Glenn Kaiser highlights some of the top team and individual performances for SOL teams in action at this weekend’s invitationals.
SOLID PERFORMANCES AT ROCKYARD DUALS
By Glenn Kaiser
The Rockyard Duals hosted by Council Rock North Saturday provided some excellent match-ups of top SOL and District One Teams. Although Downingtown West won the dual event over Spring-Ford 31-27 in the finals, it was North Penn and CR North that stole the show. North Penn was able to go toe to toe with an Indians team that was missing a few wrestlers from their normal line-up, but in the end, it was CR North that won the dual after a 35-35 tie. The tiebreaking criteria used was the most individual bouts won, eight for North to six for the Knights. Thus, making the final score 36-35 in the 3rd place match.
CR North used the strength of an early run of seven straight victories, building a 30-0 lead over North Penn. The match began at 113-pounds and John Shalinsky got the Indians rolling with a first period fall over the Knights Jabez Chae in 1:54. North Penn countered that run with six victories of their own starting at 160 as Patrick O’Neill decked Larry Tsai quickly at 48 seconds into the first period. The Knights’ run was capped by two more falls from the dynamic duo of Owen Verespy (220) and Ryan Cody (285) pushing North Penn in front 35-30 in the team scoring.
Coming back around to 106-pounds, CR North freshman sensation Kyle Hauserman answered the call, needing either a technical fall or pin over North Penn’s Eddie Galang to win the dual for the Indians. Hauserman delivered with a 20-4 tech fall to secure the team victory tying the score with the win for the Indians, their eighth of the match, which broke the tie.
Matchups always dictate dual meet results and are often decided by the coin toss, which enables teams to control those matchups. Team scores reflected this throughout the day as the championship and consolation final matches were decided by narrow margins. However, North Penn dominated William Tennent 54-18 in the first round and downed Archbishop Wood 43-27 in other action. However, the Knights were defeated by Downingtown West 42-22 and finished 2-2 on the day.
CR North fared a bit better with three team victories with only one loss coming at the hands of Spring-Ford 54-21. The Indians dismantled La Salle 69-12 and Ridley 65-18. If CR North can regroup, the Indians should be back in top form to face CR South in the Unity Cup match, which was cancelled Thursday due to the Bombogenesis storm.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH GRAPPLES STATES BEST TEAMS AT PARKLAND
The Parkland Duals have always pitted some of the state’s best dual meet teams against each other in this New Year dual tournament. And the kickoff to 2018 was no different as Cumberland Valley, Parkland, CR South, Northampton, Exeter, Del Val, Souderton and New York’s St. Anthony’s battled at the splendid Parkland gymnasium.
The theme of highly competitive matches and tight team scores continued in the Lehigh Valley, with coaches playing chess to get the best matchups to earn team victory. CRS came up short twice - against highly touted District III’s Cumberland Valley 33-32 and the Konkrete Kids from Northampton (D11) 38-36. The Golden Hawks handled Souderton 48-26 and St. Anthony’s 40-22, and took down host Parkland 34-29.
The fact that CRS continues to schedule against the best teams and enters the top individual tournaments year in and year out makes them the top team in all of District I. A couple of standout wins on the day versus Souderton for the Golden Hawks included Ben Radner’s win at 132 over Souderton’s Tyler Williams 3-2 and Eric Woloshyn’s major decision, topping the Indians Connor Trowbridge 11-1.
Although South dropped two duals, that does not affect what Coach Brad Silimperi calls an “experiment” during the regular season, as he and his staff discover what works and what doesn’t leading up to the PIAA state duals and individual post-season. As always, CR South will adjust and manipulate their line-up to strengthen the team, and complete their post-season individual entries. CR South remains atop both the SOL and D1 Team Rankings with a record of 4-2 Overall/1-0 SOL National.
IN OTHER ACTION THIS PAST WEEK: In SOL American dual action, Hatboro-Horsham defeated Upper Moreland in the Battle of the Border match 44-27, Nick Chapman (220) upped his record to 15-0 with 15 falls. In the Continental, Central Bucks East surprisingly downed Souderton 38-32 to open 2-0 in conference action. Neshaminy continues to impress, improving to 4-2 overall with their victory over Bensalem 41-24. The Redskins also own a win over D12’s best team, Father Judge. Quakertown is 5-2 on the season after finishing 3-1 in the Zephyr Duals at Whitehall H.S. Quakertown and H-H will do battle Wednesday evening in the Panther dome at 7pm for potentially the league title. There is a lot of wrestling to be done in the league over the next three weeks…so stay tuned.
SOL TEAM RANKINGS (Overall and by Conference):
SOL OVERALL
1-Council Rock South (4-2)
2-Council Rock North (8-2)
3-North Penn (7-4)
4-Pennridge (1-0)
5-Quakertown (5-2)
AMERICAN
1-Quakertown (5-2)
2-Hatboro-Horsham (4-3)
3-Wissahickon (5-7)
CONTINENTAL
1-North Penn (7-4)
2-Pennridge (1-0)
3-CB East (3-2)
NATIONAL
1-Council Rock South (4-2)
2-Council Rock North (8-2)
3-Neshaminy (4-2)
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