Neshaminy finds all the comforts of home at SOLs with nine headed to districts

LANGHORNE — Neshaminy heavyweight Bruce Graeber captured the Suburban One League (SOL) National Conference crown, same as he did last year. Winning was sweeter the second time around, he said, but especially since it was on the Skins’ home court Feb. 14 at Fred Gerst Gym.

“It felt great to win leagues two times,’ said Graeber. “It’s always better the second time.

“It’s always good to win; it’s even better when you’re surrounded by your friends and everybody that you see on a day to day basis on your home court.’

Neshaminy put on a good show at SOLs with Graeber, senior Justin Kramer and junior Noah Kisselback taking league title belts. What’s more, the Skins scored 136 points, finishing second in the team standings to CR South, which won the competition with 194.5 points.

Tied at 2-2 in his 182-pound title bout with Council Rock North senior Mike Rademacher, Kisselback used a third-period takedown to win, 4-3 and run his record to 23-3.

“I’ve had a couple matches that came out 1-0 and they’re still wins,’ said Graeber. “That match just came down to who wanted it more and Noah was the guy.’

Kramer pinned Bensalem 132-pounder Mike Rimer then earned decision wins over CR South’s Robbie Fasciocco and Abington’s Alex Winshel. He’s 22-6 now.

“It’s great!’ said Graeber. “Noah is also a two-time champion; it’s great to see him up there joining me on the podium and ready for districts.

“Kramer — first-time (league) champion but it’s his senior year. He has something to leave with.

“But we’re not stopping yet. Hopefully, we can keep it going.’

Graeber — who is 31-1 and hasn’t lost a bout in 2015 — was ahead in his title bout with Bensalem junior Nick Cooper by a 13-4 score before pinning the Owls heavyweight with 44 seconds to go in regulation.

The three SOL champs for the Skins lead a total of nine Neshaminy wrestlers to the District 1-AAA Tournament this Saturday, Feb. 21 at Interboro High School.

Senior Dominic Stabilito also has 31 wins. At SOLs, he pinned William Tennent 152-pounder David McCoy then majored Abington’s Austin Inverso but could not outduel CR South junior Dylan Schwartz in the final. Still, after finishing fourth in last year’s SOL tournament, Stabilito heads to districts as an SOL runner-up, his best finish in leagues.

The Skins had three wrestlers grab third-place medals at SOLs including senior Raheem Rahamatulla, sophomore Jon Albarran and junior Ben Stern. All three won their consolation final with Rahamatulla earning a 12-9 decision over Abington 145-pounder Shane Rose, Albarran pinning Abington 160-pounder Dan Kiesling in 3:58 and Stern taking down Bensalem 170-pounder Donavin Williams in 2:35.

A senior, Rahamatulla is a returning district qualifier who is approaching 20 wins, twice the number he recorded last year. Raheem won his first bout in districts last year when he decisioned Academy Park sophomore Shemar Hannibal but he got pinned by then Souderton senior Brett Hale and lost by tech-fall to current CB West senior Riley Barth who earned a runner-up ribbon at districts.

Both he and Stabilito would like to punch their tickets to South East regionals. To do so, they’ll have to earn one of the top three spots at districts. Dominic just missed out last year, earning fourth place in districts.

A two-time district medalist and defending D-1 champ at heavyweight, Graeber made it to regionals last year but was disappointed when he lost his first two bouts. Big Bruce ran into a wall in the form of then Pottsgrove junior Pat Finn, who pinned Graeber in the first period and went on to take both regional at state runner-up medals.

In his second regional match, facing then Great Valley senior Dean Lang, a regional medalist in 2013 and district champ last year, Bruce found himself pinned in the last second of regulation.

Over the summer, Graeber transformed himself into a point-scoring wrestler. That’s opposed to one who goes out and looks to pin all the time like he did his first two years on the mat. He thinks it will help him in the postseason.

“I feel like it helps a lot in close matches,’ said Bruce. “The higher up you go, the closer the matches are.

“I want to be a heavyweight that wants to score techs, majors and regularly wins close matches.’

At 170 pounds, Stern has quietly put together a solid 26-win season. At SOLs, he pinned Truman junior Quentin Mulbah in 1:18 and William Tennent senior Tom McCoy in 48 seconds. While he dropped a major decision to Pennsbury junior Alex Cwenar, he rebounded with a pin in the consolation final.

In the lightweight division, freshman Mike Megahan has had an up and down season but a solid one, nonetheless. Already, he has 17 wins in his first year on the varsity mat. In January, Megahan went 4-1 at the Redskin Duals. In February at the Cougar Duals at Martin Luther King, he lost all three bouts.

At SOLs, he found himself on the wrong side of CR South freshman Mike McKinney then rebounded with a 7-0 win over Bensalem freshman Austin Middleton. While he lost to McKinney again in the consolation final, this time, he stayed off his back.

And he made districts.

“That’s the name of the game,’ said Graeber. “You have to finish better than when you started.’

It would appear that a bunch of Redskin wrestlers fill that bill. That’s why nine of them are going to districts.

***

SOL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Championship Finals

132 — Justin Kramer (N) dec. Alex Winshel (A), 7-2

152 — Dylan Schwartz (CRS) maj. dec. Dominic Stabilito (N), 9-1

182 — Noah Kisselback (N) dec. Mike Rademacher (CRN), 4-3

285 — Bruce Graeber (N) pinned Nick Cooper (B), 5:16

Third Place

106 — Mike McKinney (CRS) dec. Mike Megahan (N), 5-2

145 — Raheem Rahamatulla (N) dec. Shane Rose (A), 12-9

160 — Jon Albarran (N) pinned Daniel Kiesling (A), 3:58

170 — Ben Stern (N) pinned Donavin Williams (B), 2:35

220 — Brandon Wiley (T) pinned Kyle Osterhoudt (N), 4:16