By Alex Frazier
Highlighting… Steve Carpenter
If you’re superstitious, 13 can be an unlucky number.It seems that way for Springfield’s Steve Carpenter.
Right after Christmas, Carpenter won his 13th match (by the way, he was also born on Nov. 13), majoring East Pennsboro’s Matt Magoro, 15-5.
Since then he’s lost two straight.
“I’m not really superstitious,” he said. “I just think it’s ironic.”
“He’s had a couple of tough kids the last two matches,” said coach Corey McCaslin.
Not so long ago, Carpenter nearly quit wrestling.
He didn’t start the sport until seventh grade, never having wrestled any club matches.
“I did a few clinics,” he said.
After a year of wrestling at the high school, he quit because of the coach.
But when McCaslin took over the program last year, he convinced Carpenter to come back out, and now wrestling is his favorite sport.
“He had a tough start last year but shook that off and had a nice finish,” said McCaslin.
Carpenter ended the season with a 14-14 record and placed third at districts. Unfortunately, in Class AA only the top two wrestlers advance to regionals.
“I definitely improved a lot last season because of Corey’s coaching,” he said.
This season, Carpenter has gotten off to a good start with a 13-5 mark.
“He’s taking it to another level,” said McCaslin. “He’s one of our captains and is a real leader in the room.”
One of Carpenter’s strengths, according to McCaslin, is on his feet.
“When he gets into a good groove, he’s tough to stop,” said the coach.
“This year I’m stronger, faster and I still have a good work ethic,” said Carpenter. “I just want to keep getting better. I want to win districts this year.”
Carpenter also played football four years for Springfield. Though only 160 pounds, he was an offensive guard and a linebacker.
Instead of size, he took advantage of his speed. He was named all-league honorable mention.
Carpenter is also an Eagle Scout. For his Eagle badge, he set up a recycling campaign for Springfield Parks.
This year will be Carpenter’s last for wrestling, so he wants to make it his best.
“It’s a love-hate relationship,” he said. “In college I want to concentrate on my studies and have fun and not worry about a full-time sport.”
He plans on going to Temple or Penn State.
“I’m definitely going to miss wrestling,” he said. “I’m definitely going to come back and support the team. We have a real tight bond on this team. The kids are just great. I want to see how they’re doing in the next four years.”
Fly Eagles Fly – Coaching is not an easy job. Coaching at Norristown is even harder.
Fifth year coach Mark Harner is never sure whom he will have to put out on the mat. From year to year he is losing recruits to private schools like Germantown Academy, LaSalle or Chestnut Hill Academy.
When his wrestlers are in school, he’s never certain whether they will be eligible to wrestle. Right now, for example, he’s missing two from the starting lineup—Joey Price (160) and Ryan Kratz (189).
“We should have them back in a week,” said Harner. “We have eligibility issues every week.”
Even when wrestlers are eligible, they may have problems getting to or from practice.
“It’s not one of the most affluent school districts,” said Harner. “Most of these kids can’t afford to go to camps. Even transportation - we basically have to drive a bunch of kids home every night.”
Harner also makes a point to travel with his wrestlers. He booked tournaments as far away as western Maryland (Fort Hill Duals) and northern Pennsylvania (Athens Pool Tournament).
“We try our best to raise money,” said Harner. “It’s a good experience for them to travel for team building and bonding.”
And that’s on top of the usual problems most coaches face such as injuries and making weight.
But Harner never makes an excuse. In fact, he prefers it that way.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said. “Sometimes when things are harder, it’s more gratifying. You have to be a little more of a coach over here.”
Every once in a while, he is the recipient of a transfer, like this year when David Irwin showed up from Upper Perkiomen. He joined the team Jan. 5 after spending three months at Glen Mills.
Irwin is 7-2 in his first nine matches, having recorded three pins, a tech fall, a major and a decision as well as collecting a forfeit.
“He wrestled all summer and all fall,” said Harner. “He’s been doing OK. He’s wrestling 119/125, right where we need somebody.”
Despite all the adversities Harner faces, the Eagles are still 15-3 and that’s with no 103-pounder.
“It’s a fairly young team,” he said. “We have good nucleus of young guys and some pretty good young kids coming up the following year.”
Norristown won its 400th program match this year. Harner actually isn’t sure yet whether it came at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. He has to go back and re-tally.
Besides Irwin, Norristown relies on Brandon Parker (29-4, 140) and brother Stephen (27-5, 145), Joe Kent (28-5, 152), Joey Pierce (20-5, 160) and Marcus Robbins (28-5, 285). Brandon Parker was a state freestyle champion.
“If our kids are available to wrestle and come to wrestle, we’re going to be tough to beat,” said Harner.
The Eagles have two main goals this year—win the SOL American and Section Three.
Harner set the goals high knowing he returned a good nucleus of kids that beat Neshaminy and held their own against Council Rock North last year.
Over the summer, he had them wrestling at Pinnacle and Maverick wrestling clubs, and took them to the Boyertown, Williamsport and Pottsgrove duals. And of course, Harner opened the wrestling room at Norristown for all but August and the first two weeks of September.
“We’re prepared for this season,” he said.
Winning the American Conference will be tough. Norristown has yet to face the best teams. Wednesday, the Eagles made a statement by crushing Wissahickon, 55-19, but they still have Plymouth Whitemarsh, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland to contend with.
“This is tougher than I thought it would be,” said Harner, referring to Norristown’s drop to the American Conference this year. “It’s deeper than I thought. It’s a little underrated. We have a real test these next three weeks,”
Martoccio returns – Council Rock South’s Matt Martoccio is back with a vengeance. After missing November and December with a broken thumb, he made his season debut on Jan. 7, majoring Bensalem’s Frank Lippincott 17-9.
“He did a real nice job against a quality opponent,” said coach Brad Silimperi. “I was very pleased with his performance.”
Since then he breezed through the Escape the Rock Tournament with four wins, including a pin, a tech fall, a major and a decision to win the 130-pound weight class.
His opponent in the championship, Wyoming Seminary’s Devon Brown, was a New York State Champ and is ranked among the top 30 in the country. His credentials didn’t faze Martoccio, who majored him 13-2.
“He got better and better every round,” said Silimperi. “He’s clicking on all cylinders already.”
Martoccio won districts last year as a freshman.
His addition to the team will make it harder for opposing coaches to play with their lineups, as Matt Rappo will now be secure at 125.
“He’s helped us in a big way,” said Silimperi.
District duals – Seeding for this year’s District One Dual Meet Tournament will be held Sunday. First round action begins Thursday, Jan. 22.
This year’s field should be more competitive than ever with Boyertown, Great Valley, Council Rock North and South, Quakertown and Upper Moreland vying for one of the top three state qualifying spots. Springfield is the lone Class AA team and will have its hands filled with Octorara. Only one AA team advances to states.
This year there are 24 AAA teams eligible for the tournament, which is double elimination, except for the first round.
First round matches take place at the following locations: Pennsbury, Hatboro Horsham, Upper Perkiomen and Radnor. Weigh-ins for all teams begin at 4:30 p.m. There will be six teams and two mats at each site.
Round 1 begins at 5:30 p.m. with the loser going home. Winners of Round 2, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will advance to the finals on Friday and Saturday Jan. 30 and 31 at Council Rock South.
On Friday, Jan. 30, weigh-ins begin at 5 p.m. with quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on four mats. Wrestlebacks and semifinals begin at 8 p.m. on four mats
On Saturday, weigh-ins begin at 12 noon with consi semifinals and AA semifinals at 2 p.m. Class AA and AAA finals and consi-finals will begin at 4 p.m.
Three AAA teams advance to states along with one AA team.
Around the league – In league action Wednesday, Council Rock South cruised past Abington, 43-16 and Council Rock North stayed on track for a league title with a 51-12 shellacking of Neshaminy. The best match of the night in the National Conference, though, was Pennsbury’s win over William Tennent. The Panthers held a seemingly safe 33-16 lead with four matches left. But Pennsbury received a forfeit at 103; then Jeff Lieb decisioned Dylan Sinkler, 3-0; Pat Hyland majored C.J. Flack, 14-6; and Matt Funk majored Ed Kwait, 10-1 to tie the match at 33 apiece. Pennsbury was awarded the victory on the basis of the second tiebreaking criteria—most matches won—8-6.
• In the Continental Conference, Souderton put a nice effort together, defeating Central Bucks South, 40-25. The Indians got pins from Greg Kabakjian (119), Peter Jenne (160) and Joe Stolfi (189) and major decisions from James Turnure (125), Dan McPherson (130), Chris Force (135) and Rob Smothers (215).
North Penn’s Matt Prestifilippo returned to the lineup, but his 4-2 victory over Central Bucks West’s Steve Ferraro at 125 didn’t help the Knights, who lost 45-24.
• The battles continued in the American Conference, which could go right down to the wire with Norristown and Upper Moreland. The Eagles cruised past Wissahickon 55-19, and Upper Dublin, which could be in the mix, defeated Plymouth Whitemarsh, 39-30.
• Over the weekend, Council Rock South placed third in its Escape the Rock Tournament. Central Mountain won with Wyoming Seminary placing second.
The Golden Hawks crowned three champions in Matt Martoccio (130), Jim Vollrath (152) and Ed Shupe (160). Bobby Lavelle placed second at 171, Marc Helfrich was third at 145 and Matt Rappo took fourth at 125.
• Norristown wrestled an incredible nine matches in two days at the Fort Hill Duals in western Maryland. The Eagles finished 8-1, losing only to River Hill (Md.) 39-25.
• In dual meet action last Thursday, Neshaminy led the whole way to defeat archrival Pennsbury 34-24.
Two close matches highlighted the Quakertown-Central Bucks West match, which the Panthers won 49-11. West 112-pounder Chris McGinley had to go to overtime to edge Nick Ronzano, 10-8, and the Panthers’ Briar Malischewski also needed overtime to take Chris Jastrzewski, 10-8, at 145.
Top Five SOL teams
1. Quakertown
2. Council Rock North
3. Council Rock South
4. Upper Moreland
5. Norristown
Top Guns
103-Scott Wolfinger, Quakertown
112-Matt Harkins, Hatboro-Horsham
119-Zac Haynes, Council Rock North
125-Tim Santry, Upper Moreland
130-Luke Wisniewski, Plymouth Whitemarsh
135-Matt Rust, Quakertown
140-Zac Bush, William Tennent
145-Stephen Parker, Norristown
152- Jim Vollrath, Council Rock South
160-Ed Shupe, Council Rock South
171-Devon Passman, Central Bucks East
189-Jamie Callender, Council Rock North
215-Dan Clemenson, William Tennent
285-David Osei, Abington
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