SOL wrestlers won every weight class at Saturday’s District One North Tournament. To view photos of the tournament action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Alex Frazier
It was certainly a fiery District One North Wrestling Tournament.
Midway through the fifth place matches Saturday afternoon, a bevy of fire trucks descended on the Quakertown gymnasium. The gym was emptied.
As it turned out, someone carelessly tossed a cigarette outside, which caught some material in a wall on fire, and the smoke was drawn into the coaches’ locker room.
When the smoke finally cleared, the finals only started about 10 minutes late.
But the fire only continued on the mats.
Council Rock South’s PJ Steinmetz lit up the gym with three scintillating performances that earned him the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.
“I didn’t even think about it,” he said. “It’s my first OW ever. It feels great.”
Steinmetz allowed just one point against him when he let Upper Perk’s Casey Cook up in his first bout, which he eventually won 16-1. His second bout against Norristown’s Larry Gordon was a 7-0 shutout, and in the finals he teched Upper Dublin’s Devon Dhoble, 15-0.
Steinmetz, who transferred from LaSalle, had won two District 12 titles, but this was his first District One championship.
“I’m getting in a lot better shape,” he said. “I’m peaking at the right time.”
Norristown earned the team title with 137 points to second place Council Rock South’s 121.
Brett Harner’s 8-2 win over Pottsgrove’s Danny Michaels locked up the team championship for the Eagles. It was his second district title.
Harner basically won it on his feet.
“I knew he might be a tough opponent coming in,” he said. “I wrestled him last year and it was a pretty close match. I wanted to get after it. He was strong. He came down from 170.”
Three wrestlers entered the tournament undefeated, but only two left that way.
In the very first bout of the night, Pennridge’s Scott Parker, who came into the finals at 26-0, lost his streak to Norristown’s Zach Fuentes, who dropped from 113 for the post-season.
Fuentes converted a single shot by Parker into a takedown of his own in the second period, which turned out to be the difference in his 3-1 win, and his first district title.
Fuentes had also beaten Parker last year.
“I don’t underestimate anybody,” said Fuentes. “He’s a really good wrestler. I felt bigger than him when I was wrestling.”
With Parker’s first loss, Central Bucks West’s Seth Ehlo and Chris Jastrzebski remain the only undefeated SOL wrestlers.
Ehlo won his first District One crown with a 9-4 win over Bensalem’s Shane Hughes in the 152-pound weight class to remain unbeaten at 36-0.
“It feels really good,” he said. “It was one of my goals coming into this year. It’s good to have two tough matches going into regionals.”
Jastrzebski claimed the 182-pound championship, also his first district title, with a 6-1 win over Norristown’s Tyler Letrinko.
Jastrzebski did it on his feet with a pair of takedowns.
“I knew he could always come back so I just stayed aggressive,” he said. “I finally got what I deserve.”
Jastrzebski is now 31-0.
“It’s nice to still be undefeated,” he said.
Seven other grapplers also won their first district crowns.
Pennsbury’s Anthony DiEmidio had a great tournament. After finishing third in Section One, he nipped Bensalem’s Tommy Stokes, the Section One champ, 3-2 on a single at the edge of the mat with 57 seconds left.
He avenged a 7-1 loss to Stokes in the last match of the regular season.
“I did a lot of studying,” he said. “I watched videos and found out his weaknesses. I practiced what he had and tried to counter his moves. I knew it was going to go down to the last period.”
Council Rock North’s John Dutrow took Upper Perkiomen’s Wolfgang McStravick down with 15 seconds left to take home his first district gold medal, 5-3.
“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “It shows if you keep going and keep going, you can win.”
A junior, Dutrow hadn’t wrestled McStravick since ninth grade when he beat him three times.
Sophomore Mikey Springer of Norristown cruised to his first crown at 138 with a 6-0 shutout of Quakertown’s Tyler Seislove in the 138-pound finale.
Springer gave up just three points the whole tournament.
“Once I took him down I figured I’d be in cruise control because not many people get out from bottom on me or take me down on my feet anymore,” he said. “In the third period, I set up my shot that I’ve been working on all week.”
The most sparkling match of the night came at 170 with Norristown’s Shane Springer outlasting Central Bucks South’s Dominic Rigous, 6-5.
Springer, who won three District 12 titles at LaSalle before transferring to Norristown, won his first District One title.
Springer and Rigous traded reversals in the last few seconds of action with Springer getting the last one.
“I hit a switch on him, he hit a switch on me,” said Springer. “I looked at the clock and there was only 20 seconds. I found a way to break his base and hit a switch into legs. When I looked up, there was eight seconds and I sat on the edge of the mat. I wasn’t going out of bounds. It was a great match. I loved it.”
Springer set the state pin record this year and in his 52 matches, he has gone the distance just 11 times.
In a repeat of last week’s Section One final, Tyler Callender followed up his first sectional championship with his first district title. His opponent both times was a friend of his, Council Rock South’s Tim Riley.
This time it was a little closer, 3-1, but the difference was still a takedown.
“I definitely didn’t go into this season expecting to do as well as I’m doing now,” said the sophomore, “but I definitely wanted to. It’s been a great run.”
At heavyweight, Council Rock South’s Tommy Trampe followed up his Section One crown with his first district title. He edged Abington’s Angelo Carlo, 2-1, on a third period escape.
Defending state champion Billy Rappo is taking care of business, although he didn’t have the competition he might have as wrestlers dropped out of his weight class.
A feisty Jason Bing of Pennsbury kept him on his toes for a while in the finals, but Rappo overcame Bing 13-3 for his second district crown.
“I try not to get too hyped over these tournaments right now,” he said. “I just want to stay focused on states. I still got to wrestle two good matches.”
Pennsbury’s Josh DiSanto also won his second championship.
He dominated his weight class with a pair of falls and a 9-0 major over Upper Perk’s Dylan Steffenino in the 126-pound finals.
“It was a tough match,” said DiSanto. “Anything could have happened. I have a lot to work on and work hard for the rest of the year.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Justin Staudenmayer won his second title and in doing so earned his 100thwin. He blanked Perkiomen Valley’s Nick Giangiulio 7-0 in the 145-pound championship.
It was the third time this season he beat Giangiulio.
“He’s a very tough wrestler,” said Staudenmayer. “He’s a strong kid. It was only three moves—two turns and a reversal.”
District One North Wrestling Tournament
Team standings: 1. Norristown (No) 137, 2. Council Rock South (CRS) 121, 3. Upper Perkiomen (UP) 93, 4. Pennsbury (Pb) 89, 5. Council Rock North (CRN) 87.5, 6. Central Bucks South (CBS) 82.5, 7. Central Bucks West (CBW) 66, 8. Wissahickon (W) 61, 9. William Tennent (WT) 55.5, 10. North Penn (NP) 52.5
Championship Finals
106—Zach Fuentes (No) dec. Scott Parker (Pr) 3-1
113—Billy Rappo (CRS) major dec. Jason Bing (Pb) 13-3
120—Anthony DiEmidio (Pb) dec. Tommy Stokes (Ben) 3-2
126—Josh DiSanto (PB) major dec. Dylan Steffenino (UP) 9-0
132—John Dutrow (CRN) dec. Wolfgang McStravick (UP) 5-3
138—Mikey Springer (No) dec. Tyler Seislove (Q) 6-0
145—Justin Staudenmayer (PW) dec. Nick Giangiulio (PV) 7-0
152—Seth Ehlo (CBW) dec. Shane Hughes (Ben) 9-4
160—Brett Harner (No) dec. Danny Michaels (Ptg) 8-2
170—Shane Springer (No) dec. Dominic Rigous (CBS) 6-5
182—Chris Jastrzebski (CBW) dec. Tyler Letrinko (No) 6-1
195—PJ Steinmetz (CRS) tech fall Devon Dhoble (UD) 15-0 5:17
220—Tyler Callender (CRN) dec. Tim Riley (CRS) 3-2
285—Tommy Trampe (CRS) dec. Angel Carlo (Ab) 2-1
Consolation Finals
106—Dan Martoccio (CRS) dec. Mike Pritchard (Ben) 6-4 SV
113—Ben Ross (Pr) dec. Micah Haynes (CRN) 6-4
120—Kolton Veit (Soud) dec. Nick Haegele (CBS) 8-4
126—Aaron Rodriguez (W) dec. Bryan Jastrzebski (CBW) 3-2
132—Francesco Fabozzi (CBE) major dec. Mackie Moore (CRS) 9-0
138—Ryan O’Conner (Ne) won by injury default over Pat Fennell (W)
145—Dan Schueren (W) pinned Brendan Bonner (Ph) 1:40
152—Brennan Weiss (W) dec. Ryan Eisenhart (Soud) 9-2
160—Shane Peltonen (CBE) dec. Dylan Swan (CBS) 7-6
170—Steffen Vestal (LMe) pinned Kody Lupfer (Ne) 2:31
182—Dalton Fleming (UP) dec. Ernest Tessein (Pb) 12-5
195—Larry Gordon (No) dec. George Shipp (NP) 5-1
220—Matt Jorgenson (Q) dec. Jesse Prante (No) 3-1 RO
285—Andrew VanBuskirk (WT) dec. Tracey Green (Me) 3-1
Fifth Place
106—Collyn Dorney (Q) major dec. Dustin Steggenino (UP)
113—Joey O’Brien (NP) dec. Dante Steffenino (UP) 2-0
120—Tim Ambacher (CRN) dec. Kyle Fellman (UP) 4-0
126—Harry Wilson (Ne) dec. Kevin Flack 7-5
132—Nico Demetrio (Ptg) dec. Eric Mitchell (Me) 11-4
138—Tyler Kelly (CRN) dec. Greg Kabakjian (Soud) 4-3
145—Jeff Reimel (NP) dec. Riley Barth (CBW) 6-3
152—Bob Barone (WT) dec. Ray Young (UP) 3-1
160—Paul Scott (UMo) won by forfeit
170—Arten Imnadze (UMo) dec. Chris Cornwell (UP) 4-2
182—Eli Zimmer (LMe) dec. Anthony DiElsi (PV) 4-1
195—Greg Frasch (CBS) major dec. Marc Isaac (WT) 10-1
220—Nick Cassalia (CBS) pinned Ezra Outlaw (Soud) 1:58
285—Nick Gill (NP) dec. Shawn Seiberlich (HST) 1-0
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