By Alex Frazier
Meet…Ryan Ginsburg
The colors are the same.
Only the name on the singlet is different.
Ryan Ginsberg started his high school career at Upper Merion, but transferred to LaSalle in November of his freshman year.
A senior this year, he returned to Upper Merion to complete his wrestling journey.
When he was a freshman, LaSalle seemed like the place to go.
“I wanted to go to a better school for education,” he said, “and they had a good wrestling team. It suited where I wanted to go, and my parents wanted me to go there too.”
But after two and a half years, Ginsberg decided he would be better off at Upper Merion.
“It was pretty far away,” he said. “My academics weren’t bad, but it was a tough school, and I wanted to bring my GPA up. I feel good at Upper Merion now.”
Coach Kevin Boccella is used to losing wrestlers to private schools like LaSalle and Germantown Academy, not gaining them, so Ginsberg’s transfer, though not completely a surprise, was a welcome one.
“It’s nice to get one back,” said Boccella. “He’s a great addition to the team. He works hard and sets an example.”
It’s not unusual for Ginsberg to leave a two-hour practice and then hit the gym for another couple of hours.
Ginsberg started wrestling when he was five for Conestoga. He then moved to West Norriton.
He and his friend Joe Mazzi, who is still at LaSalle, started together.
“We used to train in his basement,” said Ginsberg. “That’s how we got a lot better.”
In his first six matches of the year, Ginsberg is undefeated, pinning five opponents and taking a forfeit in the other.
With all of his experience and success, having Ginsberg in the room is like having another coach.
“He helps in the room as far as teaching,” said Boccella.
Ginsberg is also one of the captains.
“I try to help out everyone on the team so our team does a lot better,” he said, “and it makes the room a lot more competitive. People don’t fool around as much. It helps me by teaching them.”
Ginsberg is planning on continuing his wrestling career in college. He is still undecided where he will go, but Shippensburg and Bloomsburg are two on his list. He is also unsure of a major, but is considering athletic training.
“I’m good at that kind of stuff,” he said. “I want to do something that makes good money and I’m having fun.”
Last year, Ginsberg won the District 12 championship, finished third at the Southeast Regional Tournament and lost both bouts at states. By finishing third at regions, he was seeded against Governor Mifflin’s Sam Sherlock, who beat him 4-0 in the first round, en route to the 125-pound title.
This year, Ginsberg is looking for better. He is now 7-0 with six pins and a forfeit.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said.
McGinley reaches century mark – Congratulations to Central Bucks West’s Bubba McGinley for his 100th win, which came on Dec. 16 against Hatboro-Horsham.
McGinley stepped out on the mat against the Hatters’ Dominic Dallatore. Ironically, he and Dallatore wrestled against each other when they were in middle school on the Tohican Middle School wrestling team.
But McGinley didn’t let that affect his thinking.
“I knew that my technical ability was better than his, but he works hard in the off-season and has a lot of heart, so I didn’t take him easily,” said McGinley, who tech falled Dallatore in 2:32 to join the group of elite centurions.
Coming into the season, McGinley thought he needed just two wins for the 100th because the bye he got in sections as a sophomore counted as a forfeit, but didn’t in his junior (for some unexplained reason), so he had to win three matches for his 100th.
“I knew I was going to get it pretty early,” he said. “I tried not to think about it at all because if I was just focused on getting to 100 wins, then I wouldn’t be focusing on No. 98, 99 and the 100th. I did my best trying to picture it as any other match. Afterwards, I knew it was a pretty a big deal and I was proud of myself.”
McGinley’s only loss this year came to Quakertown’s Scott Wolfinger, who, he said, had gotten a lot bigger.
Big enough, in fact, that McGinley is dropping to 119 for next week’s Boiling Springs Tournament.
“If I can wrestle strong at 119, I’m pretty positive I’ll stay there,” he said.
McGinley plans to wrestle next year in college and has applied to an impressive number, including Duke, Boston, Pitt, Penn State, American, Bucknell and Maryland. He’s not expecting to make a decision until after wrestling season in March.
He plans to major in pre-med.
Last year he finished a disappointing eighth place at states, losing to Springfield’s Dan Dortone by fall.
“I already knew I medaled and I was trying to get farther,” he said. “There were a lot of questionable calls that didn’t go my way. I really thought I won that match. We got into a scramble in overtime and I got pinned. It was a very good stepping-stone. It made me set my goals really high this year.”
Hallelujah heavyweights – While Quakertown’s heavyweights were no savior in Tuesday’s 45-22 loss to Parkland, the group was a shining star.
Tyler Wolfe (171), Seth Gray (189), Rob Basile (215) and Gregg Walker (285) are all back from last year’s district championship team.
Four of the top five provided 15 of the Panthers’ 22 points against Parkland.
Wolfe was the lone loss and that came on a tough 6-4 overtime decision.
Gray and Basile pinned, while Walker won by decision.
“The upper weights have been together since the QYWA days,” said coach Kurt Handel. “Gregg Walker came in in the middle school; but Seth, Tyler, Robert, Eric (Koch), Briar (Malischewski) have been wrestling since the first or second grade together. They’re a close-knit group of guys. They’re like a group of brothers almost.”
“We’ve known each other for a while,” said Gray. “We really just clicked. We have a good bond going, and we know how to get each other hyped up. We all started last year and we’ve bonded tighter this year.”
Gray and Wolfe wrestled off for 171 this year, with Wolfe winning and Gray moving up to 189.
“They’ve wrestled off all their life,” said Handel.
Gray and Basile are the only two who also play football.
“We play offense together and defense together,” said Gray. “We’re around each other a lot.”
Handel said that Basile lost seven or eight pounds once wrestling started and is trying to bulk him up to be a legitimate 215 pounder.
Around the league – Five SOL wrestlers place at the prestigious Beast of the East Tournament last weekend. Quakertown’s Scott Wolfinger (125) finished seventh, teammate Briar Malischewski (145) was eighth and 215-pounder Rob Basile was fourth.
As a team the Panthers finished 14th.
Council Rock North’s Jamie Callender finished second at 189, losing to champion Michael Evans of Blair, 5-2, in the finals.
The Indians came in 16th overall.
Norristown crowned three champions at the Jarvis Tournament at the Athens High School. Zach Fuentes (103), Brett Harner (140) and Joe Pierce (160) all brought home gold, while Tyree Gardner (112), Brandon Parker (152) and Matt Grill (189) finished third and Trevor Letrinko (215) and Chuck Mclean (135) finished fourth.
Council Rock South finished seventh at the King of the Mountain Tournament. Matt Martoccio claimed the 140-pound championship, while Bobby Lavelle finished second at 189. Matt Rappo (125) came in fourth, while brother Billy (103) was seventh.
Hatboro-Horsham finished 32nd. Matt Harkins (119) made it to the consolation quarterfinals before being eliminated from the competition.
In dual meet action, Abington heavyweight Angel Carlo locked up the meet by pinning Bensalem’s Mike Belski with three bouts left, ensuring the Ghosts a 39-36 victory.
A young North Penn squad succeeded in its first Continental Conference match, blasting Pennridge 45-18.
TOP Five SOL
1. Council Rock South
2. Council Rock North
3. Quakertown
4. Upper Moreland
5. Norristown
Top Guns
103—Billy Rappo, Council Rock South
112—Mike Mathis, Central Bucks South
119—Matt Harkins, Hatboro-Horsham
125—Scott Wolfinger, Quakertown
130—Tim Santry, Upper Moreland
135—Josh Dziewa, Council Rock South
140—Matt Martoccio, Council Rock South
145—Briar Malischewski, Quakertown
152— Eric Koch, Quakertown
160— Greg Lanctot, Council Rock North
171—John Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh
189— Jamie Callender, Council Rock North
215—Joe Stolfi, Souderton
285—Marcus Robbins, Norristown
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