SEMENT & GAJ CONQUER X-CALIBUR
Council Rock North & Quakertown Fair Well at Wilkes-Barre H.S.
by Glenn Kaiser
Council Rock North looked like the old royalty they have come to be known over the weekend at X-Calibur, hosted by Wilkes Barre H.S., as the Indians finished ahead of mighty Quakertown as a team in fourth place with 141-points. Quakertown was fifth overall with 105.5-points behind Rock North. CR North’s Eren Sement was crowned the champ at 127-pounds, defeating Quakertown’s Mason Ziegler 3-2 in a battle of two gallants, both on a mission to garner gold in Chocolate Town, USA, come March 2023. Q-town’s Colin Gaj was cavalier with his 5-2 victory in the championship finals at 145-pounds over Bergen Catholic’s Ryan Ford. Bergen Catholic (NJ) conquered the field winning the team title with 296.5-points, well ahead of the challengers in this 12-team battle of nobles. The North Penn Knights finished in 10th place (74-points) in the team standings with Devon Pickett garnering silver at 285-pounds.
CR North had four finalists with two victors. Marco Loss won the 114-pound weight class with a solid 6-4 victory over Bergen’s Seach Hibler, joining Sement in the winner’s circle. Alexander Diaz and super-frosh Pierce Kane were runners-up, respectively at 107 and 121-pounds. North’s Kristian Koroveshi took the bronze at 189-pounds.
Quakertown lightweight Isaac Williams impressed with a third-place finish and the consolation crown at 114-pounds, downing Princess Anne’s (Virginia) Dawson Bowden handily, 7-2. Zach Borzio was fourth for the Panthers at 160-pounds in a rugged field that featured teams from various states. In addition to New Jersey and Virginia, New York’s St. Anthony’s also participated along with private powerhouse Wyoming Seminary from PA. Seminary finished second as a team with 161-points, and Jersey’s West Morris Central was third with 160.5.
North’s sister school, Council Rock South battled at the Beast of the East Saturday and Sunday as well. The Beast lived up to its name as only two Golden Hawks reached the podium at the University of Delaware. CR South’s upper-middle weight duo of Gavin Cole and Bek Sadriddinov medaled in perhaps the best scholastic wrestling tourney in the nation. No disrespect to Escape the Rock, but the talent on display in Delaware was the cream of the crop when it comes to individual wrestling. Cole finished eighth at 157-pounds and Sadriddinov seventh at 165-pounds (Delaware NFHS weight-classes were in effect at the Beast).
Elsewhere, other SOL teams competed at various events throughout the Commonwealth. Here are some of the highlights:
Carlisle Christmas Classic: Central Bucks East big man Joe Collins, in his first competition of the year, was the 285-pound runner-up.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Orion Newell reached the 139-pound final at the Donegal Holiday Tournament but had to settle for silver.
In dual action, Plymouth Whitemarsh went 2-1 as a team at West Chester East’s Colley Classic. Colonials’ Justin Brainbridge and Ty Borkowski were undefeated there. PW downed Central Bucks West 50-18 for fifth place.
At the Spartan Duals, host Springfield was 4-1 overall, downing Father Judge 41-35 in the crossover round that featured 10-teams. Spartans Dominic Antinucci, Will Horn and Jason Morrisey were undefeated on the day, all going 5-0. Upper Moreland (6-2) was 4-1 as a team, setting up a potential showdown in the SOL Freedom for the title there.
At the Travis Manion Memorial Duals at LaSalle, Central Bucks South went 4-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of out-of-town Berks Catholic. Titans Jake Neill, Skyler Speak and Gabe Whittington all went 5-0 in the duals with Neill and Speak posting 27-points in the duals along with Whittington’s 25-points to lead the team to four victories over Marple-Newtown (58-15), Lower Merion (57-7), LaSalle-Rhode Island (51-18) and Warwick (45-20).
Next up for many SOL teams is the Wetzel Holiday Classic, featuring 32-teams, at Hatboro-Horsham High School on Dec. 28 & 29, 2022. Competing SOL Teams include host H-H, Abington, CB East, CB West, Cheltenham, Truman, Lower Moreland, Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Upper Dublin, Tennent and Wissahickon.
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