Photos provided by Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f450922055
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH DETHRONES PENNRIDE IN EPIC CHAMPIONSHIP DUAL
GOLDEN HAWKS WIN 2024 DISTRICT ONE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
By Glenn Kaiser
Fort Washington, PA - Council Rock South won the 2024 District One Wrestling Team Championship Saturday afternoon at Upper Dublin H.S. over the defending champs Pennridge 26-25 after a long, exciting day of wrestling. The Golden Hawks had a scare in the semifinals after Quakertown pushed them to the brink, but Luke Reitter
propelled South to the finals with his gutty 6-2 win over a determined Isaac Williams in the final bout of the dual at 127-pounds to give the Golden Hawks the 33-31 victory. It was a back-and-forth match as both teams exchanged punches. Ben Brillhart opened up the scoring at 145-pounds for the Golden Hawks with a 12-4 major decision over the Rams’ Brady McMahon, but Sam Kuhns countered for Pennridge with a fall at 152-pounds. CR South’s Gavin Cole downed Ryan Gallagher for the third time this season with a 5-2 win, and the tone was set. South needed a pin and a decision win with two matches left at 133 and 139 down 16-25, and they got it plus one. Pat Woloshyn got the fall and Ajay Bhatt a major decision 11-0, respectively, to complete the comeback victory.
Pennridge’s path to the finals was a bit easier as the Rams cruised in the morning, downing Council Rock North 49-14 and demolishing Boyertown 53-14, accumulating 12 falls while winning 20 of 25 contested bouts. CR North gave up a forfeit to the Rams in their quarterfinal match. The Rams looked primed to repeat as the D1 Team champs, but the Golden Hawks dug deep and were able to make
some moves to fill a void without standout Anthony Mutarelli in their lineup to win an exciting match between two powerful teams.
CR South downed Owen J Roberts in their quarterfinal match 49-15 but had to come back from a 14-point deficit against Quakertown, trailing 31-17 after nine bouts in which Dylan Fenstermacher (215) and Calvin Lachman (285) both notched falls with only four bouts left. South was able to rebound with four straight wins capped by Reitter’s win. Golden Hawk head coach Trey Balasco praised Christian Zimmerman, who won by tech fall at 121-pounds against Q-town and stepped in on the day and wrestled extremely well throughout these duals. Balasco added that it was a team effort that got them through the grueling day of wrestling. South will now move on to the PIAA AAA Team Championships in Hershey, which begins on Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Giant Center.
The Golden Hawks will enter the tournament as the #1 ranked team according to PA Power rankings. The top four seeded teams in D1 all advanced to the state bracket as #2 Pennridge (#8), #3 Boyertown (#21) and #4 Quakertown (#13) all held their seeds to move on. Boyertown edged Quakertown 36-31 in the consolation finals. Quakertown will travel to Wilson West Lawn on Monday in a pigtail match, with the winner advancing to Hershey.
The day was filled with marquee matchups of top-ranked grapplers in the state. It was truly one of the most exciting team championships ever here in D1. Q-town’s Mason Ziegler bumped up to 133-pounds twice and secured wins over South’s Pat Woloshyn 8-5 and Boyertown’s Gavin Sheridan 6-3. Ziegler is ranked #3 at 127-pounds according to PA Power, while Woloshyn is ranked 8th and Sheridan #2, both at 133-pounds. Pennridge’s Colby Martinelli appears to be moving up to the 114-pound weight class. He’s currently ranked #1 at 107 and defeated #11 Connor Lenahan (CRS) 9-2 in the finals at 114. #1 at 172-pounds, Bek Sadriddinov (CRS) beat #10 Talan Hogan (Pennridge) 9-3 for the second time this year and decisioned OJR’s Sam Gautreau, who is ranked #4, 3-0 in the quarters. #9 at 127 Quinn McBride (Pennridge) won 6-4 over CRS’s #7 at 121 Luke Reitter. It was a glorious day for SOL wrestlers and teams as they move forward in the postseason. Every team that made the Elite 8 put it all on the line and embraced the head-to-head individual matchups throughout the day. Council Rock North won over Spring-Ford 41-21 after dropping their quarterfinal match to Pennridge. However, Quakertown eliminated the Indians by one-point in the consi-finals 35-34 and were close to being a spoiler like Quakertown was to CR South. North won six matches in the dual recording four pins, but Q-town won the dual with seven victories.
Championship final
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 26, PENNRIDGE 25
145 - Ben Brillhart maj. dec. Brady McMahon, 12-4 (4-0)
152 - Sam Kuhns pinned Max Nepochatov, 5:14 (4-6)
160 - Gavin Cole dec. Ryan Gallagher, 5-2 (7-6)
172 - Bekhruz Sadriddinov dec. Talan Hogan, 9-3 (10-6)
189 - Scott Linkewich dec. Ryan Rowe, 5-3 (13-6)
215 - Riley Cullen pinned Aryn Valeriano, 0:59 (13-12)
285 - Chase Washington dec. Jeff Gessner, 9-7 (13-15)
107 - Eddie Alvarez dec. Kevin McFadden, 6-5 (16-15)
114 - Colby Martinelli dec. Connor Lenahan, 9-2 (16-18)
121 - Cole Coffin maj. dec. Christian Zimmerman, 14-4 (16-22)
127 - Quinn McBride dec. Luke Reitter, 6-4 (16-25)
133 - Pat Woloshyn pinned Danny Metzler, 0:54 (22-25)
139 - Ajay Bhatt maj. dec. Anthony Granite, 11-0 (26-25)
Council Rock South wrestlers in bold.
Third place
BOYERTOWN 36, QUAKERTOWN 31
145 - Gavin Carroll pinned Shane Stankina, 3:59 (0-6)
152 - Collin Gaj pinned Owen Dykie, 0:31 (0-12)
160 - J.D. Heiser dec. Maxwell Hibsman, 7-2 (3-12)
172 - Ryder Gehris pinned Michael Socci, 3:29 (9-12)
189 - Joshua Larrimore pinned David Clayton, 1:04 (15-12)
215 - Mike Kelleher pinned Dylan Fenstermacher, 1:31 (21-12)
285 - Calvin Lachman pinned Casey Shaak, 0:35 (21-18)
107 - Gunnar Jozefowski maj. dec. Boden Waite, 10-2 (21-22)
114 - Cole Fogle pinned Julian Moonlight, 5:02 (27-22)
121 - Brody Coleman pinned Waylen Strzelski, 4:25 (33-22)
127 - Isaiah Williams pinned Andrew Myslinski, 3:31 (33-28)
133 - Mason Ziegler dec. Gavin Sheridan, 6-3 (33-31)
139 - Beck Babb dec. Kyler Roesener, 10-6 (36-31)
Boyertown wrestlers in bold.
Championship semifinals
COUNCIL ROCK 33, QUAKERTOWN 31
133 - Mason Ziegler dec. Pat Woloshyn, 8-5 (0-3)
139 - Ajay Bhatt won by tech. fall over Evan Hilton, 18-1 (5-3)
145 - Gavin Carroll pinned Ben Brillhart, 5:10 (5-9)
152 - Maxwell Hibsman maj. dec. Caleb Christian, 24-12 (5-13)
160 - Collin Gaj pinned Max Nepochatov, 2:15 (5-19)
172 - Gavin Cole pinned David Clayton, 1:37 (11-19)
189 - Bekhruz Sadriddinov pinned Owen Richwine, 0:24 (17-19)
215 - Dylan Fenstermacher pinned Scott Linkewich, 3:21 (17-25)
285 - Calvin Lachman pinned Jeff Gessner, 0:38 (17-31)
107 - Eddie Alvarez dec. Gunnar Jozefowski, 7-2 (20-31)
114 - Connor Lenahan won by tech. fall over Julian Moonlight, 24-7 (25-31)
121 - Christian Zimmerman won by tech. fall over Waylen Strzelski, 18-2 (30-31)
127 - Luke Reitter dec. Isaiah Williams, 6-2 (33-31)
Council Rock South wrestlers in bold.
PENNRIDGE 53, BOYERTOWN 14
133 - Gavin Sheridan pinned Blaze Lewis, 0:52 (0-6)
139 - Beck Babb won by tech. fall over Anthony Granite, 22-7 (0-11)
145 - Shane Stankina dec. Brady McMahon, 7-2 (0-14)
152 - Sam Kuhns maj. dec. Owen Dykie, 13-4 (4-14)
160 - Ryan Gallagher maj. dec. J.D. Heiser, 13-4 (8-14)
172 - Talan Hogan pinned Joshua Larrimore, 0:21 (14-14)
189 - Ryan Rowe pinned Mike Kelleher, 1:44 (20-14)
215 - Riley Cullen pinned Kaleb Dumin, 0:34 (26-14)
285 - Chase Washington dec. Casey Shaak, 10-4 (29-14)
107 - Kevin McFadden pinned Connor Bush, 3:52 (35-14)
114 - Colby Martinelli pinned Hayden Brown, 2:44 (41-14)
121 - Cole Coffin pinned Brody Coleman, 0:18 (47-14)
127 - Quinn McBride pinned Liam Diamond, 0:40 (53-14)
Pennridge wrestlers in bold
- Log in to post comments
