Spring-Ford falls in District 1 Duals; Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts make states

FORT WASHINGTON >> Team goals were at the forefront of Pioneer Athletic Conference teams participating in the District 1 Duals Tournament.

Being one of the district’s top four placers and qualifying for the PIAA Duals were at the top of the list. Being in the field at Hershey’s Giant Center was a distinct upgrade for anybody.

Those goals were realized by the PAC’s three participants this weekend at Upper Dublin. The “Big Three” — Spring-Ford, Owen J. Roberts and Boyertown — will all move on based on their showings in Class AAA.

The Rams fared best, finishing second to Council Rock South and thereby booking a second straight visit to Hershey. The Wildcats and Bears are also state qualifiers, though they will have to win pigtail matches Monday to join Spring-Ford at the Giant Center later this week.

“That was our goal all year, to get back to Hershey,” SF head coach Tim Seislove said. “The best way to do that is to get in the championship match.”

The Rams did that Friday night with their 31-23 win over OJR in the semifinal round. And even the tall order of facing Rock South, a matchup that went the Hawks’ way 42-25, didn’t diminish their assessment of their effort.

The third-seeded Rams, who lost to South in a non-league match back on Jan. 15, improved the bottom line of that 45-15 setback. Even while tweaking its lineup to work around banged-up 182-pounder Chase Smith being held out, Spring-Ford reversed a 16-point (22-6) deficit to a 25-22 lead through the heavier weights.

“We got a couple extra bouts from the first time,” Seislove noted. “It will be interesting to see how we do at Hershey.”

Rock South then ran the table in the four lower weights, bolstered by pins from Kyle Waterman (106) and Braden Ricchini (126) and Shane Hanson-Ashworth’s technical fall at 120. All told, the Hawks scored bonus points in seven of the nine bouts it won.

“It was an honor for us to be here,” Seislove said.

Owen J. Roberts rebounded from Friday’s loss to the Rams with victories over Neshaminy (43-25) and Boyertown (41-25). They overtook the Redskins after falling into an early 10-point deficit, then jumped out to a 23-point lead on the Bears to book their first trip to states in two years.

“It was tough coming back from last night,” OJR head coach Steve DeRafelo noted. “It was such a battle, and the kids were emotionally drained. We competed well against Neshaminy, and we knew Boyertown was going to be a tough bout.”

The Wildcats answered the Redskins’ initial 10-0 lead with another big showing from their vaunted middleweight lineup, starting with technical falls from Cole Meredith (138) and Antonio Petrucelli (145) and continuing with Daniel Mancini’s 6-2 decision of Jackson Erb at 152 and Connor Quinn’s pin at 160.

Ricky McCutchen and Tommy Dempsey added decisions at 182 and 195, respectively to give Roberts a 25-13 cushion. And after Richard Nathan accepted a forfeit at 285, Joshua Jackson and David Forrest closed out the victory with pins at 113 and 120.

“Dempsey and Quinn were good,” DeRafelo said. “And Mancini against Erb.”

In the third-place contest, Roberts was keyed by pins from Meredith, Petrucelli and David Forrest (120) and Mancini’s technical fall at 152. Forrest’s second-period fall proved the clincher for the ‘Cats, giving them a 38-26 lead with one weight left to contest — one Jacob Dunleavy sewed up with a 9-2 decision at 126.

“We were a little tight Friday,” DeRafelo said. “I saw how they were in warmups today, looser and joking around. They relaxed and wrestled our kind of match.”

Boyertown, hammered by Council Rock South 55-9 in Friday’s semi, rebounded against the Jaguars in their consi-semi. The Bears were not headed the entire way, starting with decisions by Dominic Sheridan (126) and Noah Fisher (132), continuing with Broc Babb’s technical fall at 152, a forfeit of 160 to Evan Mortimer and Alan Alexander’s decision at 170.

Jacob Miller added a tech fall at 195 before Kade Davidheiser and Julien Maldonado capped the win with decisions at 106 and 113. Maldonado scored a major at 113, 10-0 over Daniel Hussain.

“One of our goals was to be among the Top Four in the district,” Boyertown head coach Dave Jones said. “I’m pleased and joyful we were able to achieve that goal.”

Against OJR, the Bears got pins from Jacob Miller (195), Robert Terra (285) and Kade Davidheiser (106), along with Julien Maldonado’s tech-fall at 113. Boyertown is maintaining a string of consecutive state-tournament appearances, though it was unable to reach Hershey after losing in its pigtail match.

“We’re in the top four in the district,” Jones said. “Anything we do after this is icing on the cake. But we do want to step on the floor at Hershey.

“Now is the time to perform. We have a young crew, and we want to have this dividend pay off.”
As a veteran of last year’s Hershey-bound team, Dirk Nugent will be in position to offer younger Spring-Ford teammates the benefit of his experience performing inside the cavernous Giant Center.

“We wrestle well as a team,” the Rams’ senior 152-pounder said. “Spring-Ford has always been for the team more than the individual.

“It (Giant Center) has a great atmosphere. Wrestling there is great.”

NOTES >> By finishing third in the district, Owen J. got itself a home match in the state pigtail round. The Wildcats will host District 3 third seed Cumberland Valley 7 p.m. Monday. … The Bears will be on the road Monday, visiting District 12 runner-up Archbishop Ryan 7 p.m. Monday. … Spring-Ford’s opening match at Hershey will be against District 10 champion Cathedral Prep. Rock South, in turn, will face off against the District 2 second seed. … Like several of his teammates, Nugent quickly polished off the Hershey bar given to the qualifiers instead of keeping it for posterity. “I’ll probably keep the wrapper,” he said jokingly.