By Alex Frazier
Meet…Nick RussellNeshaminy’s Nick Russell was just glad to make it to states last year.
But in his final year with the Redskins, he won’t be satisfied with that.
“I have to improve on that this year,” he said.
Russell has been wrestling for 14 years. He dabbled with football, soccer and lacrosse, but wrestling always came out on top.
“Wrestling was the sport I was best at,” he said. “I loved it the most.”
When he arrived at Neshaminy, he wrestled 103 but he has since grown considerably. This year he’s wrestling at 171 and will most likely drop to 160 or possibly 152 for the post-season.
“I just want to do what’s best for the team,” he said of wrestling up at 171. Even at that weight he is ranked fifth in the state.
Russell is now 15-4 this year and is just four matches away from his 100th win (96-38). The team has a week off, but he expects to make it when he returns to action next weekend at the Mechanicsburg Duals.“He’s a good kid to coach, a lot of fun,” said Neshaminy coach Dan Winter. “He jokes around but works hard too. To see him grow over the years has been great.”
Russell has also been a two-year captain of the team
“Last year it was all new to me,” he said. “This year it’s my team and they look up to me.”
Coach Winter said he leads by example.
“The kids see him go and he’s always wrestling tough. He’s a competitor. Put him on the mat and he just wants to go. The kid will go live all day long.”
Besides wrestling, Russell is a member of the Foreign Affairs Club at Neshaminy and is a Red Cross volunteer in his community.
Next year, Russell is hoping to attend the Air Force Academy. There is quite an admission process, one that he has nearly completed.
He has to pass a fitness test and a physical exam, send in his high school transcript, write an essay, get a background check and request a recommendation from either a senator or representative.
For the past couple of years he has been considering a military career, either in college or following graduation. He has two uncles in the Marines, one that flies helicopters in Iraq and two grandfathers that attended military school and served for four years.
Since he wants to fly, he considers the Air Force, “the best of both worlds.”
Academics shouldn’t be a problem since he ranks in the top 10 percent of his class. He is taking three advanced placement courses as well as a couple of honors courses.
“I’m really challenging myself,” he said.
He plans on majoring in some area of science.
If the Air Force doesn’t work out, Penn State, Drexel and Ursinus are his backups.
But before any of that transpires, Russell wants to stand on the podium at Hershey.
“I definitely want to improve on last year,” he said. “Every day I go into the practice room thinking about where I want to be at the end of the year.”
Two more join 100 Club – Quakertown’s Scott Wolfinger and Briar Malischewski have hit the century mark. Wolfinger did it earlier this year at the Quakertown Duals on Dec. 11, while Malischewski reached his milestone at the Bethlehem Holiday Classic on Dec. 29.
Wolfinger’s 100th came in spectacular fashion at his own school. In the final match of the tournament, he pinned Pittston Area’s Brad Rush in 43 seconds.
“It was a goal I had coming into high school,” he said. “Getting it is pretty cool.”
Wolfinger’s goal now is to top his former role model Jon Weibel’s 143 career wins mark. He’s around 110 now.
Of course his ultimate goal is to make the state finals. As a freshman he placed sixth, but missed the post-season as a sophomore when he missed weight.
Last year he reverted to form, placing sixth again.
He has already had an impressive fourth place finish at the Beast of the East, and is ranked seventh in the state.
His place at the Beast has given him a ton of confidence.
“Now I know I can beat the kids ahead of me,” he said.
Malischewski’s 100th came against Nazareth’s Ian Stout.
“Last year toward the end I was kind of thinking I would get it, but I was 10 away from getting it,” he said. “Before the season even started I was pumped up to get that off my list of goals. Once I got it, I felt like I really accomplished something.”
After qualifying for states as a freshman, Malischewski has been one match away the last two years. He’s hoping to bookend his career with another trip his final year.
“For the past two years I haven’t been really cutting that much weight,” he said, “but now that it’s may last year I want to push myself, so I’m going to cut down to 137 for the post-season and at least try to place at states this year. I would love to make it. I would be really proud of myself.”
Did he or didn’t he? – In Wednesday’s match between Upper Moreland and Plymouth Whitemarsh, the Colonials’ 145-pounder Charles Kappe was disqualified for biting Will Dill.
The following day, PW coach Nate Wachter sent out an e-mail to various district officials, coaches and reporters suggesting Dill bit himself.
“At the time we felt that the official, Lou Fiore, had made the right call in seeing that the bite marks were evident on Dill's arm,” noted Wachter in the e-mail.
After reviewing the videotape of the match, Wachter extracted a still shot, which shows Dill’s mouth against the inside of his right elbow.
Upper Moreland coach Dave Bolich claims the picture is not conclusive.
“There were arms across faces multitudes of times in the course of a Will Dill match,” said Bolich.
And he added that the bite marks were in a different location.
“The bite marks are way up by his arm pit and they were in the opposite direction as well,” he said. “I’ve never seen bite marks like that. When I looked at his arm, they were totally clear dental impressions. And you look at Will’s mouth, he’s missing teeth, they’re twisted, they’re jagged. These were perfectly straight bite marks from a small mouth.”
At the time of the infraction, late in the second period, Dill was leading 12-5.
“Will might have been a little tired, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t finish the match,” said Bolich.
While Wachter is not trying to get a reversal of the decision, he is hoping to get Kappe eligible to wrestle this weekend since he believes he was innocent. For a flagrant misconduct, a wrestler must sit out the next competition.
The PIAA, however, doesn’t accept video or film review as conclusive proof.
Whether Dill bit himself or Kappe bit him, we may never know. But the bottom line is the official called the infraction and that’s the way it stands.
Around the league –
Governor Mifflin Tournament
Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Justin Staudenmayer was named the Outstanding Wrestler at Governor Mifflin.
En route to the 125-pound title, the sixth-seeded Staudenmayer defeated Kyle Demain of Gov. Mifflin, ranked 13th in Pa., and Dakota Minnich of Hempfield, ranked 18th in Pa. Both are state qualifiers from last year. Lucas Wisniewski also beat a kid from Garnett Valley, who was pretty tough and a Brandywine Heights’ kid in the finals.
“He pretty much ran through everyone and wasn't taken down once,” noted coach Nate Wachter.
John Michael Staudenmayer majored Neshaminy’s Nick Russell for his title.
Pat Cosgrave (103) and Charles Kappe (145) finished fourth, while Mike Remyszewski (215) finished seventh.
Truman Tournament
William Tennent and Central Bucks South tied for first place. Tennent went 5-0, defeating Kennett Square 46-27, Penncrest 46-21, Highstown 52-24, New Hope 55-18 and Northeast 48-28.
Four Panther wrestlers finished with 5-0 marks. They were Kevin Flack (119), Eddie Kwait (135), Dylan Sinker (152) and Shawn Steffanili (171).
Top Five SOL
1. Council Rock South
2. Norristown
3. Quakertown
4. Souderton
5. Upper Moreland
Top Guns
103—Tommy Stokes, Bensalem
112—Trey Balasco, Council Rock South
119—Kevin Flack, William Tennent
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—Zak Mysza, Central Bucks East
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