By Alex Frazier
Norristown led from start to finish to capture the Section Three Wrestling Championship Saturday at Methacton.
The Eagles crowned four wrestlers, but the secret to their success came in their depth as 10 of their grapplers earned spots on the award’s podium.
“It was good for all of us, because we are a young team, and we haven’t accomplished much in the past,” said 145-pound champion and captain Stephen Parker. “To win leagues and sectionals in one year, that’s big. It’s a definite confidence booster for everybody.”
Parker was a bit surprised at the team’s championship.
“Coach is always downing us,” he said. “It was like, ‘Everyone’s after us. Hatboro has five or six kids that are potentially going to win it.’ He made it seem like every match and every period meant something. I guess that was good because we all took it serious.”
Perkiomen Valley, which finished third, also took 10 places, but the Vikings had no champions.
Runner-up Hatboro-Horsham equaled Norristown’s number of champs, but the Hatters managed only three fourth-place finishes.
However, the Hatters did have the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler in 112-pound champ Matt Harkins, who pinned all three of his opponents in a cumulative time of 4:32.
Harkins had a big grin on his face as he wiped clean his plaque.
“It feels pretty good,” he said of his first-ever OW award. “I wasn’t expecting it. I thought the 160-pounders were going to get it because they had a tough bracket.”
It was also the sophomore’s second straight Section Three title.
“I wasn’t really worried about OW,” he said. “I just wanted to get a few good matches in before districts and regionals come around. Pinning everybody was pretty good.”
All four of Norristown’s champions won by fall. At 119, Dave Irwin started the pin parade when he caught Upper Dublin’s Nick DiMuzio in a headlock for the slap at 1:14.
Brandon and Stephen Parker picked up on that as each pinned his opponent.
For 140-pounder Brandon, it was his first sectional championship and he also dominated his weight class, pinning all three opponents, including Upper Dublin’s Pat Reilly in the finals at 3:02. Last year as a freshman Brandon finished third after losing an overtime decision.
The pin pumped up brother Stephen because he knew he had lost to Reilly in the offseason three years ago.
Stephen picked up the gold medal on a move he has just perfected this year—a figure four to the head.
“They haven’t been defending it,” he said. “I knew of it last year, but I wasn’t using it as well.”
Norristown’s final champ was Joe Kent, who pinned Upper Merion’s Alex Vuotto in 3:25 at 152.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Drew Felice won his first sectional title at 125 by defeating Phoenixville’s Matt Cermanski, 8-2. Felice basically won it on his feet as he scored three takedowns.
It was the first championship the junior ever won. Last year he finished fourth at sections.
“It feels pretty good,” he said.
Felice said that he has gained a lot of confidence and experience since last year. Attending Minnesota coach J Robinson’s intensive camp last summer was a big factor in his success.
“That really helped me a lot,” he said. “It was really tough and exhausting, but it helps mentally.”
Dace Smith won his second section title for the Hatters at 171, defeating Norristown’s Joe Pierce, 7-2. Smith also won it on his feet taking Pierce down three times, the last coming with five seconds left in the bout.
“It feels good,” he said. “The goal is to win and I won, but I still have a ways to go. I’ll work hard in practice this week.”
The Hatter’s last champ came in the final bout of the night. Alex Myers won his first sectional title in a re-match with Norristown’s Marcus Robbins, who was clearly the bigger wrestler, but Myers used his strength and speed to overcome Robbins’ size in a 5-2 decision.
The bout was closer than the score looks. Myers scored a first-period takedown and Robbins escaped. The score stood at 2-1 until the third period when Myers escaped to go up 3-1. With time running down, Myers was called for stalling for backing up, and all of a sudden it was a 3-2 bout.
“He’s got a pretty good headlock so I was trying to mainly stay out of him throwing me and getting the match swung the other way,” said Myers. “It’s part of wrestling. Sometimes you have to stall.”
Myers countered a desperation shot by Robbins with two seconds left to win 5-2.
“I wrestled him a couple of times in the past and he’s a big, strong kid,” said Myers. “I just had to win, so I went out there and did what I had to do.”
PW also crowned four champions, but had no one in the consolations. The Colonials started their parade of champions at 135 where sophomore Luke Wisniewski won his first title. He had faced Perk Valley’s Gavin Milligan at the Octorara duals and beat him by a similar 6-3 score.
“I pretty much beat him on my feet and today was the same game plan,” said Wisniewski, who took Milligan down twice and escaped twice. “We knew he was looking for my high crotch, so I was trying to go to the other leg, and it pretty much worked out.”
Wisniewski is fully expecting to face Milligan again next week at districts.
The match that received the loudest applause of the night came after Wisniewski’s, when teammate Ramil Gamble pinned Perk Valley’s Jordan Deane in 1:18.
“I was very happy because Jordan actually beat me twice last year at sectionals and districts,” said Gamble. “I went out there to win. It’s my last year, and I just wanted to bring home the gold.”
The 160-pound match was a replay of last year’s between PW’s John Staudenmayer and Wissahickon’s Taylor Franko. The two have met three times and Franko has yet to win, though all the matches have been close.
Staudenmayer opened up a bit more this time and won 7-2. The victory extended Staudenmayer’s undefeated string to 34.
“This time I wanted to go out and be physical,” said Franko. “Win, lose or draw I wanted him to know that he wrestled me tonight.”
The first period ended in a 0-0 deadlock and both wrestlers were warned for stalling.
“That first period I was kind of feeling him out,” said Staudenmayer. “It was unfortunate, the double stall call. After that first period I knew I needed to start working hard.”
He took Franko down twice in the second and collected a pair of back points for a 7-1 lead.
“This time I wasn’t as timid on my feet,” he said.
“It’s tough to come back on a good guy like him,” said Franko.
PW’s Sam Morison eked out a 3-2 win over Perk Valley’s Brett Petriello on the basis of a second-period takedown to take the 189-pound crown.
Section Three Wrestling Tournament Results
Team standings: 1. Norristown 180.5, 2. Hatboro-Horsham 129, 3. Perkiomen Valley 124.5, 4. Methacton 105.5, 5. Upper Dublin 104.5, 6. Plymouth Whitemarsh 99, 7. Wissahickon 57, 8. Phoenixville 56, 9. Upper Merion 35.5, 10. Cheltenham 26
Championship finals
103—Rob D’Annunzio (M) dec. Dave Yannes (W), 7-6
112–Matt Harkins (HH) pinned Chris Onder (Ph), 1:33
119—Dave Irwin (N) pinned Nick DiMuzio (UD), 1:14
125—Drew Felice (HH) dec. Matt Cermanski (Ph), 8-2
130—Luke Wisniewski (PW) dec. Gavin Milligan (PV), 6-3
135—Ramil Gamble (PW) pinned Jordan Deane (PV), 1:18
140—Brandon Parker (N) pinned Pat Reilly (UD), 3:02
145—Stephen Parker (N) pinned Vaughn Gehman (PV), 1:47
152—Joe Kent (N) pinned Alex Vuotto (UM), 3:25
160—John Staudenmayer (PW) dec. Taylor Franko (W), 7-2
171—Dave Smith (HH) dec. Joe Pierce (N), 7-2
189—Sam Morison (PW) dec. Brett Petriello, 3-2
215—Brandan Clark (M) dec. Ken Cenci (Ph), 5-2
285—Alex Myers (HH) dec. Marcus Robbins (N), 5-2
Consolation finals
103—Justin Beitler (PV) dec. Gino Stone (Ch), 5-1
112—Ryan Gambino (Ch) dec. Rich Tevlin (PV), 6-2
119—Justin Andrews (M) dec. Josh Ladowitz (PV), 7-0
125—Matt Gusick (UD) major dec. Chuck McLean (N), 15-4
130—Ben Lowery (N) pinned Sean Saunders (W), 1:11
135—Pat Carr (M) dec. Jim McLaughlin (HH), 8-4
140—Nick Vuotto (UM) dec. Mark McShane (PV), 7-2
145—Dom Visco (UD) dec. Dan Berlin (HH), 7-3
152—Bob Angst (PV) dec. Paul Choi (UD), 6-4
160—Kyle Kovalsky (M) dec. Ken Pallis (HH), 8-6
171—Eliot Reisz (M) major dec. Dylan Freedman (UD), 12-2
189—Sean Carson (UD) dec. Matt Grill (N), 3-2 OT
215–Ryan Kratz (N) dec. Brian Corliss (W), 99-3
285—Chase Godfrey (PV) major dec. Dan Cox (M), 14-2
- Log in to post comments
0
