By Alex Frazier
Meet….Matt Gusick
Matt Gusick is a latecomer to wrestling.
It wasn’t until eighth grade that his science teacher, who just happened to be the middle school wrestling coach, convinced him to come out.
“It gave him excuses to give me pushups if I missed a homework,” said Gusick.
He went out, despite his father’s warning that every day would be “torture.” His father also wrestled in high school, so he knew.
“He was giving me fair warning,” said Gusick. “I stuck with it and had some success.”
Gusick admits that having gone out so late is a disadvantage.
“I’m still pretty new to the sport,” he said. “I don’t have as much experience as some of the people I come up against.”
After going 11-16 his sophomore year, Gusick improved to 21-12 last year.
So far this year, he has compiled a 17-5 mark with 14 pins in his first 22 matches.
“He’s worked hard the past couple of years getting better,” said Upper Dublin coach Dave Jones. “It’s been a pleasure to watch.”
Last weekend, Gusick earned his first-ever MVP when he won the Spartan Clash, pinning all five opponents he faced.
“It was the first one the coaches could remember having on the team for a long time,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it and it was a fun feeling.”
One of the reasons for Gusick’s steady improvement is junior teammate Nick DiMuzio with whom he works out almost every day.
“It helps us both excel,” he said. “We wrestle every day of the week, except one day we chose to switch partners and wrestle other people in the room.”
Last year DiMuzio dropped to 119 for the post-season, forcing Gusick to wrestle at 125.
Even with that, he should have qualified for regionals if not for an injury.
On the Saturday morning of districts, Gusick injured his back. Throughout the day, he had it iced and he stretched it and managed to get through to the consolation semifinal bout against Pottsgrove’s Doug Ludy. He led Ludy by two points with just 30 seconds left when Ludy headlocked him, and in the process, wrenched his back again, causing spasms. Unable to fight off his back, he was pinned.
He then had to default his fifth-place consolation bout.
Gusick is one of only two seniors in the Cardinals’ lineup this year and as one of the captains takes a leadership role for the younger kids, which include six freshmen and three sophomores.
“He’s a solid kid, unquestionably one of the top two wrestlers in the room,” said Jones. “He’s a great leader in the room.”
“It’s interesting,” said Gusick. “I feel the pressure to succeed on the mat more. It pushes me a little bit harder, which is worth it.”
Whether he wrestles in college next year will depend on where he goes. Messiah College has shown some interest in him. He is also looking at Penn State, Drexel and Indiana University of Pa., which doesn’t sponsor a wrestling team.
Gusick knows he isn’t Division One material, so Messiah may be his only option.
He is planning on majoring in mechanical engineering, which isn’t surprising, considering his extracurricular interests.
For most of his life he has been interested in creating robots. He has been a member of the robotics team at Upper Dublin for four years, with the exception of his junior year. This year his team qualified for the international tournament in Atlanta, Ga.
“We’re working on a robot to do well in that tournament,” he said.
He is also a leader in his Boy Scout troop and is in the process of finishing his Eagle Scout badge, working on an extended project for his former camp.
At 119, Gusick is undoubtedly in one of the toughest weight classes.
“We’re trying to get him the best competition around,” said Jones. “He’s a scrapper, a tough kid. He’s strong and physical.”
Because he’s so physical, Jones is hoping he will remain healthy for the rest of the season.
“He has a tendency to get banged up a little bit because he’s so physical,” said Jones.
Gusick won’t be happy just to get to regionals this year. He has higher goals.
“This year my goal is to make it to states,” he said. “Nick DiMuzio and I are working hard to get there.”
District Duals – There have been many complaints about the seeding for district duals, especially when two teams from the same conference have to face each other for a second or possibly third time.
Such is the case with Plymouth Whitemarsh and Norristown, who have a league dual meet against each other Wednesday night and are slated for a first-round matchup Thursday.
PW coach Nate Wachter doesn’t like the idea.
“It makes no sense and is not beneficial to my wrestlers to wrestle the same team two days in a row,” he said. “This doesn't make my team any better and that was the main reason why we signed up for the district duals.”
Pennsbury and Neshaminy are in a similar scenario. The two teams wrestled a week and a half ago with Pennsbury pulling out the win in the final bout.
Upper Dublin coach Dave Jones, who is on the district seeding committee explained it thus.
There are six leagues and 20 representatives. The seeding is decided first and then the teams are plugged into the bracket.
Well, does it take a nuclear scientist to figure out by seeding alone who will meet each other? And even after the teams are plugged into the bracket, is it too late to modify the seeding so that two teams in the same league don’t have to wrestle each other, at least in the first round?
Wouldn’t it be better for everyone concerned to wrestle someone different?
District One Dual Meet Tournament Schedule
Class AAA
Friday, Feb. 12 at Pottstown
6 p.m.
Quarterfinals on four mats
8 p.m.
Wrestlebacks and semifinals on four mats
Saturday, Feb. 13
1 p.m.
Consolation semifinals
4 p.m.
Finals and consolation finals
Class AA
Saturday, Feb. 13
1 p.m.
Semifinals
4 p.m.
Finals
Around the league – Several matches in the American Conference deserve attention. In a key match with title implications, Norristown defeated Plymouth Whitemarsh 44-21, making its Feb. 10 matchup with Upper Moreland for the league championship.
Two key bouts went into overtime, and both went Norristown’s way. At 112, Tyree Gardner trailed Justin Staudenmayer by three points but rallied to tie the bout and sent it into overtime. A Gardner takedown gave him the match.
Likewise, Doug Forlano trailed PW’s Dylan Peay 5-3 and came back to win it in overtime.
Those two teams will square off again tonight in the first round of district duals.
In another barnburner, Springfield edged Upper Merion 41-39. Each team had seven wins. The Spartans had four pins and two forfeits, while Upper Merion pinned six times.
The difference came down to Justin Gosciminski’s technical fall at 125.
In the Battle of the Bucks, C.B. West edged archrival C.B. South 38-37. The Bucks’ Maxx Jackson decisioned Blake Wise 2-1 at 152 to seal the win with one bout remaining.
In the National Conference, Harry S Truman overwhelmed Abington. The Tigers received pins from Jim Wolfe (171), Dan Crawley (189), tech falls from Justin Evens (145) and a major from Brandon Nuttall (119).
• In weekend action,Norristown finished second in the Octorara Tournament with 170 points, 34 behind winner Blue Mountain.
Brett Harner (140) and Marcus Robbins (285) took gold medals, while Zach Fuentes (103), Joe Pierce (160) and Matt Grill (189) came in second. The Eagles’ Ty Gardner (112) and Brandon Parker (145) finished third.
In the same tournament, Central Bucks East finished seventh. Joe Mannino (152) placed third, and Gio Mannino (119) and heavyweight Zak Mysza came in fourth.
Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Luke Wisniewski decisioned Northeast Catholic’s Nick Cancelliere, 6-4 to tie the championship match at 127 at the Abington Duals. But the Falcons ran off three straight wins to take the title, 39-27.
There were several good matchups in PW’s 34-30 win over Bensalem. Notably, the Colonials’ Justin Staudenmayer nipped Bensalem’s Justin Cummings 1-0 at 112 and Luke Wisniewski majored Nick Lippincott, 16-7.
The Owl’s other lightweights came through. At 103, Mike Pritchard pinned Blake Milstein in 25 seconds, Shane Hughes decked Scott Leeds at 119, and Anthony Prisco nipped Dylan Peay 3-2 at 125.
Upper Moreland just missed out on a title shot, losing to Northeast 37-36 in the fourth round. Northeast’s Anthony White pinned in the final bout to knot the score at 36-36, and the officials had to go to the eighth criteria—most points scored first—to determine the winner.
The Golden Bears went on to beat Bensalem 37-18 for the bronze medal.
Harry S Truman captured first place at the Kennett Duals by beating Upper Darby 36-30.
Upper Dublin won the team title at the inaugural Spartan Clash Round Robin Tournament, outpointing Southern Huntingdon 231-228.
Cardinal 119-pounder Matt Gusick was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
The host Spartans finished fourth.
Souderton finished second in the Lackawanna Trail Tournament. At 215, Joe Stolfi racked up five pins and a major, while Sidney Outlaw (171) had four pins, two decisions and a medical forfeit to his credit.
TOP Five SOL
1. Council Rock South
2. Council Rock North
3. Quakertown
4. Norristown
5. Upper Moreland
Top Guns
103—Billy Rappo, Council Rock South
112—Mike Mathis, Central Bucks South
119—Matt Harkins, Hatboro-Horsham
125—Scott Wolfinger, Quakertown
130—Tim Santry, Upper Moreland
135—Luke Wisniewski, Plymouth Whitemarsh
140— Josh Dziewa, Council Rock South
145—Matt Martoccio, Council Rock South
152— Eric Koch, Quakertown
160— Andre Watkins, Wissahickon
171—John Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh
189— Jamie Callender, Council Rock North
215—Joe Stolfi, Souderton
285—Marcus Robbins, Norristown
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