This week’s notebook features Pennsbury’s Anthony DiEmidio as well as Alex Frazier’s predictions for Regionals.
By Alex Frazier
Meet…Anthony DiEmidio
Two years in a row, Anthony DiEmidio’s post-season came to an abrupt halt at the District One Tournament.
But this year, the Pennsbury junior rose to the top of his class, capturing the 120-pound championship.
“He’s putting it together,” said Pennsbury coach Philip Kealy. “He was shut down in districts the last two years and he wasn’t happy about that, so he’s motivated to move on.”
Last year, ironically enough, he turned in a better season record. He finished his sophomore year at 27-4. This year he is 28-6 heading into regionals.
One reason for that is a tougher schedule this year.
“I wrestled a lot of good kids this year,” said DiEmidio. “I’ve noticed we’ve gotten in some hard tournaments, like the Council Rock North Tournament. Last two years we wouldn’t have done that. You always want to wrestle good kids.”
A couple of factors have contributed to his success this year, according to Kealy.
His confidence level is higher because he’s trained harder than he has in the past.
“He’s strong, in shape and he feels good,” said Kealy.
DiEmidio has also improved his technique.
He considers takedowns as one of his strengths. In fact, in the district finals, it was a takedown with 57 seconds left that won him the championship in a close 3-2 win over Bensalem’s Tommy Stokes.
“I’m pretty sure I can take anybody down if I put my head in it real good,” he said.
Where he needed help was on bottom.
“I really got a lot better on bottom,” he said “Last two years I could not get out whatsoever on bottom, even on pretty easy kids. Over the summer I really worked on it. I’d get some kids to come over and we’d practice and drill.”
This year no one has ridden him for a full period.
“We’ve focused him on areas that he needs to improve and he’s buying into that,” said Kealy.
Naturally, having state qualifiers Josh DiSanto and Jason Bing to work with in the room everyday has only made him tougher.
“Those three go at it pretty good,” said Kealy.
DiEmidio and DiSanto grew up together wrestling.
“A lot of guys don’t have a good guy around them, but I have two,” he said. “It’s a great help for me to have a partner that can push you.”
While Bing is a bit smaller, DiSanto is a challenge.
“I know every move he’s going to do on me,” he said. “The only thing I can’t stop on him is his tilts.”
In the past, DiEmidio has been distracted by bloody noses.
“When I got them, it took my head out of the game,” he said. “I was just concentrating on my nose. It got me mad and threw me off.”
Last year in the match to qualify for regionals, he used 4 minutes and 54 seconds of his five-minute allotment of blood time.
“It got all over my singlet and they had to throw it out,” he said. “My opponent was basically just punching me in the face trying to it get it to bleed more. I was actually beating him by six points. He kept going at it and I had to go with it, and he just pinned me.”
This year he had his nose cauterized about halfway through the season, and it is no longer an issue.
DiEmidio is happy to win a district title, but he has more to do.
“My goal is to get to states, which I think I can do,” he said. “I just have to get past my first guy.”
He will wrestle either Nick Haegele of Central Buck South or Ryan Flynn of Marple Newtown. Flynn, who is favored, finished second in the District One South Tournament, while Haegele was fourth in the North.
“If I beat him (Flynn), I think I can beat everyone else on my side,” he said.
If he wins that bout, he will likely face Souderton’s Kolton Veit, whom he has beaten twice over the past two years, including a 3-2 decision in this year’s quarterfinal round of districts.
On the other side of the bracket, West Chester Rustin’s Corey McQuiston is a solid favorite to take the title.
But you never know.
“I’m pretty sure if I put my head into it, I can beat anybody at regionals,” said DiEmidio.
District Notes
• SOL Rules—Of the 29 teams represented in the District One North Tournament, 23 of them were SOL teams. In one of their strongest showings ever, Suburban One wrestlers won every weight class. Of the 70 potential places, SOL wrestlers claimed 60 of them.
Of the three undefeated SOL wrestlers that entered districts, two of them came out unscathed—Central Bucks West’s Seth Ehlo (152) and Chris Jastrzebski (182). Pennridge’s Scott Parker suffered his first loss of the season, falling to Norristown’s Zach Fuentes, 3-1.
• Upsets—In every tournament there’s always a wrestler or two who comes out on top that is not expected to. At 120, Anthony DiEmidio upset once-beaten Kolton Veit of Souderton 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Veit came back to take third, while DiEmidio won the weight class. Zach Lyall of Upper Moreland, who beat DiEmidio at the Section One Tournament, was eliminated at districts by Veit.
William Tennent 126-pounder Kevin Flack, who qualified for states as a freshman, missed the post-season last year and was eliminated at districts by Neshaminy’s Harry Wilson in the fifth place match.
C.B. West freshman Riley Barth won his first Section Two tournament at 145 but missed out on a trip to regionals by North Penn’s Jeff Reimel, who finished third in Section Two.
At heavyweight, William Tennent’s Andrew VanBuskirk avenged a quarterfinal 3-1 sudden-victory loss to Methacton’s Tracey Green with a 3-1 win in the consi finals.
Meanwhile, Abington’s Angel Carlo defeated Green 5-3 in sudden victory in the semis and lost to Council Rock South’s Tommy Trampe 2-1 in the finals.
• Injury report—Wissahickon’s Pat Fennell defaulted his 138-pound consi final match because of a knee injury. He and his coaches thought it best to rest it for regionals.
North Penn’s Alex Price missed out on a trip to regionals with a knee injury. He had to default his consolation semifinal bout and his bout for fifth place.
Coaches of the Year—Congratulations to the SOL coaches of the year—Tom Vivacqua of Council Rock North for the National Conference, Central Bucks South’s Craig Deacon for the Continental and Mark Harner of Norristown for the American.
District predictions—I know people like to read predictions. It’s a judgmental kind of thing. They can sit back and say things like, “That guy has no clue,” or “I can’t believe he didn’t place my son over whoever,” or (rarely) “That guy really knows his stuff.”
For the predictor, on the other hand, it can be a chance to show people that he knows wrestling and has done his studying.
But the danger is that the predictions can make him look like a fool.
If you recall my predictions for districts, which I hope you don’t, you’ll see that I fall into the latter category.
Of 56 places, I correctly predicted 25 or 45 percent. That’s the main reason why I don’t go to casinos or play the lottery.
Regional predictions—After I embarrassed myself so badly last week, I’ve vowed to do better this week. With that in mind, I’ve been poring over videotape, studying each wrestler’s strengths and weaknesses, and analyzing the matchups. Having done all that preparation, I’m going to crawl out on the proverbial limb one more time to predict the top four finishes at regionals this week. You may not even want to read them, knowing my past record, but then again maybe you need a good laugh.
Here goes:
106—Zach Fuentes (Norristown), Jim Long (Henderson), Scott Parker (Pennridge), Jason Rinaldi (Marple-Newtown)
113—Billy Rappo (Council Rock South), Derek Gulotta (Owen J. Roberts), Mike Marino (Garnet Valley), Aaron Moldoff (Marple-Newtown)
120—Corey McQuiston (Rustin), Kolton Veit (Souderton), Ryan Flynn (Marple-Newtown), Anthony DiEmidio (Pennsbury)
126—Josh DiSanto (Pennsbury), Dylan Steffenino (Upper Perkiomen), Evan Harkins (Rustin), Tyler Clapp (Strath Haven)
132—John Dutrow (Council Rock North), Joe Galasso (Father Judge), Wolfgang McStravick (Upper Perkiomen), Steve Quinn (Henderson)
138—Matt Cimato (LaSalle), Wayne Armstrong (Interboro), Mikey Springer (Norristown), Adam Moser (Owen J. Roberts)
145—Justin Staudenmayer (Plymouth Whitemarsh), Brandon Arnsberger (Octorara), Andrew Kinney (Owen J. Roberts), Logan Kerin (Conestoga)
152—Casey Kent (LaSalle), Jon Neiman (Boyertown), Seth Ehlo (Central Bucks West), Ryan Montgomery (Oxford)
160—Brett Harner (Norristown), Charlie Grab (Henderson), Joe Gartland (Penncrest), Dan Michaels (Pottsgrove)
170—Shane Springer (Norristown), Dominic Rigous (Central Bucks South), Gordon Bolig (Owen J. Roberts), Chris Kurkian (Marple-Newtown)
182—Tyler Wood (Rustin), Chris Jastrzebski (Central Bucks West), Tyler Letrinko (Norristown), Chase Garber (Boyertown)
195—P.J. Steinmetz (Council Rock South), Jordan Wertz (Boyertown), Larry Gordon (Norristown), Adam Pleines (Downingtown East)
220—Tyler Callender (Council Rock North), Tim Riley (Council Rock South), Mike Boylan (Coatesville), Jake Cooper (Archbishop Wood)
285—Tommy Trampe (Council Rock South), Paul Johnson (St. Joe’s Prep), James Brown (Ridley), Andrew VanBuskirk (William Tennent)
Regional Schedule
The Southeast Regional Wrestling Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Oxford. Four wrestlers will advance to states from each weight class.
Friday – Weigh-in 4:30 a.m. (scales will be opened for unofficial weight checks at 4-4:29 p.m.)
Saturday: 8:30 a.m. (scales will be opened for unofficial weight checks at 8-8:29 a.m.)
First Session: Pig-tails, Prelims & Quarter-finals
Wrestling begins at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday – Weigh-in: 8:30 a.m. (unofficial weight checks at 8 A.M.)
Wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m.
Second Session (First and second consolations, Semi-finals, Third consolations, Consi. Semis/Wrestlebacks, Fifth place bouts)
A 15 minute break before Semi-final bouts.
Third Session: (Consolation and Finals)
Championship and Consolation Finals is to begin at 6 p.m. by weight class.
The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies is to begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by the AAA Coach of the Year presentations and then the Parade of Champions at 5:45 p.m.
SOL Post-Season Top 5
1. Norristown
2. Council Rock South
3. Pennsbury
4. Council Rock North
5. Central Bucks South
Post-Season Top Guns
106—Zach Fuentes, Norristown
113— Billy Rappo, Council Rock South
120—Anthony DiEmidio, Pennsbury
126—Josh DiSanto, Pennsbury
132—John Dutrow, Council Rock North
138—Mike Springer, Norristown
145—Justin Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh
152—Seth Ehlo, Central Bucks West
160—Brett Harner, Norristown
170—Shane Springer, Norristown
182—Chris Jastrzebski, Central Bucks West
195—P.J. Steinmetz, Council Rock South
220—Tyler Callender, Council Rock South
285—Tommy Trampe, Council Rock South
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