Glenn Kaiser recaps all the action at the District One East Tournament as the road to Hershey continues with the next stop Oxford. Photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
ROAD TO HERSHEY: NEXT STOP OXFORD
District One East Tournament Full of Surprises
By Glenn Kaiser
If you ever been to Universal Studios in Orlando, FL, you most likely rode the train to Harry Potter World. That train is full of surprises, and the road to Chocolate Town, USA for Suburban One League wrestlers is full of twists and turns as well. It gets a lot trickier next weekend, as the top four place-winners from the D1 East tourney advanced to the two-day event that can punch their ticket to the PIAA Championships. The top five place-winners at the Southeast Regional tournament qualify for Hershey.
District One East was the strongest tournament of the three districts this year, with the most talented and ranked wrestlers, the outlook for the SOL to send many grapplers on to states is a good one. And the forecast for some heavy metal, I mean plenty of medals, for the numerous SOL wrestlers at the Giant Center, is also a good prediction.
Although for all of this wizardry to work, coaches and wrestlers will need the magic potion, a combination of skill, grit and moxie to grind through a rugged regional tournament. And you’ll need your broom to get to Oxford Area High School for this one, as most teams from the SOL stay overnight in Northeast, MD, while competing in a Pennsylvania scholastic event.
Let’s take a look at those with the best opportunity to reach their ultimate destination. The lightweights coming out of the D1 East tourney, essentially the SOL united league tourney, are phenomenal. Council Rock North’s Kyle Hauserman, the 106-pound district champion, and South’s Kyle Waterman, the runner-up, are sure to be in the mix in Hershey.
Hauserman, just a freshman, after his second win in two weeks over neighborhood foe Waterman said he “didn’t feel pressure, not really when I was in the finals (versus Waterman again) I just let it all go because I knew I’m going to regionals already.” Hauserman used a five-point headlock after an early scramble, in which Waterman initially rolled thru, to coast to an 8-1 decision for the 106-pound title. Kyle stated he had the “same plan as last week…just go into the match and wrestle hard and came out on top again, so it’s good…last week it was a closer match.” Hauserman will be looking at the “same plan, just wrestle every match the same, wrestle as hard as I can and hopefully end up on top of the podium” as he inches ever so closer to Hershey.
At 113-pounds, the Rock’s Max Mendez (CRS), the champ here, and North’s runner-up, Luke Lucerne, are both seeking precious medals as they continue their journeys. Mendez was solid on his feet to beat Lucerne 5-4. Lucerne was 6th a year ago in Hershey. CR South’s Shane Hanson-Ashworth has lived up to his reputation, winning the D1 East title at 120-pounds. He will be right there with Downingtown West’s returning state champion Doug Zapf and Spring-Ford’s Brandon Meredith this coming weekend to battle for a regional title. I can’t even imagine what a united Council Rock team would look like…no reason to dream, as they have been split for years now.
The most competitive weight class down low has been 126-pounds. This weight class is loaded in the SOL. Gunner Fuss from Harry S Truman is the top gun right now after winning 5-3 over Quakertown’s Josh Stahl. Fuss and Stahl both have state experience, they will be accompanied by William Tennent’s Anthony Colella and Neshaminy’s Colton Jordan at regionals. Left behind was Souderton freshman Samuel Beckett and Plymouth-Whitmarsh’s Marco DiBattista. At Oxford, stir into the pot Owen J Roberts’ Connor Quinn (D1 West champ) and the Central champ, Lukas Richie (Downingtown East). The caldron will be boiling over with the additions of Liam Babauta (Octorara) from the West, the Central’s Chase Banyai (Pottsgrove) and freshmen Jack McGill from Spring-Ford.
Moving up to 132-pounds, Souderton’s Tyler Williams, a state qualifier in 2016 downed former state qualifier Ben Radner (CRS) in the D1 East final 4-2, and both should be considered threats to the D1 Central Outstanding Wrestler Kibwe McNair from Methacton and Unionville’s Maryland transfer Caden Mareno, the West champ, and Kennet’s Gerhardt Reiter, the runner-up there. Despite Cam Robinson (CRN) receiving a medical forfeit from Souderton’s Harrison Andrade in the 138-pound final, both grapplers will be prepared for the SE Regional to continue their journey towards Hershey. Downingtown’s Nick Lilley (West) and Brett Horne (East) are both in the way, as is Penncrest’s Brendon Stocku and Antonio Petrucelli (OJR) from the Central.
In the middle, Neshaminy’s Jackson Erb is on fire at 145-pounds as he scrambled his way past Pennridge’s Evan Widing in the D1 East final 6-4, garnering back points for the win in this furious match. Pope John Paul II’s Ryan Vulakh is the best at this weight, and he brings Roman Moser (Methacton) with him to Oxford from the Central. Tyler Kaliner (WC Rustin), the West champ, is a threat as well.
At 152, the Rock duo of D1 East champ Dillon Sheehy (North), a beast with his big move offense, and South’s Cole Flanagan with 50 matches under his belt will be contending in this wide open weight class. Sheehy outlasted Flanagan 8-4 in finals at Q-town. Owen J’s Daniel Mancini has been the top ranked wrestler here all year long in the southeast region. Another weight class that is full of talent is 160-pounds. Anyone here can make the next step. North Penn’s Patrick O’Neill has only one goal in mind after being crowned the champ with his 5-0 shutout of Pennridge’s Logan Green, to advance to Hershey. Both Zach Fisher (P-W) and Hatboro-Horsham’s Matt Needleman are wrestling well, as they both will compete for one of the five state berths. The West has some talent in returning state qualifier Colin Hurley (WCR) who downed Ray Martin (WC Henderson) in the 160lb final in the Central district finals 5-4.
Before heading up to the big men, at 170lbs, CR South’s Nik Korbich is the best of the East after topping North Penn’s Reid Dentner 8-4. Dentner has come out of nowhere to have a fine season with a runner-up finish at districts and a 28-9 record for the Knights. 182-pounds is owned by Pennridge’s Josh Stillings, who won his fourth district title over Upper Moreland’s undefeated at the time, Harry Green with a tactical tech fall in the finals to earn the Outstanding Wrestler honor. Bruno Stolfi (Souderton) spoiled the return of Pennridge’s David Blanchard, muscling his way past Banchard 6-2 to finish atop the podium at Quakertown. Stolfi looks to follow in his brother Joe’s footsteps with a berth to states this season.
H-H’s 220-pounder Nick Chapman tied the all-time Hatboro-Horsham pin record with his 81st career fall in the semifinals over Ryan Heiber (CBW). Chapman used a reversal to beat Owen Verespy (NP) in the finals as he is locked in on his route to the Giant Center. He looks forward to a rematch with Sun Valley’s Hunter Catka this coming weekend at Oxford. Catka, Chapman and Verespy are three of the state’s best in this weight class. Ryan Cody, Verespy’s workout partner at North Penn, used a sweet takedown on Bensalem’s Nick Cooper for a 3-1 sudden victory overtime win at 285-pounds. Cody and Cooper are the two top heavies in the region. Downingtown West’s Jesse Cook is a contender for a regional title as well.
The D1 East team title was won by Council Rock South with a 177-points, the Golden Hawks outdistanced the field by nearly 44 points with eight regional qualifiers, as Pennridge was second with six qualifiers and 133.5 team points. The Golden Hawks were matched by sister school CR North (4th) with three champs apiece. Three of the finals pitted North versus South, Hauserman (106) and Dillon Sheehy (152) won for North and Max Mendez won at 113-pounds for South. CR North will be sending five on to Oxford. North Penn (3rd) and Souderton (6th) each had two champs in O’Neill (160) and Cody (285), and Williams (132) and Stolfi (195) respectively. NP had six regional qualifiers and Souderton will send four. Quakertown (8th) sends five wrestlers on, and Neshaminy (5th), despite only one champ in Erb, advanced four.
H-H was 7th, and P-W tied Q-town for 8th. Truman rounded out the top ten with 62.5 points with three qualifiers. Four SOL teams had no wrestlers move on.
I’ll wave my magic wand Wednesday after digesting the SE Regional brackets and make my predictions for the champs and state qualifiers for each weight class.
NOTES: Congrats to Nick Cooper who earned his 100th win last week, winning the SOL National 285-pound title with a pin against Pennsbury’s Elijah Slaughter. Tennent’s 132-pounder A.J. Tamburrino could not compete due to illness at Districts, despite being undefeated on the season. Southeast Regional info: Friday 2/2/18 wrestling starts at 5:30pm with pigtail matches in the 13-man bracket followed by quarterfinals. Saturday 2/3/18 wrestling starts at 9:30am with wrestle-backs. Finals are scheduled for 6pm with the Hall of Fame Ceremony at 5:30pm. Former SOL wrestlers being inducted are state champions Jamie Callender (Council Rock North) and Josh Dzeiwa (Council Rock South) and Jim Hartey (Norristown).
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