Check out Glenn Kaiser's preview of this weekend's Southeast Regional Tournament.
Southeast Regional Preview
Now that the dust has settled with the inaugural league tournaments and the new District One East/Central/West tournaments completed, it’s time to look at who may be moving on to Chocolate Town, USA, from the Suburban One League. There are a handful of shoo-ins to return to Hershey, but nothing is ever guaranteed when it comes to the last leg of qualifiers for the PIAA State Championships. Here are some favorites to move on:
106-Collyn Dorney (Quakertown)
113-Zach Fuentes (Norristown) *5th , Scotty Parker (Pennridge) *4th , & Dan Martoccio (CR South) *8th
120-Ben Ross (Pennridge) & Jason Bing (Pennsbury) *SQ
126-Josh DiSanto (Pennsbury) *7th & Tommy Stokes (Bensalem) *6th
132-Fransesco Fabozzi (CB East) & Joey O’Brien (North Penn)
138-John Dutrow (CR North) *4th
145-Mikey Springer (Norristown) *8th
160-Justin Staudenmayer (Plymouth-Whitmarsh) *SQ
170-Dominic Rigous (CB South) *SQ
182-Brett Harner (Norristown) *3rd & Alex Price (North Penn)
195-PJ Steinmetz (CR South) *3rd
220-Tyler Callender (CR North) *SQ
285-Andrew Van Buskirk (William Tennent) *SQ
*Indicates 2012 PIAA finish/SQ=State Qualifier who did not place
106-Collyn Dorney (Quakertown) D1-East champ may be the only legitimate SOL wrestler to have an opportunity to qualify, as there are several wrestlers here with great wrestling credentials. They include Jason Rinaldi (Marple), Edgar Garcia (Avon Grove), Anthony Petril (U Darby), & Dustin Steffenino (U Perk).
The 113-pound weight class is loaded with talent, and unfortunately, with only three wrestlers advancing to the Giant Center, one of four 2012 state place winners won’t even make the trip back to Hershey. In addition to the SOL’s Fuentes, Parker and Martoccio, the fourth returning state qualifer is PAC 10’s Derek Gulotta *8th from Owen J Roberts. Phil Torresani (Hatboro-Horsham) has an outside chance at this weight as well. Zach Fuentes was the OW at the District One West tourney.
At 120 pounds CRN’s Tim Ambacher could be the spoiler here for one of the district’s returning state qualifiers as he matches up against Michael Marino (Garnet Valley) in a quarterfinal match, Ambacher beat Marino earlier in the season.
126-This appears to be another wide-open weight class with SOL wrestler’s biggest challenge coming from Colby Frank (OJR) D1-Central champ. Evan Wilson (CBE) will take to the mat against him in the quarterfinals. Returning medalists Josh DiSanto (Pennsbury), no stranger in Hershey, and Tommy Stokes (Bensalem) will have something to prove in this talented weight class.
132 is topped by Wolfgang McStravick (Upper Perk), but Aaron Rodriquez will also battle for a spot in Hershey with his D1-West title in hand. He will match up early with Joe Staley (Methacton) in this loaded weight class that includes Pennsbury’s Anthony DiEmidio out in the pigtails.
John Dutrow (CRN) looks to remain undefeated at 138 and will face Radnor’s very tough Matt Pelton (Radnor) who was upset at D1-Central by Demetri D’Orsaneo (OJR).
145-Riley Barth from CB West came up short finishing 6th last year at Regionals. He will do battle with a formative foe in John Dambro from Garnet Valey in the quarters. And Ryan O’Connor (Neshaminy) D1-East Champ is headed for a showdown with Adam Moser (OJR) in the semis.
152 is wide open with freshman Rashon Lusane (Norristown) fresh off a District West title, Jeff Reimel (North Penn) D1-East champ, Nathan Russell (Neshaminy), and a hot Connor Bodnar (Hatboro-Horsham). Dan Schueren was the top gun at this weight most of the year, but a tough draw in the pigtails against Perk Valley’s Nick Giangiulio could hurt his chances to advance to states.
160-Justin Staudenmayer is the top dog here.
170-Dom Rigous (CBS) is undefeated and looking for Hershey hardware.
182-Brett Harner from Norristown has battled the nation’s best all season long, and will no doubt be a favorite to be in the finals come Saturday, March 9, in Hershey. Sam Jacobson (U Dublin), unfortunately, has two losses to Harner, but that is it for the season. He will be tested immediately by North Penn’s D1-East champion Alex Price.
195-PJ Steinmetz (CRS) is another potential state finalist and is the clear favorite to repeat as the SE Regional champion.
220-Tyler Callender has family history on his side wrestling for the Council Rock North Indians, and he plans to battle back to Hershey. Nick Cassalia (CB South) may be the odd man out in this weight class with Boyertown’s Jordan Wood the top seed, and undefeated Mike Boykin (Coatsville) lurking at the bottom of the bracket. So it could be Cassalia and Callendar (D1-East final match-up) again in the consi-finals for a berth to states on the line Saturday night.
285-With his win over undefeated Matt Gould from Interboro in D1-East finals, Andrew Van Buskirk seeks to capture regional gold. His task will not be easy as Tracy Green (Methacton) and Gould will look to steal gold from William Tennent’s heavyweight Van Buskirk. Van Buskirk was named the D1-East Tourney’s Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts over Gould.
Congratulations go out to D1-East Champions North Penn, who appear to be back in post-season form of the glory days for the Knights. Best of luck to everyone this weekend.
Suburban One League Unofficial Team Champions:
American-Wissahickon
Continental-Pennridge
National-Pennsbury
PIAA Southeast Regional @ Pottstown H.S.
Friday March 1, 2013-6:00pm start (Prelims & Quarterfinals)
Saturday March 2, 2013-10:00am start (Consi-Prelims followed by Semi-Finals)/Finals 6:00pm
(5:30pm Hall of Fame Inductions/5:45pm Parade of Champions)
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