Glenn Kaiser previews this week’s District One Duals and makes his predictions for a tournament that includes six SOL squads.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH LEADS SIX SOL TEAMS INTO 16-TEAM DISTRICT ONE DUALS
By Glenn Kaiser
To no one’s surprise, the Council Rock South Golden Hawks are seeded number one to start the 2018 PIAA Wrestling Team Championships in District One. The Golden Hawks will begin their quest to Hershey as a team this Thursday evening (Jan. 25) at approximately 7pm at home against the #16 seed, Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Methacton (9-8). Council Rock North will also wrestle at CRS at 7pm, as they are the 5th seed and will battle #12 West Chester East (9-3). First round matches start at 5:30pm at both sites, and the second set of first round matches will begin immediately following first round action.
Neshaminy, the third team out of the SOL National Conference, was the next highest seeded team from the SOL, landing 7th. The Redskins will match up against #10 West Chester Rustin on the road at Rustin for a 5:30pm start. This is perhaps the best first round match of the District I Duals. The Continental Conference will be represented by #9 North Penn. The Knights will dual with the Chesmont’s West Chester Henderson (#8), starting at 5:30pm at Rock South.
The American Conference will have two teams represented, as Quakertown drew the #11 seed and will square off against the #6 team out of the PAC, Owen J Roberts, at 5:30pm at Rustin. Hatboro-Horsham was the last team from the SOL to get in as the #15 seed and will grapple with the #2 seeded team Downingtown West at Rustin (7pm).
CR South (6-2) is riding high after downing a resurging CR North (9-4) team 39-19 in the Mike Sipler Unity Cup match last Thursday. A rematch between the two could occur in the semifinals of this dual tourney if both win this Thursday and go deep in the bracket. The quarters and semifinals will be held Friday evening, Feb. 2, with wrestle-backs and finals on Saturday, Feb. 3, at Upper Dublin H.S.
Neshaminy (10-4) is a dark horse in this team championship, as the Redskins continue to get better and better every match they wrestle. They will have to take down West Chester Bayard Rustin (8-1) at home. The Golden Knights return state qualifier Collin Hurley from injury, and have another state qualifier in Dan Labus ready for the Redskins. However, as always, match-ups will dictate the result of this match. It should be tightly contested as Neshaminy counters with their stars, Colton Jordan and Jackson Erb, along with a cast of young guns. The ‘Skins will also have an improved Brock Leinbach (170lbs) to tussle with either Labus or Hurley should they bump up. Rustin also has Ethan Harkins, head coach Brad Harkin’s son, looming as well in this one.
North Penn (9-4) will be a tough out for any team, and their match-up with WC Henderson
(11-1) should be a doozey. The winner of this one will get CR South in the quarters as South is the clear favorite to win the D1 title. The Knights have a star-studded line-up throughout with hammers at 220 and 285 in Owen Verespy and Ryan Cody respectively. Those two are perhaps the best heavyweight duo in all of D1.
Quakertown (10-4) will not be overshadowed by anyone with their young team’s accomplishments as they come into the duals with a solid 14-man line-up that has proven to be dangerous. The Panthers will have a tall task to try and down an Owen J squad (10-2) that some thought early in the season was the best in the PAC. Despite OJR’s decorated line-up, Q-town will be ready with some surprise match-ups for sure, as veteran head coach Kurt Handel is no stranger to these post-season district duals.
Hatboro-Horsham (5-6), despite their losing record due to rescheduled matches with WC East and Wissahickon, qualified for the duals in the 15th spot with the absence of Pennridge, Downingtown East, and Garnet Valley. The Hatters will take on one of the best teams in Pennsylvania, Downingtown West (12-1), which is led by state champion Doug Zapf and a host of accomplished and experienced wrestlers. The Hatters most likely got in these duals based on their merit as a solid tournament team led by their upper weights and senior captain Nick Chapman (220lbs) who was a state qualifier a year ago. The Hatters match up well up top with the Whippets, but will struggle down low, they should score some wins in this match, but it would be a “shock the world” win if they can upset DTW.
The forecast for the first round has CRS and CRN easily advancing. Neshaminy and North Penn will be tested, but should advance against two of the three West Chester schools in the tourney. Quakertown will need a perfect match to advance, and H-H needs close to a miracle to move beyond round one. Nonetheless, this is a great time of year for wrestling as the team duals are the start of the postseason for teams and individual wrestlers.
Speaking of these duals, the fact that only 16 teams make the tournament, which is essentially the playoffs for wrestling teams, needs to re-evaluated in terms of the total number of teams participating. Why is wrestling the only sport in D1 where 16 teams reach the playoffs, as 32 teams participate in a majority of other sports for both boys and girls? A 24-team field used to be the standard for these duals, but logistics and, of course, expense are the culprits. Nonetheless, with equitable participation not practical with 32 wrestling teams entered, 24 teams is doable. Especially if higher seeded teams host dual meets for preliminary round action, and/or sweet sixteen round matches occur at two sites to four sites, as it is single elimination up to the quarterfinals. Additionally, the sweet 16 matches could still occur over the championship weekend as well as eight teams are eliminated there with losses. Just my two-cents…
Additional teams, if permitted, would have most likely paved a path for other SOL teams to have entered or qualified this year like Bensalem, CB East and Souderton.
Back to the predictions, the quarterfinals will see the Golden Hawks advance along with CR North, as North is headed towards a rematch with Boyertown, a match the Indians won on the first weekend of the season 40-30. South will advance to the finals and face Downingtown West, and be crowned champs.
The final two teams to advance to the state duals will include Spring-Ford and either the winner of Council Rock North versus Owen J Roberts in the lower half bracket of the consi-semis. If CRN’s earlier season lineup is healthy, the Indians will match-up well with OJR with the match decided by a point or two in their favor. However, without a full-strength lineup, it will be OJR facing S-F for the bronze and a trip to the state duals. PIAA Team Championship brackets and schedule can be found at www.piaa.org
SOL DUAL TEAM RANKINGS (1/23/18):
1- COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH Overall 6-2/SOL 3-0
2- COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 9-4/1-2
3- NORTH PENN 9-4/3-0
4- NESHAMINY 10-4/3-1
5- QUAKERTOWN 10-4/4-0
CONTENDERS: HATBORO-HORSHAM (5-6/2-1), CB EAST (7-4/3-0) & BENSALEM 8-8/3-1
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