By Alex Frazier
Meet…Josh CavenWhat Pennsbury’s Josh Caven lacks in experience, he more than makes up for in motivation.
How many wrestlers go to the gym to work out following a match?
Caven did that recently after a match against Bensalem.
“I paid for it trying to get up for school,” he said.
Caven wrestled for a short stint when he was in third or fourth grade.
He didn’t pick it back up until this year as a senior.
“I didn’t want to be one of those older guys that say, ‘I wish I did this or I wish I did that in high school,’ so I figured I stick my chest out and go do something I’m not too familiar with, and I’m absolutely thrilled that I did.”
One of Pennsbury’s former wrestlers Brian Cahill lives near Caven. Their fathers got talking and Mr. Cahill told Caven’s father, “I think your son should go out for wrestling. I think he could help the wrestling team and I think he could do well.”
To which a 30-5 record attests.
“A lot of kids thought that was a pretty good record for anybody, let alone somebody who is kind of a first year guy and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” said Caven. “I turned a couple of heads, got a couple of headlines in the newspaper and most importantly I was happy doing it and I enjoyed myself.”
Not every wrestler can take off eight years and accomplish that.
“He’s really filled a big hole for us,” said Pennsbury coach Joe Kiefer. “It’s been a Godsend to have a senior who has no middle school and high school experience come out and do as well as he has.”
All but one of the five matches that Caven has lost were close. Three of them were by a single point and the fourth was by three points. Also, in three of his losses, he was wrestling up a weight. His other loss came against Council Rock South’s Tim Riley, who pinned him.
“I knew going into it, I don’t like to lose,” he said. “I knew if I was doing it, I had to do it and win.”
Though Caven came out too late to be considered for captain, Kiefer said that he was confident that he would have been if he had wrestled through high school.
“He’s well liked and does provide good leadership,” said Kiefer.
For someone to miss that much wrestling and still do well is a testament to Caven’s athletic ability.
“He seems to enjoy wrestling and the kind of competition,” said Kiefer.
Caven doesn’t cut any weight either. He weighs between 185-188. He probably could have been certified at 171, but that would have meant a lot of dieting and hard work.
“He made an excellent choice to come out and wrestle where he does,” said Kiefer. “We’ve had several really close meets and without him we would not have won them. He understands competition and he understands how to compete. You don’t always get that with athletes that don’t have much experience with wrestling.”
Not only does he help win meets through his own wrestling, he has been an excellent workout partner for Conlan Cornman, who is 13-4. The two have both benefitted from working out together.
At the very first practice, Cornman approached Caven, shook his hand and introduced himself. With that handshake, a new relationship began.
“He taught me just about everything I know, along with the coaches of course,” said Caven. “And I’d like to think I had a big part in helping Conlan out. I’m probably the only guy that can out-muscle him in the practice room. I’d like to think I helped him out as well.”
Coming into the season, he knew of Cornman, knew he was a wrestler, but for Caven he was just a “minor acquaintance.”
“We’re actually going to be pretty good friends for a while, out of the wrestling room as well, which is nice,” said Caven.
When Caven took time off from wrestling, he picked up lacrosse, starting in sixth grade. Both of his brothers had played.
“My parents never wanted me to start too young,” he said. “They thought that me running around on a field with a stick, I could hurt somebody.”
He plays attack for the Falcons and led all of Bucks County last year with 49 goals.
Next year Caven will play lacrosse at Centenary College. He is considering a career as a personal trainer or in education.
“With the way this year went in wrestling, I might be a two-sport collegiate athlete, maybe not my freshman year but after I get acclimated to the school,” he said.
Two out of three ain’t bad – William Tennent’s Kirsten Doherty won two out of three of her final high school matches—both against boys.
The second win came appropriately enough on Senior Appreciation Night, which also happened to be her last high school match.
“I wanted to at least beat one (boy) by my senior year,” she said. “I figured you have to go out with a bang. It was the first match that my dad went to all year, so I had to show him I was doing something with the sport.”
Doherty, who also plays field hockey and softball and was captain of both sports, started wrestling in 10th grade after trying basketball as a freshman.
“I wasn’t that good at basketball and I thought it would be a challenge,” she said. “A lot of my friends said, ‘What?’ and a lot of the guys on the team didn’t think I could do it, but I stuck it out.”
Doherty has competed at states for the past two years, finishing fourth as a sophomore and second last year. States are not sponsored by the PIAA, so it also includes college women as well.
“They definitely have an advantage with more knowledge of the sport, so you go in there probably not knowing as much as them,” she said. “I just have to see it as another person and not be afraid.”
Doherty has been wrestling at 145 all three years.
This year states will be held on March 19 in Troy, Pa. The weight classes at states will be 142 and 152, so she will have to decide whether she wants to cut weight or not.
Doherty will attend either Lock Haven or Temple and major in sports management. Lock Haven offers a women’s wrestling team, though she will probably play either field hockey or softball.
“I’ve had some offers for field hockey,” she said. “I’m just going to wait until softball season rolls around and figure out what happens there.”
State Duals – Congratulations to Council Rock South, which finished fourth in the PIAA State Dual-Meet Tournament.
“Based on our lineup and what we’ve been trying to do all year—get better as a dual-meet team—it was evident that’s we did over the past three weeks,” said South coach Brad Silimperi. “We had a great district dual-meet tournament. To get out to state duals and compete at that level is just a great honor and a tribute to our team the way they performed all year.”
The Golden Hawks made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to District 11 champion Easton 40-23.
In the consolations, the Hawks edged Central Mountain 34-32.
Matt Rappo (pin, 135), Matt Martoccio (pin, 140), Jared Rosen (major, 189) and Tim Riley (pin, 215) all earned bonus points for the Hawks.
“It was difficult to come back as a team,” said Silimperi. “The kids responded. We didn’t wrestle our best but still beat a pretty good team. It says something about your team.”
In the consolation finals, Nazareth won 33-24.
“We beat some very good teams and went 3-2, took fourth and medaled in the toughest state in the country,” said Silimperi. “From the kids battling and fighting hard to the coaches doing lineups, it was a true team effort.”
Council Rock South opened the tournament with a 43-23 win over Kiski, the District Seven third place team. Trey Balasco (112), Matt Rappo (135), Matt Martoccio (145) and Tim Riley (215) registered falls for the Hawks, while Billy Rappo (tech fall, 103), Danny Martoccio (major, 119) and Shane Gilmore (major, 171) added bonus points for South, which won nine of 14 bouts.
In the second round they beat Cumberland Valley, 44-24, getting falls from Billy Rappo (103), Mack Moore (125) and Gilmore (171). Matt Rappo (135) added a tech fall.
“They were a very hot team,” said Silimperi. “They had been wrestling very well. They knocked off Central Mountain the night before, so we knew we were going to have our hands full. The kids really brought it and wrestled with passion, intensity and emotion.”
• After winning its first-round match against Solanco on Monday, Norristown drew District Three champion and eventual PIAA champion Central Dauphin, which was the only undefeated team in the tournament, and lost 48-12.
Zach Fuentes (103), Tyree Gardner (125), Brett Harner (152) and Gavin Queenan (285) were the lone winners.
The Eagles then rallied to beat District Four champion Shikellamy, 37-25.
Fuentes (103), Gardner (119), Doug Forlano (125), Mike Springer (135), Brandon Parker (145), Brett Harner (152), Juan Carabjal (160), Larry Gordon (189) and Queenan (285) all won for Norristown.
But then District Seven runner-up Greater Latrobe ended the Eagles flight with a 34-27 win.
“The last match was disappointing,” said coach Mark Harner. “We lined up real well with them. We felt real confident, but we blew two matches. We gave up a couple of takedowns that cost us.”
Norristown finished at 2-2 in its first-ever time at the state tournament.
“At the start of the season, we thought it would be a stretch,” said Harner. “We made it a goal to get to the state duals.”
And they did minus three starters.
• Monday, Norristown advanced to the second round of the PIAA State Dual meet Championship by defeating Solanco, the fourth place team out of District Three.
Two other District One teams failed to make it out of the first round. Owen J. Roberts fell to Nazareth (D-11, second place) 31-29 and Spring-Ford lost to Big Spring (3-3) 28-22.
Around the league –
In two Tuesday matches, Norristown defeated Cheltenham 72-6 and Pennridge upset Souderton, 34-27.
Norristown finished its American Conference schedule with a 6-0 record. This is the third consecutive season in which the Eagles went undefeated in league matches.
Zach Fuentes, Tyree Gardner, Brandon Parker, Brett Harner, Larry Gordon and Gavin Queenan all went 6-0 in American Conference dual meets.
• Three straight pins by Rich Jasinski, Forrest Short and Randall Harrison sealed the match for Pennridge. Harrison had an extremely tough match. He fought off two tough takedown attempts in the first period. Then in the second, he reversed the Indians’ Sidney Outlaw to his back for a match-clinching pin. That was a huge match for him and the team
“Our seniors really came up big tonight on their senior night with key wins over some of Souderton’s toughest wresters,” said Ram coach Dan Goetter.
The Indians received falls from Ricky Young (285), Ryan Eisenhart (145) and Joe Stolfi (215).
In the closest bout of the evening, Souderton’s Pat Freed edged Alex Barday, 12-10 in overtime.
• Last Saturday, Upper Dublin ran the table against Academy of the New Church, with a 69-0 whitewash. Forty-two of those points came via forfeits. Jacob Haney (135) and Derek Jones (140) chipped in pins.
In Continental Conference action, Central Bucks South nipped a surging Hatboro-Horsham 41-39. William Bendon put the match out of reach for the Titans at 215 with a fall. Both teams forfeited to the other’s best wrestler. The Hatters’ Matt Harkins (125) and South’s Mike Mathis (140) got the day off.
• In a key bout, Bensalem 125-pounder Steve Evens decisioned Harry S Truman’s Shane Hughes 8-6 in overtime. The six-point differential turned out to be the margin of victory for the Owls (36-30).
Top Five SOL
1. Council Rock South
2. Norristown
3. Souderton
4. Upper Moreland
5. Council Rock North
Top Guns
103—Billy Rappo, Council Rock South
112—Trey Balasco, Council Rock South
119— Matt Harkins, Hatboro-Horsham
125—Shane Longstreth, Council Rock North
130—Sean Edmondson, Harry S Truman
135—Matt Rappo, Council Rock South
140—Matt Martoccio, Council Rock South
145— Brandon Parker, Norristown
152— Brett Harner, Norristown
160—Nick Russell, Neshaminy
171—John Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh
189—John Bolich, Upper Moreland
215—Joe Stolfi, Souderton
285—Gavin Queenan, Norristown
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