Glenn Kaiser recaps some of the highlights from last weekend’s SOL and makes his picks for this weekend’s district titles.
LEAGUES LACKLUSTER…REGIONAL SEEDS ON THE LINE AT DISTRICTS
The SOL Conference Championships are part of the league qualifying postseason for the District One Individual Tournaments, but the system is failing. Low turnout from a fan standpoint, heavy expenses on the SOL, and light brackets are some of the key downfalls of these tournaments. Don’t get me wrong, some of the matches were exciting and competitive, but overall, there were not too many surprises, and weight classes throughout all three conference individual championships were not full. The general consensus among SOL coaches is that the league qualifiers need some tweeking, and/or “Super Districts” need to be considered, especially the formation of the SOL as its own District.
Twenty-one AAA teams compete in the SOL in the three conferences, so why not make the SOL just one District as the numbers surely comply with the current make-up of the D1’s East, West, and Central District tourneys. Why send the four American Conference qualifiers to the Central with the Ches-Mont’s seven qualifiers. The Ches-Mont is comprised of 13 teams in two divisions. A 12-man District tournament conducted over two days with full double eliminations for the SOL makes sense if we continue with leagues. If ‘Super Districts” are approved by the D1 Wrestling Steering Committee and the D1 Athletic Directors and Principals, the district could include all SOL wrestlers over two days with single elimination in the pigtails of a 24-man bracket…seems like a no brainer.
Despite the drawbacks of the Leagues, there was plenty of excitement out there among the three championships. Gunnar Fuss (Truman) avenged an in-season loss to Jackson Erb (Neshaminy) in the 126-pound National finals, 3-1, and Ben Radner (Council Rock South) downed Aiden Burke (CR North) at 120 by the same score, 3-1. Another exciting bout in those finals included CRN’s freshmen Luke Lucerne’s fall over CRS’s Max Mendez at 106-pounds. Abington’s darkhorse Shane Rose won the 160-pound title with a major decision over Pennsbury’s Connor Gowton 11-4 at Truman H.S. as well to add to the drama. Council Rock South ran away with the team title with 14 wrestlers moving on to the D1 East tournament amassing 234 points.
The American Conference featured Hatboro-Horsham’s Jalen Edwards decking Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Scott Horry late in the 182-pound title tilt after trailing in the match, with a late drop. August Gershwin (Cheltenham) looks like a legit state qualifier hopeful after dropping to 145-pounds to garner Outstanding Wrestler honors with his 13-6 major decision over Zach Fisher (P-W) in the finals. Quakertown’s Zack Lewis, just a freshman, was denied the OW Award but was scintillating in his finals victory at 120 with his last second 11-9 victory over fellow freshman Chris Walker (Upper Moreland). Lewis fought off a Walker throw at the buzzer to step over with a takedown and near fall points for the win.
Jason Amy (Upper Moreland) remained undefeated at 126-pounds with a title, and Upper Dublin’s Mason Novak was tough on his feet in his final’s victory over P-W’s Zack Wakefield (8-5) in the talented 160-pound weight class. Plymouth-Whitmarsh edged Quakertown for the team title by 227.5 to 221 points respectively.
Pennridge showed their tournament strength in the Continental, holding off North Penn by 10 points in the team race 218 to 208. Both teams crowned four champs. No surprises with Matt Parker (120), Evan Widing (138), Josh Stillings (160) and Paul O’Neill (195) winning titles for the Rams. O’Neill had to do it from the #3 seed, downing Souderton’s tough Jack Morgan 8-6 in the finals. North Penn matched them with Will Laughlin (145), Colin Shannon (152), Owen Verespy (220), and Ryan Cody (285) winning individual championships.
Central Bucks East’s Collin Stevens remained unbeaten at 182-pounds with a fall in the finals over William Tennent’s Yusuf Aladinov to up his record 30-0. Freshman AJ Tamburrino (Tennent) continued his winning ways with a 132-pound title win over Souderton’s Connor Trowbridge, 6-0. Brandon Bach (Souderton) was successful downing the #1 seed Ray Calderaio (CBS) with a 9-7 decision at 126. Bach is looking to get to Hershey in his senior season after avenging a late season loss to Calderaio in the SOL Continental final.
Council Rock South is the clear favorite to win the D1 East tourney and the Southeast Regional title. Pennridge and North Penn will have something to say about that when the first whistle blows at Council Rock North at 9 am Saturday. All District One Championships will start at 9 am and run straight through as the League Championships did, so plan on a late afternoon finals around 3 pm, but get there early as Regional seeds will be on the line along with District titles. The D1 Central tourney will kick-off at Quakertown at 9 am as well. Here is a look at the two Districts champion predictions:
District One East
106-Luke Lucerne (CRN) does it again over Max Mendez (CRS)
113-Braden Ricchini (CRS) over Chris Eck (CBE)
120-Matt Parker (Pennridge) over surprise Harrison Andrade (Souderton) in the most talented weight class in D1 East
126-Gunnar Fuss (HST) over Jackson Erb (Neshaminy) in this trilogy
132-Zack Trampe (CRS) over AJ Tamburrino (WT)
138-Cary Palmer (CRS) over Mohamad Kaba (Academy Park)
145-Riley Palmer (CRS) over Will Laughlin (NP)
152-Colin Shannon (NP) over Nick Nucero (CRN)
160-Josh Stillings (Pennridge) over darkhorse Shane Rose (Abington)
170-David McCoy (WT) over Jake Phaup (Souderton)
182-Collin Stevens (CBE) over Yusuf Aladinov (WT)
195-Jack Morgan (Souderton) gets revenge on Paul O’Neill (Pennridge)
220-Joe Doyle (CRS) over Owen Verespy (NP), tough for Doyle not to look ahead to Regionals and a matchup with Brian Kennerly from Upper Darby
285-Kyle Osterhoudt (Neshaminy) over Ryan Cody (NP)
District One Central
106-Doug Zapf (Downingtown West) over Josh Stahl (Quakertown) in a thriller
113-Marco DiBattista (P-W) over Lucas Richie (Downingtown East)
120-Chris Walker (Upper Moreland) over Ryan Lewis (Q-town) 2 freshmen in a rematch of last weekend’s SOL American final won by Lewis
126-Brett Kaliner (West Chester Rustin) over Jason Amy (UM), Amy suffers first loss of season here
132-Drew Massetti (Kennent) comes back to take down Jake Taylor (Unionville)
138-Tyler Kaliner (WCR) over Brad Mallon (Hatboro-Horsham)
145-August Gershwin (Cheltenham) is tough down at 145 and beats Brett Windle (Coatesville)
152-Chase Stevens (Coatesville) downs Max Hale (DTW) for second week in a row
160-Tough to pick, top three from SOL American are the best here, winner of Mason Novak (Upper Dublin)/Davis Wheeler (H-H) wins the weight class over P-W’s Zack Wakefield, they are all close
170-David Cox (Oxford) over Tommy DiSisto (P-W)
182-Kevin Edwards (Avon Grove) over Jalen Edwards (H-H)
195-Cole Zapf (DTW) over Noah Wood (Q-town)
220-Mike Maquire (Unionville) over Alex Raimondo (Coatesville)
285-H-H’s Nick Chapman’s jump to the heavyweight class pays off with a win over Ryan Cavanaugh from Great Valley
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