QUAKERTOWN – Imagine a postseason game where the players who are picked to advance have already been decided. Now, think about a situation that requires competitors to play on, despite the fact that they are facing an almost imminent end of their season.
Welcome to the wonderful world of wrestle-backs, or more specifically, fifth-place matchups at last weekend’s District 1-AAA wrestling tournament.
Two wrestlers from Neshaminy, a pair from Pennsbury, two from Council Rock North, one from CR South and one from Truman captured fifth-place medals at districts only moments after being bumped out of contention for third- and fourth-place medals.
In a world where only the first four finishers advance, the only way any member of this group can compete in the upcoming South East Region Class AAA Tournament Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5 is if one of the guys ahead of him gets sick or sustains an injury.
It’s happened in the past but, truth be told, the chances are slim.
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Neshaminy senior Joey Little was in the fifth-place pairing facing Chichester 145-pounder Tommy Smarkola, whom he had decisioned 8-2 earlier in the tournament. And yet, here he was trailing Smarkola 7-2 with a little more than a minute to go in the match when the Redskin wrestler decided to go for broke.
Little gives you an idea of what it’s like to battle in consolation rounds where all of the combatants are sent home for the season or in his case, his entire varsity career which, for him, started at CR South.
“You just want to go out there and win it – why not? You want to go out on top,” he said.
“It was the last match of my career so I figured I’d do something fun and see what happens.
“It was kind of a cool move and it worked out so …”
The move Little pulled on Smarkola was, as he described it, a gator roll combined with a cement mixer. And for good measure, Joey threw in a ‘Little’ twist.
“Instead of bringing it this way, I brought it that way,” he said, motioning with his hands.
“I don’t think he saw it coming.”
Pennsbury senior Connor Joyce – who went to regions his last two campaigns – was in a similar bout facing William Tennent 126-pounder Randy Knapp.
Joyce had never wrestled Knapp before but he pinned the sophomore for the Panthers in just 34 seconds.
Connor didn’t use any fancy moves; he just wrestled the way a four-year varsity starter with over 100 wins on his résumé knows how.
“I just threw him,” said Joyce, of his final varsity matchup. “He started coming at me so I jacked him up and I just tossed him through.
“I just figured this is it; it’s my last match ever so you want to win. That’s how I want to be remembered.”
Joyce might also be recalled for how he wrestled in his previous bout, one in which he was majored by North Penn senior Sofiane Bensmail, who took third at Quakertown. Joyce went the full six minutes, despite trailing the Knights wrestler the whole way.
At one point late in the match, Bensmail looked like he was looking for a little bit of a breather outside the circle and had to be told by the match official to return to the center of the ring. Joyce, meanwhile, kept running back to the middle on restarts.
“I just had to keep going at him; I had to just keep pushing the pace,” said Connor. “If you lose too much control, that’s when things get sloppy.
“It was just more fuel to the fire to keep going at him – not to quit.”
Ironically, Bensmail cannot wrestle at regionals due to injury, giving Connor his third shot at a South East Region Class AAA medal this weekend at Souderton. Two years ago, he finished fourth at regionals while last year, he came up short of the medal round in the tourney.
Joyce’s teammate, sophomore Antonio Martoccio, went to states last year and yet he was also knocked back to the fifth-place round after getting pinned by Pennridge junior Matt Parker and Souderton sophomore Harrison Andrade. Two tough opponents, Parker went on to win a District 1 title belt at 113 pounds and was a state medalist last season. Andrade finished fourth at districts this season after taking fifth a year ago.
In his fifth-place bout, Martoccio was facing a familiar foe in CR South sophomore Collin Waterman. After taking a minute and a half in pinning the Golden Hawks wrestler a week earlier at the Suburban One National League tournament, Antonio used just 26 seconds of the clock in putting Waterman on his back this time around.
It was a tough way to end the season for Martoccio, a wrestler with 62 varsity wins against just 14 losses in his two years on the mat.
From Jump Street, it was a tough campaign for the Falcons.
In addition to the graduation of alums Eric Mongiello, Luke Kowal and Mason Houriet – all of whom were regional qualifiers last season, Pennsbury suffered an unexpected loss when juniors Andrew Roccograndi and Connor Romano along with senior Kenny Hickman decided not to come out for wrestling this season.
What’s more, senior Alex Cwenar, a league runner-up who registered 26 wins last season, could not get medical clearance to return to the mat after sustaining a neck injury last spring.
“We did the best we could with what we had,” said Joyce. “That, I’m glad for.”
Staring at the end of his varsity career, he offered, “It went too fast.”
Additional fifth-place District 1 East medalists in the SOL National Conference included sophomore Gianncarlo Flores (120) and senior Andrius Duncia (220) for CR North, freshman Max Mendez (106) for CR South, junior Vince Stabilito (160) for Neshaminy, and senior Austin Vossbein for Truman.
After posting 26 varsity wins as a freshman, Mendez completed his inaugural varsity campaign with a 16-0 tech fall win over Hatboro-Horsham sophomore Sam Negron. Flores finished his second year by pinning CB South 120-pounder Nick Polinchock in 3:25 and Duncia pinned North Penn 220-pounder Tyler Leidy in just 55 seconds.
With 30 seconds left in the second period, Stabilito pinned Hatboro-Horsham senior Joseph Hwang and Vossbein decisioned CR North senior Billy Storm, 9-3. Waterman, Knapp and Storm all earned sixth-place medals at districts.
Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
DISTRICT 1-AAA EAST TOURNAMENT
(Feb. 27 at Quakertown)
Fifth Place Pairings
106 — Maximino Mendez (CR South) won by tech. fall over Sam Negron (Hatboro Horsham), 16-0
113 — Antonio Martoccio (Pennsbury) pinned Collin Waterman (CR South), 0:26
120 — Gianncarlo Flores (CR North) pinned Nicholas Polinchock (CB South), 3:25
126 — Connor Joyce (Pennsbury) pinned Randy Knapp (William Tennent), 0:34
132 — Shane Mathis (Interboro) dec. Kyle Murphy (CB South), 2-0
138 — Ryan Tiernan (CB West) maj. dec. Will Laughlin (North Penn), 13-3
145 — Joe Little (Neshaminy) pinned Tommy Smarkola (Chichester), 4:54
152 — Austin Vossbein (Truman) dec. Billy Storm (CR North), 9-3
160 — Vincent Stabilito (Neshaminy) pinned Joseph Hwang (Hatboro Horsham), 3:30
170 — Luke Kohler (CB South) dec. Kyle Beck (Hatboro Horsham), 3-2
182 — Alec Sager (CB East) pinned Anthony Zizza (Interboro), 2:25
195 — Owen Verespy (North Penn) dec. Anthony Cellucci (Chichester), 6-0
220 — Andrius Duncia (CR North) pinned Tyler Leidy (North Penn), 0:55
285 — Justin Correa (Quakertown) pinned Giberilla Dukuray (Penn Wood), 2:12
