By Alex Frazier
Meet…Sam Morison
Senior year is a good time to be peaking.
And Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Sam Morison is doing just that.
Fifteen matches into the season, Morison is 12-3.
“I stepped it up this year,” he said. “I’m looking at going to states. I want to place.”
He is coming off a good showing at the Cumberland Valley Duals last Saturday, where he went 4-1, losing only to McDonough’s (Md.) Kevin Marvell, who is third in the state, according to coach Nate Wachter.
“I felt like that match was closer than it actually was,” said Morison. “Even though I did get pinned, it was 2-2 going into the second period, and I kind of got caught and it ended in the last 1.2 seconds. Those kinds of matches kill you. I just looked at it like a learning experience.”
As consolation, he did beat a good kid from Central Dauphin, Zach Koller, 6-0.
“He was a beast,” said Wachter. “Sam is on the up and coming right now. He’s got the confidence.”
“I had a good day that day,” said Morison. “The difference was I totally stepped my wrestling up. My attitude was better. I wasn’t as worn out. I focused on my breathing and concentrated on everything Nate has been teaching all season long. I came to wrestle.”
Morison won the Governor Mifflin Tournament and was runner-up at the Southeast Classic. He was caught in a five-point takedown by Bethlehem Freedom’s Evan Kauffman and battled back only to lose 5-3.
“He should have won that,” said Wachter.
One thing Morison is working on this year is his aggressiveness.
“He’s kind of hesitant,” said Wachter. “He’ll wait for you to touch up with him. He wrestles like a lighter weight. He’s got great technique. He’s got good setups. He's got a good sweep single, but I’m trying to get him to be more physical.”
Morison is working on it.
“I’m not rushing anything,” he said. “I’m waiting for my opportunity, just being aggressive. I just have to get my right mindset.”
Unlike other elite wrestlers, Morison hasn’t done a lot of off-season tournaments.
Last summer, in particular, he was rehabbing a shoulder injury. But what he hasn’t done wrestling, he did by way of weight training and conditioning.
“I’d go to the gym with some friends and help them out with exercising,” he said.
Morison plans to wrestle in college next year. He’s looking at Franklin and Marshall, Ursinus, York, Stevens Tech and Gettysburg.
He wants to major in physical therapy and minor in education with a focus in math.
Morison became interested in physical therapy after injuring his shoulder last year.
During physical therapy, he developed a rapport with the therapist and all of a sudden “I wanted to be that,” said Morison. “He gave me the interest.”
In his final year, Morison wants to make a name for himself.
“I want to be the one everybody wants to come see,” he said. “I’ve been working harder in practice to make myself better every day.”
Dziewa turns 100 – Most wrestlers look forward to winning their 100th when they are seniors. Josh Dziewa is no exception.
Except he is.
He had to sit out his junior year when he transferred from Pennsbury to Council Rock South, so he only has three years (actually a little over two) of varsity wrestling to his credit, which makes his 100th win even more exceptional.
It came last Saturday in his home gym in the semifinals of the Escape the Rock Tournament, when he pinned Travis Erdman of Line Mountain in 2:19.
“At the beginning of my junior year last year it was a big deal to me because I was on pace for over 180 wins,” said Dziewa. “I was looking to be one of Bucks County’s most winningest wrestlers, but since I didn’t wrestle last year my win-loss record doesn’t mean anything to me at all. Really all that matters is the state title at the end.”
As a freshman, Dziewa went 47-4 and as a sophomore he was 44-2, his only two losses coming at states. This year he is 10-1, 101-7 overall.
“Getting the 100th was a nice accomplishment but hundreds and hundreds of other people have done it,” said Dziewa.
Actually Dziewa would have been much more excited about getting his 101st last Saturday.
When he stepped out on the mat against Central Mountain’s Andrew Alton in the championship finals, there were overtones of a classic college rivalry match. Dziewa has signed with Iowa, while Alton will go to Penn State. They could meet for another four years.
Dziewa was wrestling up one weight class (two if you count that he will drop to 135 for the post-season). Alton took him down five times to hand him only his seventh career loss.
“Things just happened to not go my way,” he said. “He was a lot bigger and stronger. I felt like I was two weights lower.”
Dziewa has won every post-season tournament, including Junior Nationals last summer, with the exception of states where he is 0-4.
He hopes to correct that this year.
“The number of wins in his career are going to be pretty irrelevant,” said CR South coach Brad Silimperi. “It’s going to come down to winning a state gold medal.”
“I’m just trying to wrestle the best competition because that’s the only way I’m going to get better,” said Dziewa.
Not only for states, but also for his college career.
“I’m going to Iowa next year and I’m not going to be battling the best guys in the country right off the bat,” he said. “I’m going to be battling the best guys in the room. I’m just trying to get better and improve.”
Around the league – There were several good matchups in dual meet action Wednesday.
In the Continental Conference, Hatboro-Horsham’s Matt Harkins defeated Central Bucks South’s Mike Mathis to tie the score at 21. Later, 135-pounder Dave Carney sealed the 38-30 victory for the Hatters with a pin with two bouts left.
Upper Moreland easily handled Plymouth Whitemarsh in the American Conference, 48-18, but two bouts were of particular interest. In the opening match of the night, the Colonials’ John Staudenmayer edged Upper Moreland’s John Bolich 2-1. And in the next match, the Golden Bears’ James Nicholson knocked off a surging Sam Morison, 4-2, in a tiebreaker.
In what was probably the fastest match wrestled in SOL action in a long time, Upper Merion hammered Cheltenham 47-19. The match featured six forfeits, three pins, one tech fall and one major.
Bensalem’s lightweights didn’t fare so well against powerhouse Council Rock South. Billy and Matt Rappo combined to knock off Mike Pritchard and Anthony Prisco, respectively, and Trey Belasco pinned Justin Cummings at 112. Shane Hughes and Nick Lippincott, however, both pinned their Hawk rivals.
• It was a big weekend of dual meet tournaments for local teams.
One of the biggest locally was Escape the Rock, which featured both Council Rock South and North.
And there was no bigger matchup than that between Central Mountain’s Penn State recruit and defending PIAA 140-pound champion Andrew Alton and the Hawks’ Josh Dziewa, who moved up to 145 to face Alton.
Dziewa will eventually end up at 135, but rather than bumping Matt Martoccio up, he moved instead.
The two cruised to the finals where Alton took Dziewa down five times en route to a 10-6 win.
Martoccio, meanwhile, finished third at 140, Matt Rappo was third at 125, Mike Bennett was fourth at 171, Bobby Lavelle finished seventh at 189 and Billy Rappo was eighth at 103.
As a team, the Golden Hawks finished sixth.
Rock North’s Jamie Callender was the lone area champion as he pinned Wyoming Seminary’s Matt Bilodeau in 3:07.
Shane Longstreth (119) finished third and Anthony Dutrow was eighth at 140.
The Indians came in 12th.
• In an effort to upgrade its competitive schedule, Plymouth Whitemarsh entered the Cumberland Valley Duals.
And got what it asked for.
The Colonials went 0-5. Even PW stud John Staudenmayer didn’t come away unscathed as he went 3-2, losing to defending 140-pound state champion Marshall Peppelman from Central Dauphin, 9-4. He also lost to Cumberland Valley’s Tristan Warner in a close bout, 2-1.
• At the Wildcat Duals, Neshaminy doubled up Downingtown West 42-22, thanks to four pins and a major decision. Joe Simcox (130), Nick Russell (152), Tom Lekatis (171) and Tyler Stabilito decked their opponents, while Colby Lederer majored at 115.
• Souderton needed the last three weight classes to pull through to defeat East Stroudsburg South 39-34 at the Zephyr Duals at Whitehall.
Trailing 34-23 heading into 189, Rob Smothers decisioned, Joe Stolfi (215) pinned and heavyweight Joe McNamara decked Tom Lapping to bring home the win.
• In the finals of the Octorara Duals, Upper Moreland’s James Nicholson (215) pinned Jim Warburton in 15 seconds to give the Golden Bears the title.
• In a shocker last Thursday, Central Bucks East’s Joe Mannino edged defending regional champ Eric Koch of Quakertown, 7-6. It didn’t hurt the Panthers, though, as they roared to a 48-15 win.
TOP Five SOL
1. Council Rock South
2. Council Rock North
3. Quakertown
4. Norristown
5. Upper Moreland
Top Guns
103—Billy Rappo, Council Rock South
112—Josh DiSanto, Pennsbury
119—Matt Harkins, Hatboro-Horsham
125—Scott Wolfinger, Quakertown
130—Tim Santry, Upper Moreland
135—Luke Wisniewski, Plymouth Whitemarsh
140— Josh Dziewa, Council Rock South
145—Matt Martoccio, Council Rock South
152— Eric Koch, Quakertown
160— Andre Watkins, Wissahickon
171—John Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh
189— Jamie Callender, Council Rock North
215—Joe Stolfi, Souderton
285—Marcus Robbins, Norristown
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