To view match action photos, visit the photo gallery and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Alex Frazier
In dual meets, matchups are everything.
Norristown proved that once again Thursday night in the second round of the District One Dual Meet Tournament.
The 13th-seeded Eagles knocked off No. 4 and defending district champion Quakertown 36-30 in the highlight of the evening.
“Since we were seeded 13th, it was pretty good,” understated 140-pounder Brett Harner. “We matched up well with them and came up with the wins when we needed them.”
The four matches that were originally supposed to be wrestled at Upper Perkiomen were moved to Quakertown because Upper Perk canceled school due to the ice and snow. As a result, Council Rock North, Harry S Truman and Upper Dublin all wrestled in the Quakertown gym.
In first-round matches, Truman fell to Upper Perkiomen 47-27 and Upper Dublin lost to Downingtown East 56-9.
After a first-round bye, Council Rock North surged to a 51-23 win over Upper Perk to advance to next Friday’s quarterfinals at Pottstown.
The Indians’ 119-pounder Shane Longstreth started off a skein of seven consecutive wins with a 34-second cradle at 119.
“He (coach Tom Vivacqua) told me to get as many bonus points as I can,” said Longstreth.
After the 152-pound match, North led 36-0.
“Starting at 119 for us was good because we thought we matched up well in the middle,” said Vivacqua. “We knew we had to get bonus points early. The goal was to get after them and take away the momentum.”
North’s 47-18 win over Bensalem Wednesday night was the first match the Indians had wrestled in two and a half weeks due to the herpes skin infection that closed down the room.
“I was hoping that the rest was going to be positive and that we would be fresh and be rejuvenated a little bit,” said Vivacqua. “I think we wrestled pretty well today.”
Vivacqua was particularly pleased with his final wrestler John Dutrow, who beat Wolfgang McStravick, 5-0.
“That was a great win,” said Vivacqua. “That’s a tough kid. He hit that dump for five and then rode him so hard. It was a great effort.”
After a tough league match against Plymouth Whitemarsh Wednesday night, Norristown had to do it all over again in the first round against the Colonials.
It was a bit tougher the second time.
After winning overtime matches the night before, Norristown’s Tyree Gardner and Doug Forlano both lost their bouts to Justin Staudenmayer and Dylan Peay by 6-2 and 11-1 scores, respectively.
Norristown’s Marcus Robbins (285) and Zach Fuentes (103) closed out the match with pins to give the Colonials a 35-31 win.
“It was real difficult,” said Robbins, “especially since we wrestled them yesterday. I pinned him in the first period last night, but I knew it was going to be more difficult this night. He was fighting me hard all first period.
“We came back for a victory, losing five matches into the match.”
Indeed at one time it was 19-(-) 1 when a team point was deducted from Norristown for a thrown headgear.
“We really wanted Quakertown,” said Robbins.
Robbins was also to play a big role in the Quakertown match.
With the Eagles trailing Quakertown 30-26, Robbins went out and decked Gregg Walker to pull the match within three.
“It’s a great accomplishment for us,” he said. “I knew the match might come down to me and our 103-pounder. I went out and did what I do best (pin).”
Quakertown has been forfeiting 103 much of the year, but sent out Alex Brulliea against Fuentes, who racked up a 4-0 win to tie the match at 30-30.
With no 112-pounder, Quakertown had to forfeit to Kelvin Howard to hand the Eagles their biggest win in the last eight or nine years.
Two big matchups came at 140 and 152. Norristown’s Brett Harner defeated Briar Malischewski 6-4 on a first period takedown and two-point near fall.
“I tried to wrestle smart and stay off my back,” said Harner. “Things opened up well for me.”
At 152, Quakertown’s Eric Koch trailed Brandon Parker 2-0 for most of the match. Koch escaped in the third period and took Parker down with a double leg with just three seconds remaining for the 3-2 win.
“They had an answer for some of our big moves,” said Quakertown coach Kurt Handel. “They were aggressive. They got falls in spots that should have been tossups. To sum it all up, they wanted it 100 times more than us.”
• Truman’s Steve Givens was told three years ago by some Upper Perk fans after a 74-0 trouncing in district duals to go back and get a better youth program.
“We took their advice and got better,” he said.
Although the Tigers didn’t beat the Tribe this time, they were certainly much more competitive, despite what the score might indicate.
Truman’s 145-pounder was ineligible, and Givens had planned to move Dan Balek up, but unfortunately neglected to take into consideration the extra pound allowance for matches wrestled on consecutive days. So instead of having to be over 132 to wrestle 145, Baleck had to weight more than 133. His weight at weigh-in was 132.5.
As a result he didn’t wrestle.
“It was something I overlooked as a coach,” said Givens. “I owe him an apology. He’s one of our top kids. What irks me is that he didn’t get a match.”
The Tigers’ Sean Edmondson ran his season record to 25-0 with a pin in 1:11 at 125.
“That was his 94th career win,” said Givens.
Jim Wolfe (171), who was 14-40 coming into this season won his 17th match against seven losses with a 7-6 win over Upper Perk’s Nate Pompei, 7-6.
• After an excellent effort against Upper Moreland Wednesday, the Cardinals were overwhelmed on the big stage of district duals.
“We came and we wrestled and it was good for the kids,” said Upper Dublin coach Dave Jones. “It’s good to see what the next level is all about. We knew they were tough going into it. The kids didn’t execute.”
Upper Dublin’s lone winners were Matt Gusick (119), 5-2 over Eddie Draves; Brian Carson (160), 1-0 over Jason Henry; and Devon Duhble (189) 3-0 over Matt Carpenter.
“This was a letdown for us coming in here,” said Jones. “We were a little flat.”
Norristown 36, Quakertown 30
119—Tyler Seislove (Q) dec. Tyree Gardner, 8-4
125—Scott Wolfinger (Q) pinned Doug Forlano, :54
130—Chuck McLane (N) pinned Reece Stamm, 3:01
135—John Collins (Q) won by forfeit
140—Brett Harner (N) dec. Briar Malischewski, 6-4
145—Jesus Avalos (N) won by forfeit
152—Eric Koch (Q) dec. Brandon Parker, 3-2
160—Joe Pierce (N) dec. Edwin Gonzalez, 8-6
171—Larry Gordon (N) dec. Tyler Wolfe, 8-3
189—Seth Gray (Q) pinned Matt Grill, 3:06
215—Rob Basile (Q) pinned Tyler Latrinko, 4:56
285—Marcus Robins (Q) pinned Gregg Walker, 2:36
103—Zach Fuentes (N) dec. Alex Brulliea, 4-0
112—Kelvin Howard (N) won by forfeit
- Log in to post comments
0
