By Alex Frazier
With the final seconds ticking off the clock in the 171-pound match, the Council Rock South bench erupted in applause.With Shane Gilmore’s 7-3 win over Norristown’s Jesse Prante, the Golden Hawks locked up their second District One Dual Meet championship.
And, it was even sweeter having accomplished it in their home gym.
“I told the kids how special this was,” said C.R. South coach Brad Silimperi. “It’s not every day you get an opportunity to win a district dual meet title.”
The Hawks’ last title was in 2008. That year they also placed fourth in the state.
“In 10 years, we’ve only won one and we’ve had some great teams,” said Silimperi.
In the two other matches, Owen J. Roberts defeated Spring-Ford 35-20 for third place. Four teams advance to states.
In Class AA action, Lower Moreland defeated Church Farm School, 42-28 to be the lone District One team to qualify for states.
For this year’s Council Rock seniors, it was a sweet way to go out.
Connor Moore, who chipped in six points with a fall at 140, was just a freshman the last—and only other time—South won a district team title.
“I didn’t get into the lineup that much (last time),” said Moore. “I got some experience on the sideline, and actually being a part of it is amazing. It feels good. It’s a great way to close out.’
Norristown’s second place finish is the best the Eagles have done since they won back-to-back district duals in 1996 and 1997.
“Each year we’ve moved up a step,” said the Eagles’ Tyree Gardner. “This is the farthest we’ve went since I’ve been on this team. I’m actually happy about that.”
“They’re a better team than us,” said Norristown coach Mark Harner, “and on top of that, they wrestled better than us. It’s bittersweet. Our goal was to get out of district duals, but it’s hard to take a loss like that.”
Norristown took an early lead with Larry Gordon winning the opening match 3-1. Gavin Queenan followed with a 2-1 win over South’s Tommy Trampe, who did an excellent job defending himself on his feet, especially considering that Queenan had pinned him earlier in the year.
But the Hawks started rolling. In a bout of state-ranked 103 pounders, Billy Rappo edged the Eagles’ Zach Fuentes on a second-period escape.
Trey Balasco followed with a second-period pin, which gave the Hawks the lead for good (9-6). Balasco had pinned Kelvin Howard before, but it looked like Howard might stall his way out of a pin this time. He was called twice for stalling in the first period, but Balasco was patient and caught him in the second.
“He kept running away from me,” said Balasco. “Eventually I got on top and got the pin.”
Balasco, who was 15-21 last year at 112, is having a great season this year now that he’s grown into the weight. He is currently 27-5.
“I’m definitely a full-sized 112-pounder now,” he said.
Dan Martoccio, who has been one of the most versatile wrestlers for the Hawks, having wrestled anywhere from 103 to 125, wrapped Norristown’s Nick Soldano in three crossface cradles en route to a tech fall at 119.
The Eagles’ Tyree Gardner and Mack Moore put on one of the most exciting performances of the night. Gardner, who had beaten Moore 10-5 in a previous meeting, may have been a bit over-confident, considering it took a takedown with five seconds left to pull out a 7-6 win.
“I didn’t think I was going to get it,” said Gardner. “He had a deep whizzer in so I took it around to the head so he could get it out and went back around. It actually worked.
“This time he came back to wrestle. I had a tougher time with him. I just wasn’t working on my stuff right. He got into the match more than me, but I pulled off the win, so I’m happy.”
The next bout was key to the Hawks.
Even by noon Saturday, Brian Heckman was questionable, as he was nursing a shoulder/elbow injury.
But he decided to go for it and with one second left on the clock took Doug Forlano down to win 10-8.
“He went out and won a huge match for us,” said Silimperi. “That was a pivotal swing bout. He sucked it up for the team, and it helped us win a district dual-meet title. I’m really happy for Brian.”
At 135, Matt Rappo gave the Eagles’ young Mike Springer a lesson in takedowns as he took Springer down seven times en route to a 15-5 major decision.
A pin at 140 and a forfeit at 145 pushed South’s lead to 33-19.
Norristown started a comeback at 152 when Brandon Parker decked Brian Greco in 1 minute, 37 seconds. Brett Harner followed when he bar armed Forrester Somsanith to his back in 55 seconds to make it 33-21.
The Eagles still had a chance to tie it with two matches left, but Gilmore and Riley made sure that didn’t happen.
In the final bout, Riley put a huge exclamation mark on the win when he caught Norristown’s Matt Grill with a headlock and pinned him in 16 seconds.
Silimperi credited his assistant coaches Trap McCormack and Greg Osbeck for putting together the winning lineup.
“They’re the best in the state at it,” said Silimperi.
Council Rock South will have a bye in the first round of states, which starts Monday. They will be off until Thursday when they will wrestle at the Giant Center in Hershey.
“We know we have a great team and if everybody does what they’re supposed to do, we can beat pretty much anybody in the state,” said Moore. “We want to get to the finals.”
“We put ourselves in a good spot in the state dual-meet brackets,” said Silimperi. “Now it’s one match at a time out there. We’re excited and will be ready to compete with the best of them. We’re going to get on that podium (top four) and that’s our goal.”
Norristown only gets one day of rest before taking on the District Three fourth place team Monday at Methacton at 7 p.m.
“The key matches we needed didn’t go our way,” said Gardner. “We have to get focused and worry about Monday to get to Hershey.”
Council Rock 42, Norristown 21
215 - Larry Gordon dec. Tom Dingui, 3-1 (0-3)
285 - Gavin Queenan dec. Tommy Trampe, 2-1 (0-6)
103 - Billy Rappo dec. Zach Fuentes, 1-0 (3-6)
112 - Trey Balasco pinned Kelvin Howard, 3:47 (9-6)
119 - Dan Martoccio won by tech. fall over Nick Soldano, 3:43, 15-0 (14-6)
125 - Ty Gardner dec. Mack Moore, 7-6 (14-9)
130 - Brian Heckman dec. Doug Forlano, 10-8 (17-9)
135 - Matt Rappo maj. dec. Mike Springer, 15-5 (21-9)
140 - Connor Moore pinned Austin Fitzsimmons, 1:10 (27-9)
145 - Matt Martoccio won by forfeit (33-9)
152 - Brandon Parker pinned Brian Greco, 1:37 (33-15)
160 - Brett Harner pinned Forrester Somsanith, 0:55 (33-21)
171 - Shane Gilmore dec. Jesse Prante, 7-3 (36-21)
189 - Tim Riley pinned Matt Grill, 0:16 (42-21)
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