Glenn Kaiser recaps the action at Saturday’s District One North Wrestling Championships. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
2021 DISTRICT ONE NORTH INDIVIDUAL WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH EDGES HOSTS QUAKERTOWN FOR DISTRICT TITLE
By Glenn Keiser
It was bittersweet for Quakertown Saturday, as the Panthers crowned three individual champions in their own gym but could not outpoint the mighty Golden Hawks from Council Rock South. The Golden Hawks edged the Panthers by four points 115-111 in a close one for the team title. Rarely do you see such a slim margin of victory in the team scoring, but this has been a season like no other. CR South advanced seven wrestlers, the most of any team to next week’s SE Regional tournament, which will coincidently be wrestled in their home gym. Quakertown advanced six grapplers - the second most of all competing teams - to next weekend. The top four place-winners advanced from District One North to the regional tournament, and will take on the top four from D1 South at CR South.
The Panthers set the tone early with their first three finalists, capturing three titles in a row down low. Freshman Mason Ziegler led the way at 113-pounds with a 5-0 shutout over Pottsgrove’s Sam Kuhns. Undefeated Todd McGann then blanked Central Bucks South’s Gabe Whittington 8-0, capturing bonus points for the Panthers with the major decision and 120lb title. Zach Borzio then made it three in a row at 126lbs with more bonus points with his decking (3:12) of Abington’s Matt McCaughey. Borzio used a tight power-half with vice grip leg combination for the fall, upping his season record to 22-0. Both Council Rock South and North would go on to influence the final outcome of the team score, as they had a combined four champions between them.
It was CR South’s Cavan Kinne that may have had the most impact, as he was able to use an early, slick takedown on Pennridge’s stud freshman Cole Coffin to ride out a 3-1 victory for the 106lb title. At 138-pounds CR North’s Kyle Hauserman posted a 10-0 major-decision on Quakertown’s Dom DeFalco in their final tilt. DeFalco was one of four Panther finalists. The Golden Hawks had five total finalists and four in row from 152 thru 189. CR South’s Matt Coljezzi received a forfeit from Bensalem’s Talon Pisarchuk at 160lbs giving the Golden Hawks two champs. Collajezzi stayed unbeaten at 18-0 with his title victory. His free bonus points earned, without a match in the finals, hurt Quakertown’s chances to snatch the title from the Golden Hawks.
CR North’s second champ was crowned at the end of a well-choregraphed tournament, which featured three sessions, two splitting up the weight classes, and the other in the evening to wrestle both the championship and consolation championships. The Indians Max Harar upended Plymouth-Whitmarsh’s returning state qualifier Mike Miller 3-2 to end the event. The Pioneer Athletic Conference was well represented by Perkiomen Valley, as the Vikings tallied two champs. PV’s Kelly Kakos shut out North Penn’s Eddie Galang 9-0 for the 132lb title, and 189-pounder Grant Euker blanked CR South’s Anthony Cerulli 7-0. The Central League’s Jack Lledo from Lower Merion garnered the gold at 172lbs with a fall over the Golden Hawks Tom Woloshyn at the end of the first period in 1:51.
Bensalem, CB East and Neshaminy had one champ each. Bensalem’s Connor Eck battled North Penn’s William Morrow in the 145lb final, both seasoned veteran’s with plenty of tourney experience. Eck won the war with an 8-5 victory. CB East’s Quinn Collins met up, yet again with his neighbor, CB West’s Carl DiGorgio in the 215lb final. In a wild one, Collins was able to use a couple of reversals to gain the victory. Neshaminy’s returning state medalist, Zac Martin, held off rugged freshman Bekhruz Sariddinov (CRS) 1-0 to capture the title at 152lbs.
CR North advanced four, as did Plymouth Whitemarsh with no champs. Abington, North Penn, CB East and Pennridge all advanced three. Some surprises at the D1 North included both CBW’s Teague McCormack (106) and CRS’s Shermuhammad Sadriddinov (145) not getting out. McCormack suffered a 9-7 loss to P-W’s Jake Williams in the consi-semis after dropping down with his loss in the semifinals 10-3 at the hands of Kinne in the extremely talented 106lb weight class. Williams dropped a major 15-3 decision to CRN’s Tony Burke to finish fourth. Sadriddinov was eliminated by Quakertown’s Patrick McCoy 6-4. McCoy, peaking at the right time, came back from a quarterfinal loss to Wissahickon’s Matt Fritz in another stacked bracket. Fritz was eliminated after getting decked by PV’s Gavin Pascoe. Abington, despite only wrestling one match all season, was able to advance a solid three grapplers, joining McCaughey will be Shane Kibler (3rd at 152) and Nick Castorina (4th at 172).
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