through Quakertown 39-27 prior to Quakertown pinning a loss on North Penn 48-24 this past week. North Penn is the only team with a win over the Rams. Thus, the Rams can still grab a share of the Continental title if they win out. CB East (3-0) remains in the mix as well, as the Patriots will face Quakertown this Wednesday and still have NP and Pennridge on the schedule. So it looks like a three-way sprint to the finish here.
In the National, only Neshaminy (4-0 in league) can derail the Golden Hawks this Wednsesday as CR South looks solid with an 8-0 overall record and a win already in the bag over North. CR North still will look to challenge, as the Indians don’t see Neshaminy for a couple of weeks. Neshaminy most recently took care of business with a solid 42-33 win over Pennsbury.
And a potential show down for the American Conference title is on the horizon as Plymouth-Whitmarsh will cross boarders into Norristown with a 4-0 league record Wednesday. Upper Moreland still stands in the way of P-W if the Golden Bears pull the upset over the Eagles on their Senior Night on Feb. 5. Upper Moreland kept its chances alive with a 46-27 victory over Upper Dublin last Wednesday to avenge a dual tourney loss to the Cardinals earlier in the season.
SOL Dual Team Rankings:
1-Council Rock South (8-0)
2-Pennridge (9-4)
3-Quakertown (14-3)
4-Council Rock North (8-5)
5-Norristown (7-2)
Under consideration in order: Neshaminy (8-6), CB East (4-5), Truman (11-4), P-W (12-6), & Upper Moreland (12-10)
Congrats to all the SOL Teams who have qualified for the District Duals, and good luck Thursday night!
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