A photo gallery of Saturday’s District One Duals will be posted in the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Alex Frazier
Kurt Handel knew the key to Quakertown’s season would lie with the upper weights. Many thought that was where the Panthers would be weakest.
But Quakertown’s heavy guys proved everyone wrong Saturday in the District One Dual Meet Championship. Tyler Wolfe, Seth Gray, Rob Basile, Randy Jorgensen and Gregg Walker turned in four pins and a decision to propel the Panthers to a surprisingly easy 54-16 victory over No. 1-seeded Boyertown.
“What we needed to do as a team is improve up top,” said Handel. “From 71, 89, 215 and heavyweight everybody looked at Quakertown and said that’s their weak weight classes. That was the key to winning tonight. They feed off each other. When one gets the fall, the others follow suit.”
In the consolation match for third, Council Rock North roared back from a 28-9 deficit to defeat archrival Council Rock South, 31-28.
In Class AA action, No. 2 Harriton defeated No. 3 Springfield 53-22.
Both Boyertown and Quakertown were each missing one of their best wrestlers. Ryan Kemmerer did not take the mat for Boyertown, and Quakertown’s Matt Rust was sidelined due to an elbow injury he suffered in Friday’s 45-20 win over Council Rock South.
The match that took the bite out of Boyertown came at 130. The Bears held a slim 4-3 lead when John Collins walked out on the mat for Quakertown against Boyertown’s Trevor McMinn. Collins fell behind 10-7 after two periods before he started coming around. He took MacMinn down with a headlock to start the third. When he threw a crossface, MacMinn bit him on the forearm. Collins tried to get the ref’s attention to no avail. However, shortly after, there was an injury timeout and Collins showed the teeth marks to Handel, who brought it to the attention of the official.
Subsequently, the ref disqualified MacMinn and deducted two team points for flagrant misconduct and then added another for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“I didn’t go out there as fast as I should have,” said Collins, “but in the second and third period I came on and was bringing it back.
Collins’ win gave Quakertown a lead it would not relinquish.
“It got our guys pumped, and they didn’t slow down after that,” said Handel.
The Panthers forfeited at 135, where Rust would have wrestled, but Eric Koch made up for that when he packed Adam Benfield at 140.
The rout was on.
Basile’s match at 189 was particularly dramatic. His opponent, Zach Heffner, came into the match with a glittering 18-2 record. It obviously didn’t impress Basile, who took him down with a headlock and showed him the lights in a scant 23 seconds.
“He jacked me up and I couldn’t move at all,” said Basile. “I thought I was in some trouble and then he dipped down for a shot, and I just hit it.”
Basile didn’t realize he could have clinched the match when he went out.
“I was watching my team wrestle and watching them all wrestle really hard,” he said. “I was really pumped. I usually don’t look at the score. I just go out and wrestle my match. I didn’t realize how good he was.
“During weigh-ins I looked to see if there were any big studs, and I didn’t see him, so when I lined up across from I said, ‘Oh crap. This is going to be interesting.’ I was pumped after seeing my friend Tyler Wolfe when he cradled that kid and then when Seth went up and pinned.”
Scott Wolfinger also beat a very good Boyertown 103-pounder in the second-to-last match of the evening. Quakertown then forfeited the final bout because Tyler Edwards was nursing an injury and wasn’t needed.
“We were banged up pretty bad,” said Handel. “To come out and beat a quality team like Boyertown, it shows how our guys found a way to dig deep and overcome the injury obstacle.”
•••
Council Rock North faced a long uphill battle against its sister school. The Indians used their strength in the upper and lower weights to erase a 28-9 deficit.
“I knew we could come back,” said 112-pounder Shane Longstreth, whose win sealed the victory. “I thought our upper weights would get good wins. It’s pretty huge. It was the second time we met them this year, and we got to states.”
After South’s Ed Shupe pinned at 171, Rock North won the next five matches.
A key bout came at 189 when North’s Jamie Callender took Bobby Lavelle down with four seconds left to win 4-2.
The Keschak brothers, John and Stephen gave the Indians a pin and a decision, respectively.
Then Adam Slezak majored Billy Rappo, 9-0, to set the stage for Longstreth, who needed at least a major to ensure the win.
He got more than that.
He earned his major with 20 seconds left in the second period, but he wasn’t satisfied with that. He went ahead and pinned Ian Krouse at 4:06 to seal the 31-28 win.
“It feels great,” said Longstreth. “I thought I was going to win the whole time. I was going for the pin.”
•••
Springfield was wrestling in its second dual meet tournament in as many years under second-year coach Corey McCaslin.
McCaslin knew he was facing a solid Harriton lineup.
And he was right.
Springfield managed just four wins, but they were all bonus victories as the Spartans had three falls and a major decision.
Zach MacGregor started Springfield off on the right foot with a major of Harriton’s Connor Wortley. MacGregor came so close to getting a tech fall but fell short by just two points.
“I tried to get him over,” said MacGregor. “I guess I was too tired. He was strong.”
“Zach wrestled great,” said McCaslin. “He’s a tough kid. He goes out and grinds it out.”
At 145, Bobby Andris took Austin Wortley down in the first period, threw in half and pinned him in 59 seconds. Kyle Jackson made good use of his bear hug, first by taking Steve Jaconic down for a 2-0 lead and then taking him down again, this time to his back for a pin, all in 45 seconds.
The final win came in the last match at 103, when Rich Kassabian headlocked Jack Ebby for the pin with just one second left in the first period.
“I would have liked a different result,” said McCaslin, “but I was happy with the way we wrestled. It was a great experience to wrestle in this kind of environment.”
The PIAA State Dual Meet Tournament begins on Tuesday. Council Rock North will face the District Two champion, while Quakertown advances to Hershey Friday for a 2 p.m. match at the Giant Center. Boyertown will go head-to-head with District 12 champion LaSalle Tuesday.
District One Dual Meet Tournament
Class AAA Championship Finals
Quakertown 54, Boyertown 16
119 - Matt Malfaro (B) maj. dec. Nick Ronzano, 13-3
125 - Colin Bynum (Q) dec. Jon Neiman, 5-1
130 - John Collins (Q) won by disq. over Trevor MacMinn, 4:55 (*three team points deducated from Boyertown-flagrant misconduct and unsportsmanlike conduct)
135 - Alex Pellicciotti (B) won by forfeit
140 – Eric Koch (Q) pinned Adam Benfield, 3:25
145 - Briar Malischewski (Q) pinned Ross Herrlinger, 0:30
152 - Tim Feroe (B) maj. dec. Nick Lubenetski, 12-2
160 - Tyler Wolfe (Q) pinned Tyler Mauger, 2:53 (* one team point deducted from Boyertown-unsportsmanlike conduct)
171 - Seth Gray (Q) pinned Brock Hallman, 0:53
189 - Robert Basile pinned Zach Heffner, 0:23
215 - Randy Jorgenson dec. Zach Rodgers, 7-6
285 - Greg Walker pinned Denis Mulligan, 2:27
103 - Scott Wolfinger pinned Adam Kolb, 2:51
112 - Jeremy Minich won by forfeit
Class AAA Consolation Finals
Council Rock North 31, Council Rock South 28
119 - Allan Slezak (CRN) dec. Wes Moran, 3-2
125 - Matt Rappo (CRS) dec. Zac Haynes, 6-4
130 - Connor Moore (CRS) maj. dec. Brian Murray, 8-0
135 - Matt Martoccio (CRS) won by forfeit
140 - Sean Doerr (CRN) dec. Dalton Wiltrout, 2-1
145 - Marc Helfrich (CRS) dec. Greg Lanctot, 1-0 (6-16)
152 - Jim Vollrath (CRS) pinned David Giannaula, 1:39
160 - Bruce Froshour (CRN) dec. Shane Gilmore, 2-1
171 - Ed Shupe (CRS) pinned Tom Clark, 2:40
189 - Jamie Callender (CRN) dec. Bobby Lavelle, 4-2
215 - John Kaschak (CRN) pinned Tom Dingui, 4:30
285 - Stephen Kaschak (CRN) dec. Joshua Kupperstein, 3-0
103 - Adam Slezak (CRN) maj. dec. Billy Rappo, 9-0
112 - Shane Longstreth (CRN) pinned Ian Krouse, 4:06
Class AA Semifinals
Harriton 53, Springfield Township 22
112 - Zach MacGregor (Sp) maj. dec. Connor Wortley, 13-0
119 - Zack Geaneotes (H) dec. Rob Galdo, 7-5
125 - Jack Harris (H) pinned Matt Bell, 1:28
130 - Joe Powell ((H) won by forfeit
135 - Alex Wakeley (H) pinned Michael Honeywell, 4:29
140 - Dan Levin (H) pinned Jacob Bakovsky, 0:59
145 - Bobby Andris (Sp) pinned Austin Wortley, 0:59
152 - Mark Singer (H) maj. dec. Drew Deardon, 15-2 (31-10)
160 - Kyle Jackson (H) pinned Steve Jacovic, 0:45
171 - Haddon Corbett (H) pinned Steve Carpenter, 3:49
189 - David Horev (H() pinned Pat Feehan, 1:56
215 - Manos Attaliadas (H) pinned Dave Moman, 0:20
285 - Colin Powell ((H) maj. dec. Dylan Evans, 12-4
103 - Richie Kassabian (Sp) pinned Jack Ebby, 1:59
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