Glenn Kaiser recaps last week’s opening round of the 2018 District One Team Championships and picks the winners in this week’s action.
GOLDEN HAWKS LEAD THE WAY INTO QUARTERFINALS OF D1 DUALS
By Glenn Kaiser
To no one’s surprise Council Rock South easily advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2018 District One Team Championships last Thursday as they began their quest to head back to the Giant Center in Hershey, PA, for 2018 PIAA Team Championships. The Golden Hawks are once again the favorites in D1 to be the top team to represent D1 at the state duals.
CR South overwhelmed an undermanned Methacton squad in their home gym with a convincing 52-18 win in first round action. The win pushed South onward to Upper Dublin High School for the quarterfinals Friday evening starting at 6:00pm. Semifinals and first round consolations start at approximately 7:30pm. Consolation semifinals resume Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm with the championship and 3rd place matches slated for 3pm.
The Golden Hawks (#1 seed) will take on West Chester Henderson (#8), a 33-25 winner over North Penn last week. Henderson is a hot team at 13-1 overall and 4-0 in Ches-Mont National League action. Henderson will battle the number two seed of the duals, Downingtown West this evening for the Ches-Mont National title in a huge tune-up in preparation for CRS. Although Henderson is a dangerous team, they do not have the same firepower in their line-up as South does, nonetheless it should be a competitive bout, as the winner earns a semifinal spot in the district duals.
WC Henderson won nine matches in its dual with North Penn (#9), as key losses for the Knights included three bouts in the middle as Jarret Neidosik (145), Erik Loughlin (152) and Patrick O’Neill (160) all dropped close decisions to the Warriors. The Warriors built a 16-0 lead after starting the dual at 132-pounds and never looked backed even after pins by Owen Verespy (220) and Ryan Cody (285) knotted the team score 19-19. The Warriors sealed the win with three straight bonus point wins coming around to 106-pounds. North Penn will look to three-peat as SOL Continental champs over the next two weeks with a tussle with CB East on the horizon Feb. 7.
Council Rock North (#5) squeaked by West Chester East (#12) 37-36 on criteria after an incidental slam by Luke Lucerne at 120-pounds, in which Corey Celenza (WCE) earned six team points for the Vikings that drew them to 30-36 with only one bout left. East’s Tommy Luke tied up the team score with a fall over Dan Fitzgerald in the second period to make the team score all square at 36-36. The tie sent the officials to the rulebook to obtain the winning criteria to break the tie and anoint the winner. It was North that became the victors with Criteria H-most first points scored (14-10) - deciding the match.
CR North will take on Boyertown (#4) in the quarterfinals Friday. This will be a re-match of that took place on the opening weekend of the season that North won 40-30. Boyertown has solidified its lineup over the course of the season, and the Indians have struggled of late, which should make this one a very competitive dual.
Neshaminy (#7), the hottest team in the SOL heading into the duals was cooled by West Chester Rustin (#10) in the first round, dropping a 25-34 contest, eliminating the ‘Skins from the duals. Neshaminy came in with a big win over CR North the night before, 40-20, and had won seven of its last eight matches prior, with the Redskins’ only loss coming at the hands of District 3 power Central Dauphin in the Big Red Duals at Souderton. Jackson Erb, wrestling at 145-pounds for the ‘Skins versus CRN downed Cam Robinson 2-1 in overtime and continued his 19-match win streak. Erb upped his overall record to 27-1 over this past weekend at their own Redskin Rumble. Neshaminy won the dual tourney defeating Avon Grove in the finals 56-11.
Quakertown (#11) lost 43-26 in the preliminary round of the district duals to Owen J Roberts (#6). OJR, according to some, was seeded too low at number six, as many experts and amateurs alike would have flipped flopped the #4 seed Boyertown with Owen J the 6th seed in the dual tourney bracket. Nonetheless, you have to beat the best to be the best. Quakertown had some wrestlers out in this one and could not muster enough points, despite four matches earning bonus points, with only six wins to Owen J’s eight wins with five pins, one major decision and a forfeit.
Hatboro-Horsham (#15) was overmatched in their contest with the #2 seed in Downingtown West and subsequently dropped a 51-20 decision. Nick Chapman extended his pin streak to 21 straight falls in the dual and garnered his 22nd fall Saturday versus West Chester East to up his overall season record to 22-0. H-H had an up and down week with a solid win over Plymouth Whitmarsh, 33-30, on senior night, and then dropped two matches to D1 Dual teams in DTW and WCE (24-42).
I am still predicting an all Council Rock semifinal in the upper half of the championship bracket, with South the victor over North again. Down below, I remain locked with my pick of Spring-Ford over OJR in the quarters advancing them to a date with Downingtown East down below in the other semifinal match-up. DTW will be challenged by WC Rustin but should advance.
I will change my pick here though, and have the S-F Rams downing West to advance to the finals versus CRS. South, of course, gets the championship in a close one. Spring-Ford lost a narrow 31-27 match to DTW in the Rock Yard duals, but avenge that loss in the semis.
Down below, it will be war in the wrestle-backs with OJR and DTW battling potentially for third place. I’ll go with West winning there if OJR gets by CRN in the consi-semis. Thus, my final four teams remain the same to advance to the state duals portion of this 2018 PIAA Team Championships that begin Monday, Feb. 5, with preliminary matches at the higher seeded teams’ gyms, and resume Thursday, Feb 8-10, at the Giant Center.
SOL Dual Team Rankings as of 1/31/18:
1-Council Rock South Overall 8-2/SOL 4-0
2-Neshaminy 16-5/4-1
3-Council Rock North 10-5/1-3
4-North Penn 10-5/4-0
5-Quakertown 11-5/5-0
Under Consideration: CB East 9-5/5-0, Bensalem 11-10/3-1, & Hatboro-Horsham 6-8/3-1
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