SOL Wrestling: Around the League (1-28-25)

SOL Around the League in Wrestling

By Glenn Kaiser

There has been plenty of wrestling to go around here in the SOL over the past two weeks.  And it will even be busier for some over the next two weeks.  There will be a break for some teams as well as we push closer to the “championship season,” which most call the postseason.  Let’s start with this past weekend.  139-pound Ryan Allgeier from Hatboro-Horsham placed sixth at the Coal Cracker Tournament hosted by Lehighton over the weekend and earned his 100^th win in the process.  H-H’s Dom Morrison suffered his first loss of the season in the finals (4-2) to Freddy Bachman (Faith Christian Academy) at 114-pounds.  Bachman is the #1-ranked wrestler in the country at this weight according to FLO Wrestling.  Bachman used an early takedown going out of bounds and thwarted Morrison’s attempts for his own late takedown to hold onto the 4-2 victory, which dropped Morrison to 30-1 on the year while finishing as the runner-up at a rugged Coal Cracker tourney.

Quakertown’s Colin Gaj will go for his 100^th pin-fall this week as he looks to add that milestone to his astonishing career record of 163-11 with 97 coming by fall.  Quakertown is hot off a four-win performance at their own duals this past Saturday.  The Panthers improved to 14-3 overall, and they are 3-0 in Liberty action.  Their only loss was a close one to Bethlehem Liberty 34-31.  Quakertown will grapple with Wissahickon Wednesday in a league dual, then head to the D1 Duals Saturday at Upper Dublin which should give Gaj the chance at 100 pins.

Central Bucks West hosted a 17-team individual tourney over the weekend and won with four champions at the Battle for the Buck, which also featured a girls’ event Sunday.  Daniel Dennis (133), Patrick Kelly (145), Kevin Mallon (152) and Chris Dennis won titles for the Bucks.  Wissahickon had two runners-up in 107-pound lightweight Rafael Oguiwara and big Tyler Prince at 215.  Springfield’s Ethan Gatti finished second to Pat Kelly at 145lbs. losing by fall in the finals.

Pennsbury hosted the SOL Patriot Division individual championships Saturday.  The Falcons finished second behind Council Rock South in the team scoring but performed well on their own mats with two champs, Kyle Von Schmidt (127) and Walker Murray (215).  CR South had five champs, while CR North matched them with five as well.  The Golden Hawks will host the Indians this Wednesday evening which will be a preview of what may be to come at the D1 Team Championships Saturday.

SOL PATRIOT FINALS RESULTS:

Central Bucks East is also prepping for the championship season as they had a busy couple of weeks of their own, downing CB West in a crosstown tussle at home and Jan. 15, winning 39-32 and CB South 53-22 to win Central Bucks bragging rights.  The Patriots improved to 8-8 overall with three more victories at the Mike Miluski Memorial Duals at Strath Haven over this past weekend. 

The other SOL League Individual Championships will be the second week of February. It will be interesting to see if some individuals sit out or whether some teams will need tourney points to aid them in winning a league title.  The CRS/CRN match should decide the Patriot, Quakertown should easily win the Liberty, the Colonial is completely up for grabs with four teams all at 2-1, and the Freedom title may be decided when Cheltenham and Upper Moreland do battle Feb. 5. Both are 3-0 in league action.  Give the edge to the Golden Bears, as they own a 43-29 victory over Cheltenham already this season.

Ranking the top teams here in the SOL has gotten extremely difficult, and my D1 Duals predictions indicate my sentiments.  Nonetheless, here is my top-5 along with some honorable mentions as of today.

SOL Team Rankings (as of 1/27/25)
1. Council Rock South 12-1
2. Council Rock North 11-4
3. Quakertown 14-3
4. Pennsbury 11-8
5. Hatboro-Horsham 4-5

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):  Upper Dublin 10-4, CB West 8-3, Neshaminy 13-9, Pennridge 5-7, Souderton 14-7 & CB East 8-8

Bottom line here in the SOL, just about any team can win on any night with a healthy full lineup, and a win of the coin toss to get the match-ups.  It should be a terrific end of January and a glorious start to February as we push even closer to March Madness in Chocolate Town, USA.