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Suburban One Wrestling Teams Ready for 2024 District One Team Championship
By Glenn Kaiser
It’s hard to believe the first leg of the 2024 postseason is here for local wrestlers. The SOL will be well represented in the first round of sixteen of the District One (AAA) Team Championships, with six teams in the field. Council Rock South will lead the way as the #1 seed and Pennridge is the two seed. These two teams are most likely on a collision course to a finals rematch of their early season dual won by South 41-30. But the Pennridge Rams team will look much different than it did in both teams first match of the 2023-24 season. The Rams will add Colby Martinelli, the #1 ranked 107-pounder in the state by PA Power and Quinn McBride (#9 at 127-pounds) down low. Up top Ryan Rowe is back at 189-pounds and Chase Washington may be available either at 215 or heavyweight. The addition of these wrestlers will certainly create different matchups in the dual. Pennridge will look to defend its D1 title won last year over Spring-Ford 36-22, CRS finished third over Quakertown, 40-21.
CR South comes into the team championships as the #1 ranked PIAA AAA team by PA Power after a very successful season so far at 8-1, with their only loss to the #1 AA team, Faith Christian Academy. Pennridge is 13-3 and is ranked #9 on the AAA side. The Golden Hawks most likely will be without transfer star Anthony Mutarelli, who is ranked #1 at 127-pounds, for the team championships due to PIAA transfer rules, despite him living in the school district he wrestles for. We can save that conversation for another day. Both teams will be contending for four spots in the state bracket that will begin Monday, Feb. 5 (D1 representatives #3 and #4) and conclude in Hershey Saturday February 10, 2024. First round action begins Thursday, Feb. 8, and runs through to the finals on Saturday. The state bracket is on the www.piaa.org website.
SOL teams will get underway Thursday night, Jan. 25, 2024 (7:00pm-please confirm times as changes may be made on start times) at the higher seeds home gym. CRS (#1) will grapple #16 Avon Grove (14-1), Pennridge (#2) will host #15 West Chester Henderson (12-4). Quakertown comes into the D1 Team Championships seeded #4 and will battle #13 Garnet Valley at home. Some would argue Quakertown (6-2) and ranked #14 by PA Power should have been the #3 seed over the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s best team Boyertown (PA Power #22). Nonetheless, the Panthers will be in the hunt to return to the state bracket. Mason Ziegler (#3 PA Power) has moved up to 127-pounds, the trio of defending state champ Colin Gaj (152-pounds), Calvin Lachman (#3 PA Power) at 285-pounds and Ziegler are all state titlist contenders who will post bonus points in duals. If Quakertown’s youth can step-up, and veterans Isaac Williams (weight class unknown for the duals) & Gavin Carroll (#6 at 145) perform well the Panthers will be a tough out for anyone. Garnet Valley (8-6) is dangerous and has been wrestling well, they have a history of upsets in these duals, most notably against Council Rock North several years ago.
I hope no one forgot about Neshaminy, as they are the #7 seed and have surprised some this season, in a “down year.” Neshaminy (12-5) has big wins over #8 seeded Owen J Roberts (9-2) 36-28 and Saucon Valley from the Lehigh Valley, 39-33. Despite losses to Sun Valley and Spring-Ford, they will be in it to win it regardless. They will host local SOL rival #10 seed Council Rock North (7-7) Thursday night. This match will be broadcast by www.pa-wrestling.com
Neshaminy is flat out gritty with a solid lineup top to bottom with standouts Bek Baiyshbekov (#15 at 152) and brother Emazar Baiyshbekov at 160-pounds manning the middle. The SOL Patriot Division is well represented with four teams as Pennsbury (9-7) comes in as the #9 seed and will do battle with #8 Owen J Roberts. Pennsbury has had an up and down season winning and losing to Sun Valley, and they will have to adjust to take out OJR, as the Falcons were downed by OJR 40-28 at the Brian Bealer Memorial Duals at Boyertown to kick off their dual season. The winner here gets CR South Saturday Feb. 3, at Upper Dublin HS. Quarterfinal matches will begin at 8:30am, and wrestling will run straight through with the finals slated for 1:00pm.
2024 District One Team Championship SOL First Round Predictions:
#1 CR South over #16 Avon Grove-This most likely will be a blowout victory for the Golden Hawks, Avon Grove has no strength to match up with South’s star power.
#2 Pennridge over #15 WC Henderson-Similar result as CRS over AG, a lopsided victor. Although WCH has the experience, they will not be able to contend with Pennridge’s powerful lineup.
#4 Quakertown over #13 Garnet Valley-GV is dangerous, but Quakertown has too many horses in the stable, and the Panthers will not miss out on the opportunity to advance at home.
#7 Neshaminy over #10 CR North-Most likely the most competitive dual in the first round. CRN has some star-power in Alex Diaz (107), Pierce Kane (121) Eren Sement (127), along with Marco Loss and Mack Marcy all down low, but the feeling here is Neshaminy edges them 33-31 with a more consistent lineup top to bottom.
#8 Owen J Roberts over #9 Pennsbury-Unfortunately, Pennsbury catches OJR in a tough spot, the Wildcats will look to advance at home and will rely on the strength of their studs the Bechtold brothers, Sam Gautreau, and Dysen Neill up top. Pennsbury’s 189-pounder Benjamin Primich (18-2) is on fire with a recent win over Pennridge’s Ryan Rowe 9-4, Primich (PA Power #12 at 189) also pinned Neill earlier in the season. Pennsbury will have to find a way to win the tossup bouts to secure the dual. OJR won 40-28 earlier this season.
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