Alex Frazier recaps the SOL highlights at the Southeast Regional Wrestling Tournament.
By Alex Frazier
He couldn’t have asked for a better finish to his weekend.
After missing regionals last year with a skin infection, Central Bucks West’s Chris Jastrzebski began his first Southeast Regional Wrestling Tournament Friday with a technical fall over Glen Mills’ Marqueses Redmon.
Saturday in the semifinals, he pinned Boyertown’s Chase Garber in 3:30 to reach the championship finals, and in the finals he pinned West Chester Rustin’s Tyler Wood in 3:12.
For his impressive performance, Jastrzebski was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
“It’s the first time,” said Jastrzebski of his award. “I didn’t expect this. My performance showed it. I wrestled really hard. I just had a good weekend. It was a little confidence booster.”
Three wrestlers entered the tournament with unblemished records. Jastrzebski is the only one left standing. His undefeated streak no stands at 34-0.
Norristown won the team title with 109.5 points. Council Rock South finished a distant second with 74.5.
For the Eagles, it was the first time they ever put together back-to-back-to-back section, district and regional championships. It is also the first time Norristown has advanced six wrestlers to the state tournament.
Before the finals, Norristown coach Mark Harner was recognized as Coach of the Year.
For the second week in a row, Norristown’s Shane Springer came back from the brink to win a title.
In a rematch of last week’s 170-pound district finals, one of four on the night, Springer once again denied Central Bucks South’s Dominic Rigous a title. Last week it was a reversal in the closing seconds.
This week Rigous, who was leading 5-2 with about 30 seconds left, shot in on a shot and Springer caught him in a headlock for a five-point move and a 7-5 win.
“I haven’t actually used a headlock since district duals,” said Springer. “Something just clicked in my head. I was down three and I had to go. I guess the headlock gods were looking down on me tonight.”
Teammate Brett Harner (160) also met Pottsgrove’s Danny Michaels with a similar result. Harner won his second regional crown with an 11-2 major decision.
“My conditioning is not where it needs to be right now,” he said. “I’m getting tough workouts in practice. I’m getting better and better each week. I’ll go as hard as I can and finish my season like I’d like to.”
At 195 Council Rock South’s P.J. Steinmetz and Upper Dublin’s Devon Dhoble squared off for a second consecutive week with Steinmetz prevailing once again, although by a closer 6-0 score.
“I was getting a little frustrated,” said Steinmetz. “He was stopping my shots. I knew I had to keep working.”
It was Steinmetz’s first regional championship.
“It feels awesome,” he said.
While three of the four re-matches resulted in similar outcomes, one didn’t.
Last week Norristown’s Zach Fuentes won the District North title with a 3-1 win over Pennridge’s Scott Parker, which was also Parker’s first loss of the year.
This week Parker turned the tables, but it wasn’t easy.
Each wrestler escaped during regulation. With no takedown in the first overtime, they went to the mat. Parker deferred and Fuentes chose bottom. Parker rode him out and then escaped with 18 seconds left in the third overtime to win 2-1 to earn his first trip to states.
“I worked on trying to counter what I could in practice,” said Parker. “I just kept my head on straight and didn’t force anything like I did last week.”
Council Rock South’s defending state champion Billy Rappo claimed his second regional title, but it took him to overtime to defeat Garnet Valley’s Michael Marino 3-1. He backed out for a reversal in the third overtime period.
“He’s a tough kid,” said Rappo. “I knew it was going to be a close match going into it, but I try to score as many points as I can. He has a great defense. It’s hard to score on him.”
Pennsbury 126-pounder Josh DiSanto also won his second regional championship. He won it as a freshman, and then lost last year to Hatboro-Horsham’s Matt Harkins.
Ironically, his finals opponent was Evan Harkins of West Chester Rustin, who gave DiSanto little resistance in losing 10-1. DiSanto also had two technical falls en route to the finals.
DiSanto is now hoping to improve on his two state appearances in which he went 1-2 both years.
“I feel like I’ve changed the way I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I’m trying to hone everything in and get to the best possible version of myself for this weekend.”
After placing second and third the past two years at regionals, Council Rock North’s John Dutrow (132) finally got to take the last step up the podium.
“It’s finally good to come here and win regionals,” he said.
He defeated Father Judge’s Joe Galasso 5-1 in the finals. The big points came in the second period when he took down Galasso and put him on his back.
“Joey Galasso was definitely the best kid I beat this year,” said Dutrow. “It’s good to do it right before states. It shows I’m getting better.”
After placing eighth at states two years ago, Central Bucks West’s Seth Ehlo missed out last year. But he’s back for a final go at another state place.
He slipped past Cardinal O’Hara’s Christian Ostrowski in a 5-3 tiebreaker in the quarterfinals and then defeated Wissahickon’s Brennan Weiss 5-1 in the semifinals. But his 38-0 win streak came to a halt in the finals as he fell to LaSalle’s Casey Kent, 6-2.
“I was kind of disappointed at the 6-2 but it was a tough match,” he said. “He’s tough on his feet, but it’s kind of gratifying to come back after missing states last year.”
A few finalists who didn’t win titles, nevertheless, will be heading to Hershey next week for the first time.
Pennsbury’s Anthony DiEmidio was a bit banged up in the finals against West Chester Rustin’s Corey McQuiston and was pinned, but he’s having a good post-season having qualified for his first regional tournament and now his first state tourney.
“It feels good,” he said. “I could have done a lot better. I didn’t have my head on right going in. I just took it as a regular home meet match, not a post-season match.”
Council Rock North sophomore 220-pounder Tyler Callender will be making his first trip to states. He lost a close finals bout to Coatesville’s Mike Boykin, who took him down with 15 seconds left to win 3-2.
“He’s a strong guy,” said Callender. “I was getting tired and I left my feet open and he took advantage of it.”
Despite the loss, Callender is excited about his first trip to states.
“I want to be on the podium,” he said. “I think I can. I’ve wrestled well but I think I can wrestle better.”
Finally, at heavyweight William Tennent’s Andrew VanBuskirk will also be going to Hershey, a fairly remarkable accomplishment since he didn’t make it out of sections last year.
VanBuskrik was pinned for the first time in the finals this year by St. Joe Prep’s Paul Johnson.
“The only thing I can say about the match is that it was one of the worst matches I’ve wrestled,” he said.
The match he will remember most is his semifinal 7-6 win over Council Rock South’s Tommy Trampe, whom he had lost to in overtime in the Section One finals.
VanBuskirk said that at the beginning of the season he could not imagine going to states.
“Just getting out of sectionals was a huge deal for me,” he said. “As I got better, I started thinking, ‘Maybe I should be going to states.’”
Southeastern Regional Wrestling Tournament
Team standings (Top 10):1. Norristown 109.5, 2. Council Rock South 74.5, 3. Owen J. Roberts 73, 4. West Chester Rustin 70, 5. Marple-Newtown 64.5, 6. LaSalle 59.5, 7. Pennsbury 55, 8. Council Rock North 44.5 9. Central Bucks South 44, 9. Upper Perkiomen 44,
Other SOL teams: 11. Central Bucks West 43.5, 16. Pennridge 30.5, 19. Bensalem 19, 23. Upper Dublin 24, 25. Wissahickon 21, 27. Quakertown 19, 28. William Tennent 18. 29. North Penn 17, 32. Central Bucks East 15
Championship Finals
106— Scott Parker (Pennridge) dec. Zach Fuentes (Norristown) 2-1 OT
113—Billy Rappo (CR South) dec. Michael Marino (Garnet Valley) 3-1 OT
120—Corey McQuiston (WC Rustin) pinned Anthony DiEmidio (Pennsbury) 5:30
126—Josh DiSanto (Pennsbury) major dec. Evan Harkins (WC Rustin) 10-1
132—John Dutrow (CR North) dec. Joe Galasso (Father Judge) 5-1
138— Matt Cimato (LaSalle) dec. Wayne Armstrong (Interboro) 11-4
145— Brandon Arnsberger (Octorara) major dec. Andrew Kinney (Owen J. Roberts) 14-4
152— Casey Kent (LaSalle) dec. Seth Ehlo (CB West) 6-2
160—Brett Harner (Norristown) major dec. Danny Michaels (Pottsgrove) 11-4
170—Shane Springer (Norristown) dec. Dominic Rigous (CB South) 7-5
182—Chris Jastrzebski (CB West) pinned Tyler Wood (WC Rustin) 3:12
195—P.J. Steinmetz (CR South) dec. Devon Dhoble (Upper Dublin) 6-0
220—Mike Boykin (Coatesville) dec. Tyler Callender (CR North) 3-2
285— Paul Johnson (St. Joe’s Prep) pinned Andrew VanBuskirk (William Tennent) 5:24
Consolation Finals
106—Dan Martoccio (CR South) dec. Jim Long (WC Henderson) 4-0
113—Derek Gulotta (Owen J. Roberts) dec. Jason Bing (Pennsbury) 4-1
120—Tommy Stokes (Bensalem) dec. Kolton Veit (Souderton) 5=3 SV
126—Tyler Clapp (Strath Haven) dec. Fred Alderman (Garnet Valley) 10-6
132— Wolfgang McStravick (Upper Perkiomen) pinned Steve Quinn (WC Rustin) 2:03
138— Mikey Springer (Norristown) dec. Adam Moser (Owen J. Roberts) 5-2
145—Justin Staudenmayer (Plymouth Whitemarsh) tech fall Jason Dombrosky (Spring-Ford) 4:58
152— Ryan Montgomery (Oxford) dec. Jon Neiman (Boyertown) 3-2
160—Charlie Grab (WC Henderson) dec. Joe Gartland (Penncrest) 3-2
170— Gordon Bolig (Owen J. Roberts) dec. Chris Kurkian (Marple-Newtown) 7-3
182—Tyler Letrinko (Norristown) dec. Dalton Fleming (Upper Perkiomen) 3-2
195—Larry Gordon (Norristown) pinned George Shipp (North Penn) 1:44
220—Jake Cooper (Archbishop Wood) dec. Matt Jorgenson (Quakertown) 3-1 SV
285—Tommy Trampe (CR South) dec. Matt Gould (Interboro) 7-1
- Log in to post comments
