The first notebook of the year highlights some of the SOL’s top teams and wrestlers. Check back next week for a recap of this weekend’s wrestling tournaments.
By Glenn Kaiser
2014-15 SOL Wrestling: A Look Ahead
Snow has already fallen, and Christmas is around the corner…it must be wrestling season. As SOL wrestling teams prepare to grapple this weekend to kick-off the 2014-15 season, let’s take a look at what the Suburban One League has to offer.
With Council Rock South and Pennridge, the SOL will be a formidable force in the District One Dual forecast. Both teams return great individual wrestlers, with plenty of hardware and no foreseeable holes in their line-ups. Both will challenge the PAC 10 powers of Boyertown, Spring-Ford and Owen J Roberts for D1 supremacy.
The D1 Team race will once again go through Boyertown. The Bears have garnered national acclaim with their Top 20 ranking nationally in a couple of prestigious publications. However, with the absence of Jordan Wood (2014 PIAA-AAA Runner-up at 220) due to shoulder surgery, the Bears will need to look for six points elsewhere during the dual season. There is hope that Wood will return for the individual postseason.
The Bears should be challenged by a resurgent Council Rock South team that is young and hungry to get back on top of District One. The PAC 10 League, which Boyertown resides in, will once again be full of dangerous teams with Spring-Ford and Owen J Roberts returning individual standouts up and down their lineups. However, the Suburban One League could flex its muscles with the emergence of the Pennridge Rams. The Rams are a young, skilled team that may challenge for D1 supremacy this season as they will put a solid dual team on the mats from 106 up to Heavyweight. Along with CR South, Pennridge, Quakertown and the usual suspects in the SOL like CR North, Neshaminy, Central Bucks East, and North Penn, the PAC 10 will have some serious competition come District Dual time. Another SOL team from the American Conference, Plymouth Whitemarsh could also surprise some teams as the Colonials where clearly the most improved team a year ago in D1.
CR South returns lightweight dynamos Riley Palmer, seventh at States a year ago, and Zack Trampe, and the Golden Hawks will add freshmen phenom Benjamin Radnor to an impressive lineup that features Dylan Schwartz, Lucas Martoccio, and Ben Kenis. However, Pennridge may just be the most well rounded SOL team from top to bottom. The Rams will feature Matt Parker and Kordell Rush (PIAA 4th in 2014) down low and add newcomer Josh Stillings to complement the middle of the lineup. Up top, the Rams will be tough to handle with Kyle Gentile, Andrew Reinhold, Ezra Outlaw, and heavy Joe Kracz. With bonus points almost a sure thing for the Rams, they will be a tough team to run with and will surely be a tough out in the District Duals.
The SOL Continental will once again be loaded with team talent as Quakertown, North Penn, and CB East will try to stay in the race with the Rams for conference title hopes. Quakertown is primed to be a top 10 District one dual team as well with a pack of Panthers with talent and experience.
The SOL American Conference may see a shift of power with an under the radar team in Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Colonials have made steady gains under the helm of Justin Giovinco and look to unseat Norristown from a long rein of conference dominance.
The National Conference, which used to be the undisputed power conference of wrestling in the SOL, will be full of closely contested bouts between traditionally powerful programs like Neshaminy, Council Rock North, and Pennsbury. It remains to be seen if Harry S Truman can recapture the success of last season without former head coach Steve Given. CR South will have a target on its back here, but the Golden Hawks are the clear favorites.
SOL Team Rankings (Pre-Season)
1-Council Rock South
2- Pennridge
3-Quakertown
4-Council Rock North
5-Plymouth-Whitmarsh
Individually, the SOL has plenty of talented grapplers to provide the area with some exciting wrestling. Some have been mentioned above, and here is a look at the rest of the SOL’s best. Keep an eye on lightweights Harrison Campbell (Qtwn), Eric Fuentes (Norristown), Justin Altrogge (Norr), Brandon Bach (Souderton), and Mikey O’Brien (North Penn). Next up look for Dylan Nuttal (Truman), Francesco Palagruto (P-W), Aiden Burke (CR North), Nick Guiliani (Hatboro-Horsham), Jason Amy (Upper Moreland), Tom Matarazzo (CRN), and Connor Joyce (Pennsbury). Moving up in the middle you’ll see Michael Driver (CBE), Eric Mongiello (Pennsbury), Tanner Seislove (Qtwn), Colin Devlin (Upper Dublin), Gianpiero DiBattista (P-W), Dom Stabilito (Neshaminy), and Ryan Chalifoux (CBE). Dustin Stone (Truman), Riley Barth (CBW) and Evan Wilson (CBE) move up. Zach Clarke and Luke Kowal are foundations for Pennsbury’s line-up, and CR North’s Josh Shalinsky is ranked high. Dom DeLaurentis (U. Moreland), Nick Bonomo (Qtwn), Jason Douple (CBW) and Matt Cascioli (CBE) will be menacing as we move into the upper weights. Phil Stolfi (Soud), Alex Cwenar (Pennsbury), Kyle Beck (H-H), Gavin Caroff (Qtwn), and Mike Rodemacher (CRN) look for the best weight to compete to advance in the postseason. Noah Kisselback (Nesh), Micah Jones (Qtwn), Thiason Nguyen (CRS), Shaun Jones (Norr), Matt Chapman (H-H) and Kyle Thorpe (CRN) are big men looking to make moves. The anchors are Shaheed Hill (Norr), Bruce Graeber (Nesh), Nick Schuck (H-H), and Mason Houriet (Pennsbury).
This weekend we will start to see how specific weight classes start to fall into place with the first tournaments of the season, by Christmas with the two-pound gift, we will start to see who drops and what postseason weights may look like for the SOL’s best wrestlers.
CB East, Hatboro-Horsham, and Souderton open in Solanco at the Mule Classic this weekend. Abington, CB West, Upper Dublin and Upper Merion stay close to home at the New Hope-Solebury Invitational. CR South heads to Cumberland Valley. Avon Grove will host CB South, Springfield and Plymouth Whitemarsh. Pennsbury heads to the Lehigh Valley at Saucon Valley. The Boyertown Duals will start to paint the dual rankings with CR North, North Penn and Truman attending. While Neshaminy and Quakertown go to the Battle of Bethlehem at Freedom High School, Upper Moreland heads to the mountains to see their old assistant coach at Jim Thorpe. Another SOL team headed to the Valley is Norristown, who will participate in the Wilson Duals. Bensalem is at the Knight Duals down at Academy Park. And Wissahickon hosts its own dual event this Saturday. So strap on your headgear, get in your car, and go see SOL teams in action throughout the great wrestling State of Pennsylvania.
About the Author
