COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH HOLDS OFF PENNRIDGE FOR D1 EAST TEAM TITLE
Place Pts School (Abbreviation)
1. 137.00 Council Rock South (CRS)
2. 131.00 Pennridge (PR)
3. 103.0 Neshaminy (NSH)
4. 79.0 Council Rock North (CRN)
5. 64.0 North Penn (NP)
6. 62.5 Central Bucks East (CBE)
7. 62.0 Hatboro-Horsham (HH)
8. 58.0 Harry S Truman (HST)
9. 55.5 Quakertown (QT)
10. 48.0 Pennsbury (PB)
Council Rock South captured the team title at Hatboro-Horsham High School on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, by holding off a surging Pennridge in the finals. Both the Golden Hawks and the Rams had six Southeast Regional Qualifiers. Pennridge had two Champions - Scott Parker at 120 and Kyle Gentile (160) along with North Penn, who had Jeff Reimel (152) and Alex Price (182) capture titles. Although the Golden Hawks had only one champ in Riley Palmer at 106 pounds, they split the head to head finalist match-ups vs. the Rams. Each had five finalists. Palmer defeated Pennridge’s Kordell Rush in the finals 3-0, avenging a 3-0 loss he suffered at the hands of Rush earlier this season at the Escape the Rock. These two may very well meet again with a spot in Hershey on the line this coming weekend at Pottstown H.S. The Southeast Regional will begin wrestling Friday night at 6 pm, and resume again at 10 am on Saturday. The finals are slated for 6 pm Saturday night.
Scott Parker (Pennridge) continued his quest for Hershey Gold with a 10-4 decision over CRS’s Zack Trampe 10-4 to gain the #1 seed in a stacked 120-pound weight class at Regionals. Hatboro-Horsham’s Phil Torresani decked North Penn’s Mikey O’Brien in the consolation finals to grab the third spot at Regionals. It was the second time in as many years that Torresani defeated O’Brien to advance.
Kolton Veit (Souderton) earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award by avenging his 126- pound loss at Leagues to Central Bucks East’s Michael Driver with a 10-6 victory in the semifinals. But his win over former state medalist Dan Martoccio (CRS) 4-3 may have been the match that catapulted him to the honor. And in the finals, battling Ben Ross (Pennridge) for the second weekend in a row, he defeated the defending Regional Champion 8-6 with a strong showing on his feet early in the match to cap the day with victories over two state medalists in Ross and Martoccio.
Neshaminy advanced five wrestlers to Pottstown as sophomore Bruce Graeber led the way at 285 with his final’s win over Pennridge’s Joe Kracz 3-0. Evan Pascucci was the runner-up at 170, losing to Truman’s Jesse Huber 8-3. Kody Lupfer also took the silver at 182 after getting shut out by Price 7-0. And Noah Kisselback (195) and Nate Russell (160) earned bronze medals to cap the Redskins run in the upper weights. Council Rock North and Hatboro-Horsham each grabbed three spots at the SE Regional. CRN’s Timmy Ambacher won the 138-pound crown over CB East’s Evan Wilson 3-1. The Ambacher/Wilson rivalry will most likely be rekindled at Regionals if they both reach the finals or falter along the way and battle down in the consolations. The Indians other finalist was Tom Matarazzo at 113, but Connor Joyce (Pennsbury) wasted little time with him, dispatching him in 49 seconds with a fall in the title tilt. Kyle Thorpe took the bronze at 220.
H-H garnered three bronze medals with Torresani (120), Brad Humski (145), and Nick Schuck at heavyweight. Humski advanced in dramatic fashion, avenging an earlier 5-0 quarterfinal loss to Lucas Martoccio (CRS), with tight headlock for the fall in the second period of their consolation final bout. Nick Schuck did the same at 285, wrestling a smart match against Chichester’s Andrew Galazeski, whom he lost to in the quarters as well 5-4, with a convincing 9-2 win for third place and a trip to Regionals.
Tommy Stokes (Bensalem) continued his undefeated season (37-0) edging Harry Murray (CRS) 3-2 in 132-pound final. Murray had a tremendous tournament, knocking off Continental champ Matt Swiacki (H-H) 9-4 in the quarters and Eric Thomas (Interboro) 3-1 to punch his ticket to Pottstown. CB East standout Francesco Fabozzi also avenged his only loss of the season in the finals with an 8-6 victory over neighboring rival Riley Barth from CB West. Fabozzi eclipsed the all-time win margin of Central Bucks East’s Devon Passman to become the Patriots’ career win leader. Marc Issac from William Tennent, another one of a handful of undefeated D1 wrestlers, kept his streak alive at 31 with a fall over Thaison Nguyen (CRS) in the 220 final.
All in all, the Suburban One League garnered all but five of the 42 medals at the D1 East Wrestling Championships. The Del Val League only managed to garner one gold in Karon Lucas-Tillary (Penn Wood) at 195 pounds.
SPRINGER CAPTURES OW AT D1 CENTRAL
Mikey Springer, Norristown’s 152-pounder, pinned his way to the title at Oxford H.S. on Saturday at the D1 West Wrestling Championships. He decked Sun Valley’s Steve Okoorian in just 34 seconds in the finals. Norristown advanced three wrestlers to Regionals in Springer, Rashon Lusane (170) and Shaun Jones, third at 220. Lusane was the runner-up to Downingtown West’s Gabe Hale 8-5. Norristown finished third in the team scoring behind champions Downingtown East and runner-up Coatesville.
Plymouth-Whitmarsh matched the Eagles with three qualifiers in third place finishers Francesco Palagruto (120), Gianpiero DiBattista (132), and Austin Pollock at 182 pounds.
Upper Dublin crowned a champ in Colin Devlin a 132 as he scored a sudden victory 7-5 over Downingtown West’s Tristen Reynolds. The Flying Cardinals added another Regional contestant as Ben Gause took the bronze at 170 defeating Octorara’s Nick Prange 7-4 in the consi-finals. Upper Moreland’s Dom DeLaurentis continued on with his fine season as he reached the finals against DTE’s Chris Jarini, but had to settle for second, suffering an 8-2 loss. Wissahickon’s Pat Fennel (160) saw his record-breaking season come to an end as he had to settle for fourth place after losing to Coatesville’s Zach Dellicompagni 5-2.
The SOL American did not fare as well in the Central, but will still have 9 wrestlers looking to advance to the PIAA State Championships March 6th, 7th, & 8th at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Mikey Springer will lead this group as he seeks to climb the podium as he embarks on a potential third trip to Hershey.
SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OUTLOOK
After successfully picking 11 of the 14 Champs last weekend at the D1 East tournament, I will again preview and give you my selections to advance to Hershey.
106: A potential rematch of Palmer and Rush here in the finals, but a potent group of talented wrestlers here may prevent that. Edgar Garcia from Avon Grove is the #1 seed, and will potentially have to go thru Dylan Nuttall (Truman) early, and then face Rush in the semis. Meanwhile Palmer is down below and will have to deal with Boyertown’s rugged Jakob Campbell. State qualifiers (SQ) in order-Rush, Palmer, and Garcia.
113: Derek Guolatta (OJR) is the clear favorite here with another PAC-10 stud from Spring-Ford Ryan Hayes second. The PAC 10 will sweep here with Dustin Steffenino advancing.
120: Outside of Scott Parker (Pennridge), a lock to advance, this weight class is up for grabs for the other two spots in Hershey. The quarterfinal winner of the Wade Cummings (DTE), undefeated at 41-0 vs. Zach Trampe (CRS) will have big implications. As will the winner of the other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the bracket between Phil Torresani (H-H) and Michael Marino (Garnet Valley). This is clearly the most loaded weight class at the SE Region. I cannot make selections here with my guy in the mix.
126: Another impressive weight class stocked with talent, look for Veit to continue his magical ride, Ben Ross (Penn) and Dan Martoccio (CRS) could meet twice in this one. Marple’s Pat Callaghan is dangerous, and will test Martoccio out of the gate. SQ-Veit, Ross, Martoccio
132: Boyertown’s Eddie Kriczky and Tommy Stokes in the finals, Harry Murray (CRS) third. Stokes edges Kriczky with a takedown in OT.
138: Methacton’s Joe Staley’s loss to Demetri D’Orsaneo (OJR) at D1 West throws a wrench into this bracket. I’ll take Staley over Evan Wilson in the finals, and Ambacher moving on with a third place finish.
145: There doesn’t seem to be an easy weight class at this year’s SE Region, and this one is another packed bracket. Francesco Fabozzi (CBE) appears to have a clear path as the #1 seed to advance and improve upon his fifth place finish last year at States. In the lower half, it will be a war. The quarterfinals will feature two spectacular bouts in Dom Petrucelli (OJR) vs. Riley Barth (CBW) and Brad Humski (H-H) vs. Shane Rhunke (Great Valley). Rhunke makes the drop here and was a Regional runner-up a year ago. I will go with the three boys, excuse me, gladiators from the SOL Continental to advance to states, but I can’t give you the order…
152: Springer, Nico Demetrio (Pottsgrove), Reimel
160: Another deep field. If Gregg Harvey (Boyertown) and Kyle Gentile (Penn) aren’t in the finals, it could be Dom DeLaurentis (UM) vs. Nick Giangiulo (PV), Chris Jarini (DTE) will battle Giangiulio in one quarter, and Radnor’s Tom Myers will take on Gentile in the other down below. Don’t count anyone out here. My Picks-Gentile, Harvey, Giangiulio
170: John Dambro (Garnet), Jesse Huber (Truman), and Gabe Hale (DTE)
182: Alex Price (NP) is the cream of the crop here, but Caleb Edwards (Avon Grove) is a beast. SQ-Price, Edwards, Liam Frank (Penncrest)
195: Boyertown’s Jordan Wertz has had an outstanding season and works out with teammate Jordan Wood. Karon Lucas-Tillery will take his speed and strength to the finals here. SQ-Wertz, Lucas-Tillary, and Adam Pleines (DTE) will avenge his only loss of the season to Wes McGuire (Coatesville) to advance.
220: This one features three undefeated wrestlers. Ranked #2 in the country by Amateur Wrestling News is Jordan Wood (Boyertown). His archrival is Michael Boykin from Coatesville, and William Tennent’s Marc Issac is 31-0. There has been much talk about Boykin versus Wood. They are close, but Wood wins it, Issac takes bronze.
285: An extremely deep weight class for heavy weights. Tracey Green looks to return to Hershey, but he will be pushed by Sean Snodgrass in the top half of the bracket, and Pat Finn (Pottsgrove) will have to deal with Dean Lang (Great Valley) in a potential semifinal match. Look for some big battles coming back through the consolations with Joe Kracz (Penn), Bruce Graeber (Nesh), & Josh Boyer (S-F). SQ-Green, Finn, Lang
With one final stop before we hit the road to Hershey, this will be one of the best events witnessed at the District One Southeast Regional in recent memory. There will be no easy outs as wrestlers try to punch their tickets to the Giant Center in Chocolate Town, USA. In Pennsylvania, the greatest state for high school wrestling, there is no place I’d rather be this weekend than at Pottstown High School. See you all in Hershey, as we join the greatest high school fans in the country for the PIAA (AAA) State Wrestling Championships.
There will be two more editions of the Wrestling Notebook, a Regional recap and look at the state brackets, and a State Championship edition. Please let me know about any milestones along the way, especially if I missed any here from Districts (100 wins, etc.)
Yours in wrestling,
Glenn Kaiser bug14k@comcast.net
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