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By Alex Frazier
Coach Joe McGinley knew his Central Bucks West wrestling team would be strong in the lightweights and the upper weights this year.
It was the middleweights he was concerned about.
But they’re gaining his confidence.
Wednesday against visiting Souderton, the Bucks lost just one match between 119 and 171 in a 56-18 victory. It was their second Continental Conference win in as many tries.
“We have a good senior core,” said McGinley, “and what I was really happy about was the intensity of the underclassmen. Some of the freshmen and sophomores came out with the intensity that we’re trying to preach. They’re beginning to get that confidence.”
West recorded six pins and one technical fall in the lopsided victory.
“There were pins that I didn’t expect,” said McGinley. “But I was really glad to see them when they happened. I was also happy with our conditioning. I didn’t see anybody backing off because of conditioning.”
Easily the best match of the night came at 189 where regional qualifiers Ted Conrad of West and Joe Stolfi locked horns for an exciting six minutes of action.
Conrad likely would have qualified for states had he not injured his shoulder in last year’s Southeast Regional 189-pound consolation semifinals. Stolfi was 1-2 at 171.
“It was definitely a tough match,” said Conrad. “I know he’s only a sophomore, but I know last year as a freshman he gave our 171-pounder some trouble. I knew I was going to have a tough match tonight and of course I did. He’s a good wrestler.”
In a topsy-turvy first period, Conrad scored first on a takedown. Stolfi knotted it up on a roll, but when he threw in legs, Conrad reversed. Stolfi kept looking for his Peterson roll and finally reversed to make it 4-4 at the end of one.
In the second, Conrad countered Stolfi’s cement mixer attempt and then rolled him through on a tilt for a 9-4 lead. But Stolfi wasn’t through. He rolled through on Conrad’s cradle to make it 9-6 after two periods.
In the final stanza, Stolfi chose down and stood for an escape and then snapped Conrad down to tie the bout at nine.
With just seven seconds left, Conrad scrambled free and held Stolfi off for the narrow 10-9 victory.
“I just did what our coaches tell us,” said Conrad. “I got his wrist, threw in the legs and pulled him over and got my one. That’s all I needed. After that I just stayed away.”
“That was definitely the best (match) of the night,” said Souderton coach Stan Smith. “They’ll be meeting again in about a week, too, at Boiling Springs.”
Not to mention a couple of possibilities in the post-season tournaments.
Granted, West picked up a pair of forfeits at 119 and 125, but they could just as easily have been wins had they been wrestled. Chris McGinley, who was a state qualifier last year, has had trouble making 112 and was up at 119. Freshman Seth Ehlo is more of a question mark, but in his first league match at Hatboro-Horsham he pulled out a win in the last bout to clinch the victory for West.
Aside from those two, Steve Ferraro tech falled Dan McPherson at 130, Bill Rohrmiller pinned Ryan Eisenhart at 140, freshman Chris Jastrzebski decked Nick Tanen at 145 and A.J. Kraft turned a 4-4 bout into a pin when Peter Vuong threw in legs in the second period and Kraft grabbed his head and pulled him under for the fall in 3:25.
“It’s starting to come together for some of the young guys,” said McGinley. “They had to get a couple of high school matches under their belts.”
Souderton scored its points on two pins and two decisions.
The Indians took the lead in the first bout at 135 when Chris Force dominated Maxx Jackson on his feet for an 11-6 win, but then the Bucks ran off three straight before sophomore Peter Jenne decked Joe Arrow, converting a half nelson and bar for the fall in 39 seconds.
“I was kind of pumped because we were losing and we needed a win,” said Jenne.
Bobby Smothers recorded a 5-2 decision at 215. After a scoreless first period Smothers escaped in the second and took Nate Seidle down with a double before giving up a point for pushing him off the mat. Seidle escaped to start the third to close Smothers’ lead to 3-2, but Smothers took him down with a shrug to record the win.
Souderton’s final win came at 112. John Lewis wrestled an aggressive match. He took Mitchell Langley down with a fireman’s for a 2-0 first-period lead. In the second, he extended his lead by escaping and taking Langley down with a single before he cranked him over with a half for the fall at 3:27.
The loss drops the Indians to 0-2 in the Continental Conference.
“We have too many things going against us as far as two forfeits,” said Smith. “We’ve got a couple of guys at the wrong weight class (they’re too light for it), we’ve got a couple of guys that are not really varsity wrestlers, and we met a team that is fairly well balanced. They didn’t have too many holes, per se.”
Central Bucks West 56, Souderton 18
135—Chris Force (S) dec. Maxx Jackson, 11-6
140—Bill Rohrmiller (CBW) pinned Ryan Eisenhart, :25
145—Chris Jastrzebski (CBW) pinned Nick Tanen, 2:51
152—A.J. Kraft (CBW) pinned Peter Vuong, 3:25
160—Peter Jenne (S) pinned Joe Arrow, :39
171—Connor Horn (CBW) pinned Brad Volm, 2:50
189—Ted Conrad (CBW) dec. Joe Stolfi, 10-9
215—Bobby Smothers (S) dec. Nate Seidle, 5-2
285—Matt McMurdo (CBW) pinned Ian Eisenhart, 2:51
103—Chris Butterworth (CBW) pinned Hunter Ordog, 1:39
112—John Lewis (S) pinned Mitchell Langley, 3:27
119—Chris McGinley (CBW) won by forfeit
125—Seth Ehlo (CBW) won by forfeit
130—Steve Ferraro (CBW) tech fall Dan McPherson, 5:37
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