OJR, Spring-Ford win on opening night

HOLLAND >> Responses.

Both Tim Seislove and Steve DeRafelo were looking to see how their wrestling teams answered less-than-desirable outings Wednesday.

DeRafelo watched his Wildcats — winner of a less-than-satisfactory 40-34 match with Upper Perkiomen — met the challenge with a 49-26 win over Council Rock North. And Seislove was cheered by seeing the Rams pull out a 31-28 victory over Neshaminy to cap the first-round action in the District 1 Duals Thursday at Council Rock South.

“After the way we wrestled (Wednesday), we had to go out and do what was necessary to be competitive at this level,” DeRafelo said. “The nice thing is, it was a complete win. Everyone did their job … guys not getting pinned, securing a technical fall. That’s the kind of things we didn’t do last night.”

Seislove, in turn, wanted to see his grapplers get back on track following a 55-9 loss to Boyertown. The meeting between the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s remaining unbeaten teams was dominated by the Bears, Spring-Ford’s points coming from a Matt Krieble pin and Brett McGill decision.

“I’m proud of the kids, the way they came back with a good win against Neshaminy,” he said. “They walked out of Boyertown hanging their heads a bit.”

Spring-Ford found itself in a dogfight of sorts with the Redskins, though it never trailed after using a Krieble pin at 138 and Jonathan Westlake major decision at 145 to overturn Neshaminy’s initial four-point advantage. After opening a 22-7 lead at the midway point of the match, the Rams (16-3) watched the Redskins work their ways back to force 22-22 and 25-25 ties.

But Hunter Mitch scored a 4:21 pin on Gus Natelli at 120 in what would be Spring-Ford’s deciding win. The 126-finale saw Neshaminy’s Jackson Erb rally for a 3-2 victory, but not enough points to secure the win.

“It was a super duck and hip toss … a lateral move,” Mitch said of his pinning combination. “I had been getting frustrated out there, but I hit it and went into the hip toss.”

Getting the eventual match clincher was an unaccustomed feeling, Mitch revealed.

“I’m usually one of the first matches, so it’s up to me to start off on a good note,” he said.

Owen J. (8-3) took charge at the start with help from pins by Ryan Resnick (138) and Cole Meredith (145), followed by Ricky McCutchen’s tight 3-2 decision at 152. It got other pins from Micky Kohn (170, Connor Mitchell (220) and William Scherfel (285) to build a decisive 38-15 lead further padded by Luke Resnick’s technical fall at 106 and Daniel Mancini’s pin at 126.

“We definitely improved over last night,” Scherfel said. “We went out and did what had to be done. We talked a lot about how we had to get off our backs, get the other guys on their backs and get pins.”

The Rams’ showing was bolstered by Chase Smith’s first-period pin at 182 and decisions from Steve Rice (170) and Brandon Meredith (106). But Seislove found Brett McGill’s tight 1-0 decision of Vince Stabilito at 160 — one that staked the Rams to a 13-7 advantage — among the noteworthy efforts.

“I knew coming in it (match) was going to be close,” he said. “McGill had a nice win at 160, and Hunter getting the pin … he had to fight to get the pin.”

Spring-Ford’s senior class, having been part of two previous deep runs to the state duals tourney, will have a tough road to go for a three-peat. The eighth-seeded Rams will be looking at a rematch with top-seeded Boyertown in the district quarterfinal round.

“This will be the last run for the seniors,” Seislove noted. “We’re going to have fun and keep trying.”

Adding to OJR’s point total were technical falls by Xavier Ferrizzi (195) and Luke Resnick (106), as well as Ricky McCutchen’s decision at 152.

“Tonight, we took control of the bonus points, and didn’t give up more than a few,” DeRafelo said. “It was 100 percent the kids. They knew they had to rise to the occasion, and they did.”

In the other first-round matches at Rock South, Pennridge edged Garnet Valley 33-31 while host Rock South handled Downingtown West, 34-12.

An Austin Rush decision and forfeit lifted the sixth-seeded Rams over GV. It will now face third-seeded Downingtown East in the quarters.

NOTES >> The district duals head to Upper Dublin High School next weekend. Quarterfinals will be staged 6 p.m. Friday (Feb. 5), with semifinals and first-round consolations at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s schedule has consolation semifinals at 1 p.m., with championship and third-place matches at 3 p.m. … Roberts’ quarterfinal opponent will be Rock South, the tourney’s second seed.

District 1-AAA Duals

Owen J. Roberts 49
Council Rock North 26

132- Jacob Shalinsky (CRN) pinned Ian Donna, 1:04 (0-6)

138- Ryan Resnick (OJR) pinned Andrew Cabo, 2:16 (6-6)

145- Cole Meredith (OJR) pinned Nick Nucero, 5:38 (12-6)

152- Ricky McCutchen (OJR) dec. Billy Storm, 3-2 (15-6)

160- Luke Ely (CRN) pinned Jason Zollers, :44 (15-12)

170- Micky Kohn (OJR) pinned Dan Boruta, 1:10 (21-12)

182- Josh Shalinsky (CRN) dec. Nick Duliakas, 10-7 (21-15)

195- Xavier Ferrizzi (OJR) won by technical fall over Timmy Everett, 16-1 (26-15)

220- Connor Mitchell (OJR) pinned Andrius Duncia, :50 (32-15)

285- William Scherfel (OJR) pinned Alec Leyferman, 3:35 (38-15)

106- Luke Resnick (OJR) won by technical fall over Shane Thompson, 3:13 (43-15)

113- Aidan Burke (CRN) won by forfeit (43-21)

120- Gianncarlo Flores (CRN) won by technical fall over Tyler McCutchen, 5:33 (43-26)

126- Daniel Mancini (OJR) pinned Wesley Olsen, 1:08 (49-26)

Spring-Ford 31
Neshaminy 28

132-Asaph Alexander (NE) dec. Oscar Granese, 16-8 (0-4)

138-Matt Krieble (SF) pinned Austin Saba, 3:27 (6-4)

145-Jonathan Westlake (SF) dec. Brock Leinbach, 14-1 (10-4)

152-Joe Little (NE) dec. Ben D’Arcangelo, 3-1 (10-7)

160-Brett McGill (SF) dec. Vincent Stabilito, 1-0 (13-7)

170-Steve Rice (SF) dec. Jon Albarran, 12-5 (16-7)

182-Chase Smith (SF) pinned Thomas Errico, 1:24 (22-7)

195-Ben Stern (NE) pinned Tim Moran, 0:26 (22-13)

220-Mike Bremser (NE) dec. Zach Gulgule, 6-3 (22-16)

285-Bruce Graeber (NE) pinned Matt Lepore, 0:45 (22-22)

106-Brandon Meredith (SF) dec. Colton Jordan, 9-5 (25-22)

113-Mike Megahan (NE) dec. Dirk Nugent, 3-0 (25-25)

120- Hunter Mitch (SF) pinned Gus Natelli, 4:21 (31-25)

126-Jackson Erb (NE) dec. Jimmy Frank, 3-2 (31-28)