Wetzel Holiday Classic photo courtesy of Kim Supko. To view a gallery of the event, please visit the Photo Gallery at the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p869244593
YEAR ENDS IN SUCCESS FOR SOL WRESTLING TEAMS
Pennsbury Wins Wetzel Classic at Hatboro-Horsham & Council Rock South Wins Again at Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic
By Glenn Kaiser
HORSHAM, PA - Pennsbury topped the field, winning the team title at the 22nd Annual Wetzel Holiday Wrestling Classic hosted by Hatboro-Horsham High School. The Falcons amassed 189 points over the two-day event with 36 competing teams, finishing ahead of runner-up Neshaminy (172.5-points), (3) West Chester Henderson (145.5), the host (4) H-H Wrestling Warriors (143) and (5) Lenape from New Jersey which posted 141-points. Pennsbury won the title by crowning three champions with Kyle Von Schmidt downing Hatboro-Horsham’s Ryan Allgeier in the 121-pound final 9-2, followed by John Luchansky’s fall in the 127-pound final over Cheltenham’s Rah’Miere Sanders, and 189-pounder Benjamin Primich taking care of business in the 189-pound final with a 13-9 decision over Interboro’s Franco Latorre. The Falcons’ Brett Kean was the runner-up, falling to Hatboro-Horsham’s super-frosh Dom Morrison. Morrison remains undefeated (12-0) in his first season at H-H with three tournament titles (Wetzel/Panther/Pottstown). Morrison is ranked #8 in the state by PA Power Wrestling (12/28/23 rankings).
Neshaminy did not have any individual champs, but Beknazar and Ernazar Baiyshbekov both finished in second place respectively at 152 and 160-pounds to Pottsville grapplers. Pottsville’s Nick Kunstek (Ohio State recruit ranked #2 by PA Power) was named the tournament’s OW with his 9-0 major decision over Ernazar Baiyshbekov in the160-pound final. Bek Baiyshbekov (#18 PA Power) lost to Pottsville’s #8 Parrish McFarland by fall in the 152-pound final. Neshaminy’s Ryan Hinze garnered bronze with his 139-pound consi-final win over William Tennent’s Brock Rudy 5-1. SOL grapplers stood atop the podium in nine of the 13 weight-classes. H-H snagged two titles with Morrison and Chris Staub (#18) who won the 145-pound title 5-0 over returning state qualifier Nadav Nafshi (Harriton) who is ranked #19 by PA Power. Central Bucks West’s dynamic duo of Chris Dennis #6 at 133 and top-20 ranked Patrick Kelly at 129 both won their weight classes, and CB East’s big men Reagan McCullough (215) and Joe Collins (#9 at 285) both won by technical falls in their final contests. Cheltenham’s Corey Bradley was a finalist at 172-pounds but dropped a close 5-4 decision to Pottsville’s Terrell McFarland who is ranked #5 by PA Power.
The tournament also featured a JV and Girls Tournament. Pennsbury Girls (109-points) were well represented with 12 individuals but came up short in the team race, losing to #2 in the state, Boiling Springs, which posted 133-points. The William Tennent girls (9 participants) finished in 3rd with 81-points, and both Cheltenham (5 girls) and CB West (7 contestants) put up good numbers finishing 5th and 6th respectively. All JV & Girls results can be found on Track Wrestling.
Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic
Council Rock South keeps rolling along here with another team title (188.5-points) at the rugged Bethlehem Classic hosted by Bethlehem Liberty. CR South topped Lehigh Valley Powers (2) Nazareth (168.5), (3) Easton (166.5), (T-4) Northampton (148.5), (T-4) Phillipsburg, NJ (148.5) and (6) Wilson West-Lawn (143). Quakertown finished 7th overall with 122.5 points and two champs in Mason Ziegler at 127-pounds & Colin Gaj (#2) at 152. Ziegler (#2) downed South’s Pat Woloshyn (#9) in their final tilt 11-4. South was powered by three champions in #1 ranked Anthony Mutarelli at 133, Gavin Cole (#9) at 160 and Bek Sadriddinov (#4) at 172-pounds. Quakertown’s Calvin Lachman, ranked #3 in the state, lost his second match of the year to #1 ranked Sean Kinney (Nazareth) in the semifinals but rebounded to place third, Lachman is 13-2 on the season.
CRS won their title once again with strength up and down their lineup. Connor Lenahan (#9) was the bronze medalist at 114-pounds along with workout partner Luke Reitter (#8) 3rd place at 121-pounds. Fellow lightweight Eddie Alvarez was 8th at 107-pounds. North Penn had two placers in Johnny O’Brien (#14), 4th at 139-pounds and Michael Cliver 8th at 152-pounds.
In Other Action: Council Rock North (#22 in the team standings with 63.5-points) had a top-25 finish at the prestigious Powerade tourney hosted by Cannon-McMillian HS. Eren Sement was the runner up at 127-pounds and Alexander Diaz was 5th at 107-pounds. Sement is ranked #2 at 127 and Diaz #1 at 107-pounds by PA Power. Sement was decked by Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest in the finals at 127, Forrest is the #1 ranked grappler in AA. Wyoming Seminary was the team champion with 229-points.
The Trojan Wars hosted by Chambersburg saw Central Bucks South stud Jake Neill place third after dropping down to 139-pounds with the two-pound allowance after Christmas. Neill is ranked #15 according to PA Power.
At Governor Mifflin, Souderton finished in a solid 3rd place as a team, riding titles from Charlie Arobone (121) and Kole Lester (189). The Indians’ Dominic Ramos (133) and Jonny Beckett (172) garnered bronze and Thomas Gonze had a 4th place finish at heavy-weight. Ezra Swartley was 5th at 114-pounds, Souderton had eight place-winners total, bolstering their team score to 151.5 points. Plymouth-Whitmarsh had a champ in Ty Borkowski at 152-pounds with his 7-0 shutout title victory over Tri Valley’s Chase Stephen. Also medaling for the Colonials were Isaiah Bainbridge placing 8th (145), Jacob Plant placing 6th (127) and Joe Bussel finishing 6th at (133).
Looking Ahead…
Council Rock North & South will battle for bragging rights in their annual Mike Sipler Memorial Union Cup match Wednesday night. CB East travels to North Penn while Pennridge is at Souderton in big Colonial Division duals. H-H will wrestle their first dual of the season as they host P-W. William Tennent will cross the County Line to grapple Upper Moreland in a key Freedom dual. As the dual season gets fully underway, SOL teams will look to establish themselves for potential District One Team Championship participation in February. CR North will host their annual Rock Yard Duals Saturday with the SOL’s CB South, CRN, and Neshaminy doing battle with Malvern Prep, Spring-Ford, Owen J Roberts, Ridley and Strath Haven.
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