Glenn Kaiser recaps the performances by SOL wrestling teams during the opening week of the season.
SOL Teams Off and Running:
CR South Outstanding at Cumberland Valley Kickoff Classic
Council Rock South (CRS) is primed to battle for District One supremacy this season, and the Golden Hawks got off to a hot start during the first weekend of the 2018-19 PIAA wrestling season. CRS traveled to District Three’s Cumberland Valley (CV) to grapple in the CV Kick-Off Classic. This early tournament ranks as a high-level individual event, if not the best, to open the wrestling season in Pennsylvania. The Golden Hawks did not disappoint as they finished second behind Nazareth (District 11) in the team standings at CV.
The Golden Hawks had an amazing 11 medalists at CV. Kyle Waterman downed D1 foe Shane Reynolds (Spring-Ford) by major decision 11-3 in the 113 lb. final leading the way for CRS, as their only champ. Sophomore Cavan Kinne was second at 106, and freshman Matt Colajezzi grabbed the silver medal for the Golden Hawks, scoring big points for the team. Both Maximino Mendez and Eric Woloshyn secured bronze, winning the 120 and 152-pound weight classes’ consolation finals respectively. Fourth place finishes were turned in by Shane Hanson-Ashworth (126), Braden Ricchini (132) and Cole Flanagan (160). LJ Kahn (138) and Nik Korbich (182) capped their tournaments with wins to garner fifth place finishes, and Gianna Gilch was sixth to add to South’s 210.5 team points. Nazareth finished with 254.5 points.
Pennridge’s Logan Green placed fourth in the stacked 195-pound weight class. Missing from the Rams’ roster at Cumberland Valley was standout, Evan Widing.
At Boyertown, many quality teams were on display at the Brian Bealer Bear Duals as District One had four of its top teams in the field. Testing their early team strength was the goal of the coaches, and the test was a tough one. Council Rock North was paired with Garnet Valley and Owen J Roberts (OJR) in one pool, as Boyertown was opposite them all in the dual event with Bethlehem Liberty. OJR was able to get through unscathed at 4-0 downing both Garnet Valley 42-27 and CR North 38-31. OJR needed the 12-point gift from CRN to get the win, as North had no bodies at 195 or 220-pounds. The match featured some great wrestling and efforts to score bonus points throughout the dual. CRN standout Cam Robinson was thwarted for a late takedown and major decision by OJR’s Cole Meredith at 145 lbs., winning 10-3. The Wildcats’ Antonio Petrucelli captured a hard fought 9-3 victory over North’s Sammy Hayes at 152 lbs. The Indians Dillon Sheehy (170), Anthony Burke (106), Kyle Hauserman (113) and Luke Lucerne (132) were dominanat as they all recorded falls. But it was Owen J’s David Forrest at 120-pounds, in the final match of the afternoon, with the match on the line with the score at 33-31 in Owen J’s favor, that provided the biggest bonus points (with a takedown clinic) with a 26-12 tech fall over North’s Vincenza Mears to hold onto the win. Garnet Valley also used the CR North’s forfeits to get by the Indians 40-32.
Nonetheless, CR North finished 3-2 on the day, securing victories over Unionville 57-18, Dallas 48-33 and Governor Mifflin 43-32 in the fifth place match. Truman did not fare as well at Boyertwon, as they only managed one win over Interboro 40-31.
Neshaminy started their season by recording three wins at the Battle at Bethlehem, hosted by Bethlehem Freedom. The ‘Skins downed Suburban One League and D1 foe North Penn 46-30, beat a D12 Philly opponent, St. Joe’s Prep, 59-12 and demolished Southern Lehigh 57-9. However, they dropped a 52-26 match to Freedom and finished 3-2 overall with a second loss to an outstanding Cedar Cliff team 60-24. The SOL National Conference is going to be a grinder when it comes to league duals, with the edge going to CRS, but anything can happen here.
Elsewhere, several SOL teams entered the 18-team Pope John Paul Invitational (formerly the New Hope-Solebury Tourney). Abington was the highest placing team, finishing fourth overall with 134.5 points, Jim Thorpe won the team championship with 145.5 points. Abington had one champ in Shane Kibler at 132-pounds. Kibler downed Central Bucks West’s C.J. Walker 17-4 in the finals. The Ghost’s Naseer Mason was the runner-up at 160-pounds. CB West, although lacking in numbers, is not lacking in talent as they had three finalists. Chris Cleland (106) and Ryan Heiber (220) joined Walker as runner-ups. Other SOL finalists included Upper Moreland’s Chris Walker (138) and CB South’s Corey Showaker (152), both garnered silver.
This week, all SOL teams will see competiion in various tournaments and dual meets. A feature SOL non-league dual between CR South and Quakertown will be the highlight Wednesday night.
Locally, Abington hosts the Ghost Town Duals Saturday with Hatboro-Horsham, Pennsbury, and Wissahickon competing. Upper Moreland hosts a dual event with Upper Dublin and Truman participating. Individual tourneys will be busy around the state, as CRS heads to the King of the Mountain at Central Mountain H.S. and CRN and Souderton head to Penn Manor. The MyHouse X-Caliber tournament will be hosted by Wilkes University, as three SOL hopefuls North Penn, Pennridge and Quakertown will do battle.
Pre-Season SOL Team Rankings:
1-Council Rock South
2-Neshaminy (3-2)
3-Quakertown
4-Council Rock North (3-2)
5-Wissahickon
Under Consideration: North Penn (2-3), Hatboro-Horsham and Souderton
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