This week’s notebook recaps this past weekend’s local duals and also looks ahead.
SOL Wrestling Notebook
1/26/14
SOL Teams Battle In Local Duals
ABINGTON GHOST TOWN DUALS:
Mother Nature could not stop the competition this Saturday at Abington High School. After snow and ice postponed the event back in December, a little snow this past Saturday did not prevent five SOL teams from battling in this eight-team dual tournament. The top three teams represented the National, American, and Continental Conference respectively, Pennsbury (1st), Upper Moreland (2nd), and Hatboro-Horsham (3rd). The Pennsbury Falcons defeated Upper Moreland in the final 46-31 after squeaking by Hatboro-Horsham 40-39 in the semifinals.
Eric Mongiello, the Falcons 126 pounder, earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award as his pin over H-H’s Matt Swiacki in the semis may have been the difference in Pennsbury’s win over the Hatters. Mongiello’s bonus points and Mason Houriet’s 13-3 major decision over the H-H’s Nick Schuck in the heavy weight tilt secured the Falcons come-from-behind win with the Hatters forfeiting the 106 lb bout. Houriet used a pair of cradles to rack up the major decision. For the Hatters, forfeiting 106 all year has been their Achilles, as Nick Giuliani remains out recovering from a broken elbow (that required surgery) he injured in the first dual meet of the season vs. CB West. Giuliani was off to a fast start with a fifth place finish at the Solanco Mule Classic, and looked primed for a breakout season in his sophomore year.
Mongiello recorded his second fall of the tourney in the finals where the Falcons got out to an 18-0 lead that they would not relinquish. Pennsbury’s Brandon McKee (120) started the match off with a fall, followed by Mongiello’s :52 second pin, and Dom Martoccio’s fall over Upper Moreland’s Enrest Brown in 4:32. The Golden Bears made a run in the upper middle-weights started off by Dom DeLaurentis’ major decision over Kenny Hickman 13-3 at 160, followed by two falls by Justin Hester (170) & Patrick Walker (195), and Joey Colbride’s 3-0 decision over Kyle Owens to get within a decision away in the team score 28-25.
In the third place bout, Hatboro-Horsham easily handled Lower Moreland, the three-time defending District One AA Team Champions, 47-26. Phil Torresani capped a 5-0 day with a 14-4 major decision over Joe Chaloub, overcoming a 24-hour bug that slowed him down most of the day. Four other Hatters went 5-0 on the day as well, with Max Tuerke (138), Brad Humski (145), Zach Tuerke (195), and Matt Chapman (220) all scoring bonus points through out the day as the Hatters went 4-1 as a team. H-H’s Matt Swiacki (126) and Connor Bodnar (152/160) both were 4-1 on the day in their individual bouts as well.
Wissahickon’s 160-pounder Pat Fennell broke the Wissahickon career win record with a fall in 3:33 over Brendan Thalheimer of Lower Moreland. The victory gave him 125 career wins breaking the previous record held by Steve Pyle (former PIAA State Runner-up). Fennel finished the day with two more wins after that, bringing his career record to 127-25.
Panther Duals:
Joe Rigous returned to William Tennent with his Central Bucks South Titans as they swept the field going 5-0 on the day. South beat the host Panthers 48-24. Harry S Truman did the same in their five matches with their most impressive win coming over Plymouth-Whitmarsh 49-15. This dual event also featured teams from all three divisions with Bensalem also in the field. P-W defeated the Owls 48-20.
Redskin Duals:
Neshaminy (National) hosted the third local dual tourney this past Saturday, and the Redskins too had all three SOL conferences represented with CB West and Quakertown from the Continental and Upper Merion from the American Conference. Joining this strong field with District Dual teams was Downingtown East (District One #2 Seed), which defeated Quakertown 38-26 and then Neshaminy (#14) in the finals 58-12. Quakertown (#8 seed) will wrestle the D1 #1 Seed Boyertown Friday night at Upper Dublin in the D1 Duals quarterfinals.
Ironically, the top eight seeded teams in the District One Duals all advanced to the quarterfinals. Kudos to the D1 Steering Committee for seeding the tournament accordingly, making the argument for a smaller District Dual Tournament, like reducing it to 8 or 12 teams that was suggested here last week.
Quakertown captured third place with a victory over Twin Valley 38-25, and Central Bucks West was fifth with their win over Southern Lehigh 39-30. The Bucks went 3-2 on the day with victories over Edison 59-18 and Upper Merion 50-12.
With the in-season tournaments, both individual and dual, coming to an end this past weekend, it’s all about the post-season now for teams and individuals. The D1 Dual Finals are set for Saturday, Feb. 1, at Upper Dublin and then on to the State Duals the following week. League Championships will be Saturday, Feb. 15, kicking off the run to Hershey for individuals. League championships will be decided over the next two weeks as senior wrestlers compete in their Senior Nights throughout the Suburban One League.
Some early predictions for team titles (unrecognized by the SOL) at the league championships are: American-Norristown, Continental-Pennridge, and National-Council Rock South. In the American, Upper Moreland could make some noise, but the Eagles are the favorite to win the crown. The Continental will feature a multitude of wrestlers that look to punch their ticket to Hershey from all eight teams, but Pennridge looks to be the favorite. In the National, CR South stands out with individual strength, and the Golden Hawks are the heavily favored team in this division.
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