By Alex Frazier
John Bolich never expects to get an Outstanding Wrestler Award.
After all, until last weekend, the only other time he was awarded an OW was in seventh grade.
Now he’s on a run.
Bolich was voted the best wrestler in the Section One Tournament last week and won the award again in this week’s District One North Tournament.
“I didn’t expect to get it, but after my match a lot of coaches were impressed,” he said. “I never really expect it because I never get it, but it’s very cool. I’m not too worried about Outstanding Wrestler. If I just keep dominating, I’ll be happy.”
Bolich did dominate his weight class, pinning Perkiomen Valley’s Bobby Strickland in 1:13 in his first match, tech falling Norristown’s Larry Gordon in the semifinals and showing Harriton’s Haddon Corbett the lights in a scant 47 seconds in the finals.
He took Corbett down with a high crotch, which he converted to a cradle.
“If I have a chance to pin someone, I pin them,” he said. “I was thinking he was going to be real hard to open up, but I was able to get the open shot.”
Corbett, by the way, was 38-0.
Just as incredible as Bolich’s individual performance was the team effort by Council Rock South, which was missing one its best wrestlers in Trey Balasco (112), who sustained a neck injury last week and was sidelined.
For the Golden Hawks, it was their fifth consecutive district championship.
“To win one district championship is hard,” said coach Brad Silimperi. “To win five is incredible.”
The Hawks advance seven wrestlers to next week’s regionals at Oxford as they look to win a fourth consecutive team championship.
Bolich was also one of seven wrestlers that won their first district titles.
After winning his first sectional title last week, Council Rock South’s Billy Rappo added a district championship to his resume this week.
Rappo had two pins to the finals where he beat Norristown’s Zach Fuentes, 7-2 on the strength of three takedowns.
“I’m good on my feet,” he said, “but it’s not my best position.”
His last match with Fuentes was in district duals when he won 1-0.
“You have to separate yourself from the pack, which I did right there,” said Rappo.
Kolton Veit may be the first freshman Souderton wrestler—certainly in the last two decades—to win a district championship.
In a rematch of last week’s Section Two final at 112, Veit once again defeated Upper Perkiomen’s Dylan Steffenino by an identical 5-3 score.
“I just keep trying as hard as I can,” said Veit. “There are a lot of good kids in my weight class, and I have to keep pushing myself to be better than them.”
All three of Veit’s matches were won by two points; the second over Pennsbury’s Anthony DiEmidio came in overtime.
“I’m hoping to get to states, but I still take one match at a time,” he said. “You can’t look forward.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Justin Staudenmayer (125) is finally coming into his own as he captured his first district title with an 11-2 major decision over state-ranked Shane Longstreth of Council Rock North.
“It feels good,” he said. “I’ve been training hard all week.”
Longstreth had beaten Staudenmayer 4-1 at the Beast of the East, but the PW sophomore felt confident going into the finals knowing he had beaten Harry S Truman’s Sean Edmondson in the semifinals, and Edmondson had beaten Longstreth the week before.
“Going into the match I knew there was nothing to lose,” he said. “All I had to do was do the thing on my feet. The takedown in the first period was a huge start.”
As long as Quakertown’s Scott Wolfinger has been around, he had not won a district title. His 130-pound finals match against North Penn’s Tyler Romano was another re-match of a Section Two final.
And Wolfinger wasn’t looking forward to it.
“He’s one of the few kids I hate wrestling,” he said. “He’s tough for me to score on. He’s such a defensive wrestler. In order to score on him, you really have to work your moves. He’s not a pushover.
“Winning sectionals is cool, but this is a different feeling. It’s another level up. I’ll never have a chance to do this again, so it’s pretty cool to do it my last year.”
Norristown had two wrestlers win their first titles.
At 160, Brett Harner, who placed eighth at states last year, took home his first district gold, defeating Pottsgrove’s Thomas Demetrio, 6-4.
“He goes hard the whole time,” said Harner, who was expecting a tough match. “He’s in great shape, just never stops wrestling.”
Harner, in fact, was fighting off the tying takedown as the buzzer sounded.
“I knew I was going to have some tough matches coming in here,” he said. “I’m trying to focus on one week at a time.”
Heavyweight Gavin Queenan didn’t waste much time en route to his first medal. It took him longer to climb to the top of the medal stand than it did to pin Phoenixville’s Ken Cenci—in just 21 seconds.
“It was a double overhook,” said Queenan. “I had them tight and went for it. I usually don’t try it, but today felt right.”
Neshaminy’s Nick Russell had a huge smile on his face as he stood holding the 160-pound bracket sheet.
“It was really exciting,” he said. “It was my goal last week to win districts. To accomplish that, I just can’t describe it.”
Russell’s opponent in the finals was Lower Merion’s Zeke Zimmer, who was an impressive 29-2 coming into the tournament.
“I didn’t really know what to do going out there,” he said, “so I just went with what I worked on all week, and it worked.”
A takedown near the end put him up by five and he held on for the 7-3 win.
Russell feels confident that he will be able to return to states.
“I always feel my best at the end of the season,” he said. “This is the best I ever felt throughout my high school career.”
For a select few, winning districts was just another day on the job, another rung on the ladder to Hershey.
Matt Rappo (125), Matt Martoccio (140) and John Staudenmayer (171) all won their fourth district titles.
After handling Norristown’s Mike Springer fairly handily in the district duals, Rock South’s Rappo found himself in a battle in this week’s district final.
After taking a 7-2 lead, Rappo had to hold on as Springer roared back with an escape and takedown in the third to bring it to 7-5.
Rappo noted that kids he wrestles a second time sometimes change their style and he has to learn to adapt.
“I have to change my style and not open up as much because when I open up they score a lot,” he said.
Rappo said it was a good feeling to win his fourth title, but “it’s like any other. It’s not my goal at all to be a four-time (district champion). I want to be a state champ. Right now it’s advancing. It doesn’t matter what the score is.”
Rappo’s longtime workout partner, Martoccio, followed suit, overpowering Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Lucas Wisniewski 11-2. Martoccio also majored Methacton’s Pat Carr (17-4) and pinned North Penn’s Evan Conti (3:51).
“It was always in the back of mind,” he said. “Coming in I wanted to take it one match at a time. I really break it down. This time of the year is real crucial. My goal is to eventually be on top of the podium in two weeks, so I figure if I win every period, I’ll win the match and I’ll win tournaments.”
Finally, Plymouth Whitemarsh 171-pounder John Staudenmayer claimed his fourth district title with a 4-1 win over Council Rock South’s Shane Gilmore.
“It was big,” he said. “To be honest I didn’t expect it my freshman year, so that fourth is amazing right now.”
A third period tilt turned out to be a key move.
“Unfortunately it didn’t go the way I wanted,” said Staudenmayer. “I was struggling on my feet, which I was hoping to excel at. The back points helped.”
As sweet as winning his fourth title was having his brother win his first.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “He’s worked harder than any body I know, and to do it together my senior year is great. I’m really proud of him. He’s opening eyes now.”
One of the most anticipated matches of the night lasted only 43 seconds.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Matt Harkins caught Pennsbury’s Josh DiSanto in a headlock, giving him a third district title at the same time handing DiSanto his first loss in 41 matches this season.
“I wanted to be his loss,” said Harkins. “I was trying to wrestle as smart as I could. I definitely wasn’t planning on doing a headlock, but it was something I felt and went for it, and now I’m happy. I thought I’d have to go a full match with him. I thought it was going to be a tough match too.”
Souderton’s Joe Stolfi also won his third district championship.
It was his second against Methacton’s Brandan Clark. Stolfi rode a big takedown and back points in the first period to a 6-0 victory.
“Clark’s a very good wrestler and a strong boy,” said Stolfi. “I knew he was gunning for me.”
The two could well meet again next week at regionals.
And finally, Norristown’s Brandon Parker won his second district title at 145 with a 5-3 decision over Pottsgrove’s Zach Robinson.
Parker and Robinson had been in the same youth program so they were no strangers to each other.
“We both know each other’s styles very well,” said Parker. “Tonight we were studying each other. It was pretty much all strategizing.
While Parker is content with another district title, his sights are set higher.
“I’m just trying to get to the podium in Hershey,” he said. “That’s the only thing that will make me happy right now.”
Next week’s Southeast Regional Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Oxford High School. Five wresters from District North, five from District South and three from District 12 will make up the field.
The top four will make it to Hershey for the state tournament.
District One North Wrestling Championships
(at Council Rock North, five wrestlers advance to regionals)
Team standings: 1. Council Rock South (CRS) 110, 2. Norristown (No), 3. Neshaminy (Ne) 72, 4. Council Rock North (CRN) 67.5, 5. Upper Perkiomen (UP) 64, 6. Souderton (S) 62, 7. Plymouth Whitemarsh (PW) 50, 8. Pottsgrove (Pt) 49, 8. Quakertown (Q) 49, 10. Upper Moreland (UMo) 43.5
Championship Finals
103—Billy Rappo (CRS) dec. Zach Fuentes (No) 7-2
112—Kolton Veit (S) dec. Dylan Steffenino (UP) 5-3
119—Matt Harkins (HH) pinned Josh DiSanto (Pb) :43
125—Justin Staudenmayer (PW) major dec. Shane Longstreth (CRN) 11-2
130—Scott Wolfinger (Q) dec. Tyler Romano (NP) 5-1
135—Matt Rappo (CRS) dec. Mike Springer (No) 7-5
140—Matt Martoccio (CRS) major dec. Lucas Wisniewski (PW) 12-2
145—Brandon Parker (No) dec. Zach Robinson (Pt) 5-3
152—Brett Harner (No) dec. Thomas Demetrio (Pt) 6-4
160—Nick Russell (Ne) dec. Zeke Zimmer (LMe) 7-3
171—John Staudenmayer (PW) dec. Shane Gilmore (CRS) 4-1
189—John Bolich (UMo) pinned Haddon Corbett (Ha) :47
215—Joe Stolfi (S) dec. Brandan Clark (M) 6-0
285—Gavin Queenan (No) pinned Ken Cenci (Ph) :21
Consolation finals
103—Scott Parker (Pr) won by injury default over Dante Steffenino (UP) 2:53
112—Mike Pritchard (B) dec. Aaron Rodriguez (Wiss) 3-2
119—John Dutrow (CRN) tech fall Ryan O’Connor (Ne) 4:58
125—Wolfgang McStravick (UP) dec. Shane Hughes (B) 7-0
130—Anthony Prisco (B) dec. Nick DiMuzio (UD) 7-2
135—Mike Mathis (CBS) pinned Colby Lederer (Ne) 2:41
140—Patrick Carr (M) dec. Briar Malischewski (Q) 2-1
145—Will Dill (UMo) dec. Seth Ehlo (CBW) 8-5
152—Brendan Hastings (Ne) dec. Peter Jenne (S) 5-3
160—Rich Jasinski (Pr) tech fall Alex Price (NP) 4:32
171—Cody Ambrose (UP) dec. Paul Wisloski (Wiss) 11-8
189—Chris Jastrzebski (CBW) won by injury default over Tim Riley (CRS)
215—Tyler Wysochanski (Pt) pinned Bryan Osei (A) 3:15
285—Joe Stabilito (Ne) pinned Quinton Bryant (HST) 3:52
Fifth place
103—Jason Bing (Pb) dec. Collyn Dorney (Q) 5-2
112—Rob D’Annunzio (M) pinned Anthony DiEmidio (Pb) 4:59
119—Tyree Gardner (No) dec. Kyle Fellman (UP) 3-1 SV
125—Francesco Fabozzi (CBE) won by injury default
130—Adam Slezak (CRN) dec. Nick Giangiulio (PV) 4-0
135—Pat Fennell (Wiss) won by injury default
140—Anthony Dutrow (CRN) pinned Jordan Valenteen (Ph)
145—Connor Moore (CRS) dec. Nick Dau (CBE) 9-2
152—Dylan Moore (Pr) pinned Dominic Rigous (CBS) 1:27
160—Danny Michaels (Pt) dec. Mike Lynch (HH) 7-0
171—Conlan Cornman (Pb) won by injury default
189—Larry Gordon (No) dec. Dalton Fleming (UP) 5-3
215—Tom Dingui (CRS) dec. Ryan Hopkins (UD) 5-2
285—Joe McNamara (S) dec. Jake Swearingen (Q) 8-5
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