Council Rock North freshmen (from left) Luke Lucerne, Cameron Robinson and Sammy Hayes have stepped up in their first season on the varsity mat, helping the Indians off to a strong start. (Steve Sherman – 21st-Century Media)
NEWTOWN – Council Rock North wrestling is off to a good start and they have a trio of freshmen who are really making some noise their first time out on the varsity mat.
Freshman Luke Lucerne, who is 10-0 on the season, captured a championship belt at 113 pounds in the Comet Classic Dec. 16 and 17 at Penn Manor High School, helping the Indians finish third in the two-day tournament, despite the fact they were missing wrestlers in all the weight classes over 160 pounds.
Lucerne went 5-0 on Dec. 10, his first day competing on the varsity mat, helping Rock North finish fifth in the Brian Bealer Memorial Bear Duals held annually at Boyertown High School.
In the Comet Classic, the Indians lightweight nipped Susquehanna Township sophomore Tyger Evans – a regional qualifier as a freshman, 3-2 in the title round.
Lucerne pinned Hamburg junior Tyler Reimert and decisioned Central York freshman Mason Myers to reach the semifinals and he majored Cocalico freshman Kayde Althouse to make it to the championship round.
At the Bealer Duals, he pinned Interboro senior Kyleigh D’Agostino in 2:24. D’Agostino was a section champ who qualified for districts last season. Lucerne also registered tech-falls in winning two other matches in the tourney including a 17-0 decision he recorded against Unionville sophomore Dominic Chaclas and a 15-0 win her posted against Owen J. Roberts freshman David Forrest.
Lucerne has scored bonus points in six of his nine bouts winning three by pin, two by tech fall and one major. On Wednesday, Dec. 21, he helped the Rock to a 71-10 dual meet triumph over CB West when he pinned Bucks 113-pounder Jake Tosti in 2:49 (CB West had wrestlers in only five weight classes).
Another ninth-grader doing well at North is Cam Robinson, who is 10-1 wrestling at 132 pounds. Robinson also went 5-0 at the Bealer Duals, starting the tourney with a 13-2 major decision win over Bethlehem Liberty sophomore Michael Torres and finishing with a 15-6 major decision over Governor Mifflin junior Kyle Seibert.
In between, he sandwiched a pair of pins in less than a minute over Unionville freshman Chase Devitto (0:43) and Owen J. Roberts freshman Connor Leister (0:50) around another match he took by forfeit.
At the Comet Classic, Robinson recorded a 5-0 decision win over ELCO senior Shawn Price before posting a major decision win over Cocalico junior Nate Fritz.
After dropping his only match of the season when he was majored by Pequea Valley sophomore Gabe Miller, a state qualifier last season, Robinson rebounded with a major over Manheim Central freshman Hadyn Schreiner and a tech-fall win over Torres to take a third-place medal in the tournament.
Freshman Sammy Hayes is also performing splendidly his first time out on the varsity mat. A 126-pounder for the Indians, Sammy might have lost his first ever high school match but he won his next four, three of which he won by pin in the first two minutes.
Hayes pinned Unionville Tim Weber in 1:41, Interboro’s Jerry Curran in 40 seconds and Governor Mifflin’s Joseph Yacknik in 13 seconds. Before that, he majored Owen J. Roberts junior Tyler McCutchen, 9-1.
At the Comet Classic, he majored Penn Manor senior Alex Laughlin before dropping decisions a pair of decisions to junior wrestlers from Souderton and Parkland.
Sammy rebounded nicely with a 16-0 tech-fall win over ELKO senior Alex Puglio and another major decision win over Laughlin. Hayes won by tech fall facing CB West 126-pounder Andrew Soto, taking the match 16-0 midway through the second period.
Meanwhile, CR North junior Nick Nucero, a two-time district qualifier in 2015 and 2016, is 9-2 thus far after posting a 4-1 record in each of the first two tourneys. Wrestling at 152 pounds, he grabbed a third-place medal in the Comet Classic after pinning Governor Mifflin senior Alvaro Moreno in 57 seconds.
All eight of Nick’s wins have come via a pin with seven of those falls coming within the first 1:10 of the bout. At the Bealer Duals, Nucero pinned Unionvillle sophomore Joey Caldwell in 1:08. Caldwell was a sectional medalist who qualified for districts last season.
Nucero pinned his first two opponents in the Comet Classic quickly before dropping a 9-3 decision to Dallas sophomore Alec Sampson. He also rebounded nicely with a 42-second pin facing Cocalico senior Maxwell Martin before putting Moreno on his back for the second time in the tournament.
Junior Jacob Shalinsky, meanwhile, is 8-2 with just a single loss in each tournament. Competing on the mat at 145 pounds, Shalinsky went 4-1 at the Bealer Duals with three wins by pin including a victory by fall in 1:12 facing Interboro junior Jeff Kintner, a sectional medalist who made districts last season.
At the Comet Classic, Jacob opened with a win by fall facing Ridley freshman Marty Cowan. Shalinsky made his way to the CC finale with decision wins over ELKO senior Owen Nell and Manheim Central junior Zack Zeamer.
Shalinsky had to settle for second place when he found himself on the wrong side of a fall facing Avon Grove sophomore Nick Barnhart. Against CB West, he pinned Bucks 145-pounder Ryan Tiernan in 4:40.
Additionally, juniors Shane Thompson and Gianncarlo Flores are 6-5 thus far on the season. Wrestling at 120 pounds, Shane took fifth place in the Comet Classic when he decisioned Hamburg’s Shane Strausser 2-0.
Flores fell to eighth place when he was pinned in 4:24 by Souderton’s Connor Trowbridge.
NOTES: In the dual meet with CB West, the Bucks’ 195-pounder Ryan Heiber majored CR North’s Dan Boruta, 16-8, and Harrison Radovich won by forfeit in the 220 pound matchup.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
