Alex Frazier will recap other SOL teams in action in Sectionals in his upcoming wrestling notebook.
By Alex Frazier
Joe Stolfi had just two regrets.He would have liked to have been a four-time sectional champion, and he missed wrestling his final sectional tournament in the familiar Upper Perkiomen gym.
But those regrets paled in comparison to his achievements Saturday at the Pottsgrove Middle School gym, where he not only won the 215-pound title but was also named the Section Two Outstanding Wrestler.
“It’s always in the back of your head,” said Stolfi. “It’s not something I was shooting for, but I like having OW. It does make you feel good.”
Upper Perkiomen cruised to the tournament title outdistancing second place Souderton 140-110. Quakertown and Pottsgrove tied for third with 105, and Pennridge was just behind them at 104.
Stolfi was a logical choice to win the OW award as he overwhelmed all three opponents he faced, pinning each in the first period. It was his second consecutive OW award at sections and his third overall.
He spent a total of 3 minutes and 9 seconds on the mat.
Souderton crowned one other champion. Freshman Kolton Veit will have a chance to do what Stolfi didn’t, as he won his first sectional title 5-3 over Upper Perkiomen’s Dylan Steffenino. A pair of takedowns was the difference.
He had wrestled Steffenino five times before and won all of them, so he felt confident coming into the match.
“I kind of knew his technique so it helped me think of what moves to use on him,” said Veit.
Pennridge and Quakertown also crowned a pair of champions.
Pennridge freshman 103-pounder Scott Parker, who has lost just once all season, majored Upper Perk’s Dante Steffenino, 10-2.
“I knew from wrestling this year and getting the experience of what it’s like to be in high school, I was kind of confident in what I could do,” he said.
Parker took a quick 7-1 lead in the first period. He took Steffenino down quickly, let him up and took him down again.
“My bread and butter is the single leg so I hit that and soon as I hit it, I knew I was going to be able to hit it more than once,” said Parker.
The second time he got it, he converted it into three back points.
“Once I got up 7-1, I felt pretty comfortable,” he said.
While Parker was happy with the gold medal, he said, “I have bigger goals.”
Teammate Rich Jasinski, who missed more than half the season, looked to be in good form in capturing his first sectional championship.
“I feel great,” he said. “I’m very pleased with how I wrestled and how I feel right now. This is what I’ve been working for all season.”
Jasinski took Pottsgrove’s Danny Michaels down nine seconds into the bout and added a reversal in the second period.
“Like I’ve said in the past, my nerves usually get to me,” he said. “I was a little nervous, but other than that I just wanted to go out and have fun and get the first place I deserve.”
Quakertown’s Scott Wolfinger won his third consecutive section title, defeating North Penn’s Tyler Romano 7-3.
“I’m glad I’m moving forward,” he said.
Wolfinger missed over a month of the season with first a hamstring pull and then a sprained ankle.
It’s taken him a while to get back into shape. When he did start wrestling, his ankle held him back. It’s just about now that he’s feeling at full strength.
Now he’s wearing a strong brace on it.
“It felt fine,” he said. “I thought I controlled the whole match. Coming into the match I didn’t expect it to be high scoring. I knew I had to get the first takedown.”
Which he did about 20 seconds into the match.
“From there on, instead of being the aggressor, I just tried to control the match,” he said. “I have to pace myself these matches because slowly but surely I’m getting into shape, but I’m not where I was when I left off.”
Two matches later Briar Malischewski won the Panthers second crown, which was also his second sectional title. He was one of four wrestlers that pinned all the way through.
In his first match, he decked Souderton’s David McPherson in 1:12. His second foe Connor Bednarzyk of C.B. East went down in the exact same time, and in the finals Phoenixville’s Jordan Valenteen lasted until the 1:53 mark when he caught him in a ‘step-to-the-head cradle.’
The Central Bucks School District was represented by South’s Mike Mathis, who won the 135-pound title and West’s Chris Jastrzebski, who took the 189 crown.
For Mathis it was his third title. Of the three, his favorite was the first.
“My first was really exciting because it was a close match,” he said.
Mathis pinned Alex Barday of Pennridge at the 2:27 mark. Mathis had a late takedown in the first period and was riding Barday in the second.
“I was trying to break him down and he rolled into me the wrong way and I caught him on his back,” explained Mathis. “It wasn’t like I was going for a move or anything. It just happened.”
For West’s Jastrzebski, this year’s tournament was a bit of redemption after missing almost all of last season with some type of stomach issue that was never determined.
A junior, it was his first sectional championship.
“I’m pretty happy about it,” he said. “I try to go out there and wrestle everybody tough.”
After getting a bye in the first round, Jastrzebski pinned his next two opponents.
Even nicer, Jastrzebski will move on with his younger brother Bryan, who finished fourth at 112.
“We’ve both been wrestling for so long,” he said, “and we’ve both had our highs and lows. It kind of finally paid off, all that work.”
Section Two Wrestling Results
Team standings: 1. Upper Perkiomen (UP) 140, 2. Souderton (S) 110, 3. Pottsgrove (Pt) 105 and Quakertown (Q) 105, 5. Pennridge (Pr) 104, 6. Central Bucks East (CBE)73, 7. North Penn (NP) 74, 8. Central Bucks South (CBS) 67, 9. Phoenixville (Ph) 63, 10. Central Bucks West (CBW) 50
Individual results
Championship finals
103—Scott Parker (Pr) major dec. Dante Steffenino, 10-2
112—Kolton Veit (S) dec. Dylan Steffenino (UP) 5-3
119—Kyle Fellman (UP) dec. Gregg Donley (S), 7-4
125—Wolfgang McStravick (UP) dec. Francesco Fabozzi (CBE), 8-1
130—Scott Wolfinger (Q) dec. Tyler Romano (NP), 7-3
135—Mike Mathis (CBS) pinned Alex Barday (Pr) 2:27
140—Briar Malischewski (Q) pinned Jordan Valenteen (Ph), 1:53
145—Zach Robinson (Pt) dec. Seth Ehlo (CBW), 6-3
152—Thomas Demetrio ((Pt) dec. Dominic Rigous (CBS), 10-4
160—Rich Jasinski (Pr) dec. Danny Michaels (Pt), 4-2
171—Cody Ambrose (UP) pinned Steve Tilsner (CBE), 5:27
189—Chris Yastrzemski (CBW) pinned Dalton Fleming (UP), 3:48
215—Joe Stolfi (S) pinned Tyler Wysochanski (Pt), 1:22
285—Kenny Cenci (Ph) dec. Chris Nester (Pt), 15-8
Consolation finals
103—Collyn Dorney (Q) dec. Eddie McCarthy (Ph), 5-4
112—Ben Ross (Pr) pinned Bryan Jastrzebski (CBW), 4:08
119—Ervin Gaitan (NP) dec. Nico Demetrio (Pt), 8-3
125—Greg Kabakjian (S) pinned Riley Michaels (Pt), 4:17
130—Gio Mannino (CBE) dec. Brendon Bonner (Ph), 6-0
135—Dan Rodenberger (UP) dec. Tyler Seislove (Q), 3-2 UTB
140—Evan Conti (NP) major dec. Connor Bednarzyk (CBE) 10-2
145—Nick Dau (CBE) major dec. Matt Cermanski (Ph), 8-0
152—Peter Jenne (S) dec. Dylan Moore (Pr), 11-7
160—Alex Price (NP) major dec. Shane Peltonen (CBE), 10-2
171—Steve Yerkes (Q) dec. Greg Frasch (CBS), 4-1
189—Randall Harrison (Pr) major dec. Jimmy Peniston (CBS), 13-5
215—Matt Jorgensen (Q) dec. Nick Cassalia (CBS), 5-1
285—Joe McNamara (S) dec. Jake Swearingen (Q), 5-4
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