PARKER LOOKING FOR HERSHEY GOLD
Pennridge’s Matt Parker has a chance at reaching this season’s personal goal he set back in March of 2015, and in doing so can reach a dream of winning a state title. Watching his brother wrestle at the Giant Center as a middle schooler and then joining him on the Ram wrestling team as a freshman, Matt realized that he to wanted to be in Hershey wrestling for a state crown early on in his high school career. The hours and hours of training and wrestling as a youth have been paid off with the opportunity to win the State title at 113 pounds, tonight in the Giant Center, starting at 7:00pm. Parker will do battle with Northampton’s 43-3, Julian Chlebove. Matt’s brother, Lehigh wrestler Scott Parker, was in the corner for the semifinal win and will most likely join him in the finals.
Parker won his quarterfinal match over Gage Curry (North Hills) as he continued his perfect postseason, winning league, district, and regional titles. He is peaking at the right time and is solid on his feet, on top, and off the bottom. But most importantly, he has been a very smart wrestler, limiting his mistakes, capitalizing on his opponents and executing in a timely fashion with great mat awareness.
Parker is the only SOL wrestler to reach the finals this year. Zack Trampe’s bid to return to the finals was thwarted by Hazleton’s Jimmy Hoffman 5-3 in the semifinals at 132 pounds. Trampe will wrestle for 5th place this evening against Belle Vernon’s Zachary Hartman. With Pennridge’s three other grapplers wrestling back for medals, the Rams have moved up in the team standings to fifth place (59 points), passing Council Rock South which is now in seventh place with 49 points. Josh Shillings (160) and Kyle Gentile (182) both failed in the semis with a loss, but both wrestled back to reach the bronze medal match this evening. Kordell Rush (126) will be the fourth medalist this season for the Rams, as he returns to the podium in the seventh place bout. Rush suffered a loss in the consi-quarters to Downingtown East’s Wade Cummings 3-1. With the medals in the bank, the Rams took CR South’s fifth place standing from Friday night's action.
CR South missed out on three trips to the finals as both Lucas Martoccio (145) and Joe Doyle (195) suffered defeat in the semis and had to drop below with Trampe in the consolation brackets. Martoccio and Doyle won their respective consi-semi’s bouts to have the chance at bronze. North Penns’s 132-pound Ryan Vulakh will close out his freshman campaign with some hardware, as he’ll wrestle for seventh place. Gavin Caroff, Quakertown will wrestle for seventh as well at 220 pounds. Neshaminy’s big man Bruce Graeber won five straight matches, after dropping his initial bout Thursday, to ramble his way to wrestle Bethlehem Catholic’s Nico Camacho in the consolation finals. BECA leads the team standings with 110.5 points.
Council Rock North’s Aidan Burke was denied a medal, dropping a heartbreaking loss to North Hills’ Gage Curry 7-2 in the 113-pound wrestle backs. CR South’s Riley Palmer was eliminated in the medal round at 138 pounds by Jake Hinkson from North Allegheny, dousing any hopes for a podium spot. Josh Shalinsky (CR North) failed in the 170-pound consolations after dropping his quarterfinal bout to Spring-Ford’s Steven Rice. Rice avenged his finals loss from last weekend's Southeast Regional.
Only two District One wrestlers reached the finals in Parker, and Boyertown’s heavy weight Tommy Killoran. The Suburban One League will post 10 total medals, well below what many expected as a banner year for District One and the SOL. Parker, Trampe, Rush, Gentile, and Graeber all will win their second state PIAA AAA medals to cap the 2016 season.
Team Standings (Final)
1. Bethlehem Catholic (126.5)
2. Nazareth (90.0)
3. Mifflin County (88.5)
4. Belle Vernon (71.5)
5. Pennridge (61.0)
6. Bethlehem Liberty (56.0)
7. North Allegheny (55.5)
8. Council Rock South (49.0)
9. Boyertown (47.0)
10. Central Dauphin (46.0)
10. Easton (46.0)
113
Championship Final – Julian Chlebove (Northampton) 3-0 dec. Matt Parker (Pennridge)
126
Seventh Place – Ethan McCoy (Greater Latrobe) 3-0 dec. Kordell Rush (Pennridge)
132
Fifth Place – Zachary Hartman (Belle Vernon) 16-4 maj. dec. Zack Trampe (Council Rock South)
Seventh Place – Seth Koleno (Bald Eagle Area) 4-3 dec. Ryan Vulakh (North Penn)
145
Third Place – Dylan Chatterton (Central York) 4-2 dec. Lucas Martoccio (Council Rock South)
182
Third Place – Kyle Gentile (Pennridge) 3-2 dec. Drew Peck (Chambersburg)
220
Seventh Place – Jesse Enck (Daniel Boone) 6-2 dec. Gavin Caroff (Quakertown)
285
Third Place – Bruce Graeber (Neshaminy) 2-1 OT SV Niko Camacho (Bethlehem Catholic)
- Log in to post comments
