Glenn Kaiser’s notebook highlights the SOL’s top performances at holiday tournaments. To view photos of the finals of the Wetzel Tournament, please click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/123015_wetzel_tournament_kas
NEW YEAR LOOKS PROSPEROUS FOR SOL TEAMS
By Glenn Kaiser
Success abounds for many SOL teams to close out 2015 and ring in the New Year as the second half of the season rolls in. The focus will be on league duals moving forward; however, the Escape The Rock Tournament at Council Rock South will headline individual talent on Saturday, Jan. 16, and Sunday, Jan. 17. As the holiday tournaments concluded, many SOL teams can look back on 2015 with pride and promise as the accomplishments added up. Some will look to tighten dual lineups, get healthy, and improve conditioning and technique.
Pennridge continued its tournament run at the prestigious PowerAde Tournament at Cannon McMillan with a fourth place team finish. Despite having no champions, the Rams wrestled back through the consolations to garner three bronze medals and a fourth place finish from Kyle Gentile at 182 lbs. Matt Parker (113), Kordell Rush (126), and Josh Stillings (160) had stellar performances wrestling back to all finish in third place to get the team into the top five at one of the best tournaments in the USA.
Meanwhile, Coach Sil and his Golden Hawks traveled to the always tough Hurricaine Classic at Bethlehem Liberty and finished as the team runner-ups to the Valley’s Nazareth. The Golden Hawks crowned three champions in Zack Trampe (132), Lucas Martoccio (145), and Dylan Schwartz (152). Ben Radner was the runner-up at 120 lbs. as CR South had four finalists to post the majority of the team points. North Penn finished 11th overall as Colin Shannon lost his title tilt at 152 to South’s Schwartz 4-2 in a matchup that could be contested again in the postseason. Freshman phenom Ryan Vulakh continued his early success finishing third to take the bronze with a Sudden Victory in OT 4-2 over Chase Anklem (Pen Argyl). Mikey O’Brien finished fifth at 145 and Sofiane Bensmail was sixth at 132 as the Knights continue to shine this season. Quakertown also competed at the Hurricaine and had two fourth place finishers in big men Nick Bonomo (182) and Gavin Caroff (220).
Neshaminy finished fifth at Governor Mifflin with three finalists of its own, but could only garner silver medals with Vincent Stabilito (160), Bruce Graeber (285), and Colton Jordan (106). Jordan lost to Plymouth-Whitmarsh’s Marco DiBattista 5-4 in the title tilt. Jackson Erb (120) and Noah Kisselback (182) grabbed silver to help the Skins get into the top five in the team scoring.
CR North continued the tradition of heading to Manheim Central and finished a respectable seventh place as a team. 120-pounder, Aidan Burke let the way as he finished atop the podium with a 5-0 blanking of Robinson Virginia’s Sam Book. The Indians Josh Shalinsky (170) lost a good battle to Jared Seigrist (Manheim Cent) 12-8 to finish second. Timmy Everett wrestled back to take third, and Luke Ely placed fourth at 160. The Indians will host the Rock Yard Duals this Saturday, Jan. 9, with Pennridge and North Penn competing in the eight-team field with CR North.
Souderton will host their own Big Red Duals on Jan. 9 with Bensalem, Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Springfield and Wissahickon all competing in this 16-team dual event.
The SOL team race in the Continental seems to be one in which any team can beat any other as they chase Pennridge, thus it will be an interesting battle throughout as Souderton is much improved. Hatboro-Horsham returned regional qualifier from a year ago in Kyle Beck at 170 at the Wetzel Classic to bolster their roster in the upper weights, where they are already strong. Beck finished fourth at the Wetzel in his first competition of the season after returning from injury. Quakertown handled Souderton 46-27 before the break, as they look to make a run towards the District Duals in late January.
CR South will be tested by North in the Unity Cup (1/20/16) in the National Conference, and Norristown will be challenged by Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland as Norristown has already hurdled over Plymouth-Whitemarsh in the American for dual supremacy in their respective leagues.
HATBORO-HORSHAM CELEBRATES 15th WETZEL CLASSIC WITH 4th PLACE FINISH
The 15th Annual Wetzel Holiday Classic at Hatboro-Horsham had nine SOL teams compete in the 29-team individual tournament. The Wetzel Classic also featured a JV tournament for all competing teams. The host Hatters (Wrestling Warriors) finished just ahead of Central Bucks East (fifth) in the team standings to finish fourth, as both the Hatters and Patriots finished in the Top 5. Downingtown East ran away with the team title to win their fourth Wetzel Classic in a row. The only other team to three-peat at the Wetzel was the host Hatters from 2005-2007. DTE’s Wade Cummings won his fourth consecutive Wetzel title at 132, the only other to win four titles was current Lehigh wrestler John Bolich, an Upper Moreland grad who is ranked #15 in the nation by Intermat.
Five SOL wrestlers captured Wetzel titles, starting at 106 with Norristown junior Justin Altrogge, who continued his perfect season (14-0) by defeating Austin Jones (Ephrata) with a comeback win 7-5. Pennsbury’s Antonio Martoccio bested DTE’s James Srommer 4-3 as two of District One’s best at this weight class battled. Ryan Chalifoux from CB East downed Cheltenham’s Austin Gershwin for the 145-pound title with a tilt clinic en route to a 18-4 major decision. Keshon Guiellmo (Abington) repeated as the Wetzel champ at the same weight a season ago, holding off Eric Gassenmeyer (West Chester East) 9-5 at 195 lbs. The hosts’ Matt Chapman (H-H) used a series of leg combinations to set up an arm bar pin fall with 38 seconds remaining in the second period, decking Roman Catholic’s Matt Galasso to garner a Hatters title for the first time in three years. Pennsbury’s Connor Joyce was runner-up to Noah Hankin (WCE) after dropping a 8-3 decision in the finals at 126. David McCoy (William Tennent) finished second to DTE’s Alec Horne by a major decision 9-l for the silver medal.
The Wrestling Warriors from H-H had a third place finisher in Nick Chapman as he dumped Unionvile’s Mike Maguire at 195 in the consi-final with a fall in 3:58. At 220 H-H’s Nick Schuck capped his tournament with a fall to take fifth as the Hatters big man trio posted big points for the Hatters in the wrestle backs. Kyle Beck (170) returned to the mat for the Hatters and was in Regional form with a fourth place finish. Beck knocked off the #2 seed Michael Gilmore (GA) in the quarterfinals 6-4, but lost to Tennent’s McCoy in the semis. Brendan Wawrzyniak placed sixth at 138 in which was a rugged weight class that included East’s Michael Driver who finished third.
Ray Calderiao (CB South) captured the bronze with a win over Zach Robles (Central) 3-1 at 113-pounds. Other third place finishers from the SOL included Norristown’s Eric Fuentes (132), Pennsbury’s Zack Clarke (152), and CB East’s Colin Stevens (160).
All in all, the SOL had eight finalists in a final that pitted wrestlers from 20 different teams in this multi-dimensional field with two teams from both Connecticut and Delaware. Both the Philadelphia Public and Catholic leagues were represented, along with the Ches-Mont, Central, and PAC-10 leagues from District One. Cedar Cliff and Ephrata represented PIAA District 3.
Three SOL teams - H-H, CB East, and Pennsbury - finished in the Top 10 finishing fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.
15th Annual Wetzel Holiday Classic Team Results:
1-Downingtown East 221.5
2-Unionville 152.5
3-West Chester East 137.5
4-Hatboro Horsham 123
5-Central Bucks East 116.5
6-Pennsbury 108.5
7-Haveford 105
8-Ridley 101
9-Wethersfield 93
10-Daniel Hand 86
11-Central Bucks South 85
12-Roman Catholic 83
13-Pottsgrove 82
14-Germantown Academy 81
15-Norristown 75
16-William Tennett 74
17-Abington 71
18-St. Joesephs Prep 66
19-Chichester 64
-Perkiomen Valley 64
21-Cedar Crest 61.5
22-Ephrata 51.5
23-Lower Merrion 48
24-Northeast 45
25-Appoquinimink 39.5
Cheltenham 39.5
Entire bracket results an be found at the following link:
www.thewrestlingtourney.com/reports/2617-brkall.pdf
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