By Alex Frazier
What they did…what they said
Without a doubt, the most prestigious championship of the weekend went to Plymouth Whitemarsh’s John Staudenmayer, who took home the coveted trophy at the Beast of the East.
Staudenmayer recorded two pins, one tech fall and three decisions en route to the 171-pound championship. In the title bout, he defeated Scott Gibbons of Archbishop Rummel, 4-2.
“He has been getting better and better each week,” said PW coach Nate Wachter. “My coaching staff and I have been treating him like it was his first month at UNC. I have gone out and gotten college guys to beat up on him during club practices and have recently added my best friend and step-brother, Justin Giovinco, to our staff, giving him even more competition to make him better.
“I think he has a perfect combination of strength, technique, constant testing and confidence. That was our first challenge of the year to ready him for states. He will be ready when the time comes to make that trip to Hershey. It’s like he's on a mission.”
Staudenmayer’s teammate Lucas Wisniewski (140) placed sixth, while Quakertown’s Scott Wolfinger finished fourth.
• Norristown won its second consecutive tournament of the season. Zach Fuentes (103), Mike Springer (140) and Brandon Parker (152) all went 7-0 at the Jarvis Wildcat Tournament in Athens, NY.
Parker pinned all seven opponents he faced including his finals opponent whom he caught in a cradle.
“I’ve improved since last year,” the senior said. “I wrestled well the whole tournament. I didn’t slack off.”
Parker is now 12-0 on the season with 10 falls, one technical fall and one decision.
It’s his best start in high school, and he’s hoping it will pay dividends with college coaches. He’s been accepted at two schools already, but won’t make a decision until after the season is over.
“It’s my best start,” he said. “I’m pretty excited now.”
• Council Rock South’s Dan Martoccio went 5-0 at the King of the Mountain Tournament. It was the freshman’s first road trip and first mat action for the Golden Hawks.
It was a great start, especially against some tough competition.
Martoccio pinned his first three opponents on the first day of competition on Friday. Saturday he came back and edged a kid from Ohio 3-2 in the semis and went on to beat his opponent from Bedford 5-0 in the championship.
“It was fun,” he said. “I tried to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Dan was fortunate to have his older brother Matt with him to help show him the ropes.
”I’ve been sticking with him,” said Dan, “and doing what he’s doing.”
It’s the first time in about six years that the two have wrestled on the same team.
“Danny was a beast the whole tournament,” said coach Brad Silimperi. “He had great positioning on his feet and on top he’s a pinner. He really has a bright future ahead of himself and gives us tremendous depth down low. With Billy Rappo, Trey Balasco and Macky Moore to work out with – they are ALL only going to get better and better every day.”
Once Rappo comes back from a twice-broken thumb, Martoccio may bump around between 112 and 119.
• Souderton crowned two champions at the West Chester Invitational. Joe Stolfi went 4-0 en route to the 215-pound title, while teammate Joe McNamara was 3-0 winning the heavyweight championship.
The two make a great one-two punch in the upper weights. McNamara didn’t start wrestling until ninth grade, and then to stay in shape for football.
But as he’s improved he has come to enjoy the sport.
“Wrestling is definitely a nice workout,” he said. “It makes you a better person and a student. It helps you school work because you have to be better organized.”
McNamara pinned his first two opponents and beat Marple Newtown’s heavyweight by decision in the finals.
“It was good,” said McNamara, “but there wasn’t that much competition at heavyweight. A lot of them don’t know how to wrestle.”
A week ago, McNamara finished second at the Great Valley Invitational, in which he placed fourth the year before.
He is now 7-1 on the season.
• Pennridge came home with a pair of champions at the Southern Lehigh Duals. Scott Parker and Andrew Haughey both were undefeated.
Parker, a freshman who tops the scales at about 95, went 5-0 at 103. His closest match was his second to last when he topped Pennsbury’s Jason Bing, 5-3 on a takedown in overtime.
“Going into the first match, I was a little nervous,” said Parker. “I was excited to get going. But after I got that out of the way, I felt good. There are a couple of things I need to work on like setting up different shots.”
With his 7-2 win over Quakertown’s Collyn Dorney on Wednesday, Parker has improved to 6-0 overall in his inaugural season for the Rams. He will try to keep that undefeated streak intact at the Wetzel Tournament next Wednesday and Thursday
“It’s a big step up,” said Parker about his first high school matches, “but I’m liking it. I enjoy it.”
Haughey went undefeated with three pins and a major decision.
Abington Duals
• Matt Harkins (125) went 5-0 for Hatboro-Horsham at the Abington Ghost Town Duals. He set the H-H Career Wins mark improving to 119-19. He had five falls on the day, including a fall over Hempfield Area's Paul Bewak, a two-time state placewinner (2009 runner-up at 103, 2010 6th at 112).
Harkins was also named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler as the Hatters went 4-1, losing to only Hempfield Area 49-24. Hatboro defeated Penn Charter (60-17), Archbishop Wood (66-15), Wissahickon (39-25) and host Abington (32-31 on criteria).
• Central Bucks East’s Nick Dau is 6-0 on the season after running the table at the Abington Duals over the weekend (5-0). He tech falled in his first match and followed that with four falls.
Ever since last year when he went 1-2 at regionals, Dau has had a sign for Hershey posted on his bulletin board. This year he hopes to make it a reality.
“It’s definitely a goal. I’ve been waiting nine months,” he said. “I’ve been working my tail off.”
At 6-0 so far, Dau believes he is on target to achieve his goal.
“I believe this is where I should be,” he said. “I’m going to take it one match at a time.”
• Bensalem’s Tommy Stokes and Anthony Prisco also went 5-0 for the Owls.
Stokes, who has been wrestling for nine years, has certainly gotten off to a great start in his first year of high school wrestling. He’s now 12-0 at 103.
“It’s pretty hard,” he said of the transition to high school. “I had to get used to it. The kids are a lot tougher.”
• In Wednesday dual-meet action Pennsbury nipped William Tennent 40-39. Two key bouts helped the Falcons to the win. At 125, Josh DiSanto avenged a 16-10 loss to Tennent’s Kevin Flack at last year’s PIAA Championships with a 17-6 major decision. DiSanto had beaten Flack four straight before his loss in Hershey.
The match that put the Falcons over the top came in the second to last bout when 215-pounder Mike O’Brien pinned Kevyn Wilson in one minute to give Pennsbury an insurmountable 40-33 lead.
Top Five SOL
1. Council Rock South
2. Norristown
3. Quakertown
4. Upper Moreland
5. Council Rock North
Top Guns
103—Tommy Stokes, Bensalem
112—Trey Balasco, Council Rock South
119—Adam Slezak, Council Rock North
125—Matt Harkins, Hatboro-Horsham
130—John Dutrow, Council Rock North
135—Matt Rappo, Council Rock South
140—Lucas Wisniewski, Plymouth Whitemarsh
145—Matt Martoccio, Council Rock South
152—Brandon Parker, Norristown
160—Brett Harner, Norristown
171—John Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh
189—John Bolich, Upper Moreland
215—Joe Stolfi, Souderton
285—Quinton Bryant, Harry S Truman
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