Boyertown captures third straight District title
FORT WASHINGTON >> He takes the glass-three-quarters-empty approach to preparing Boyertown for competition.
Pete Ventresca’s pre-match M.O. is to say how tough his wrestlers’ next opponent will be. The Bears register their coach’s assessment, then — with one notable exception this season — go out and decimate the other team.
The latest example of this process occurred Saturday, when Boyertown faced Council Rock South in the championship match of the District 1 Class AAA Duals Tournament at Upper Dublin. Their head coach’s evaluation duly noted, the Bears rolled up a 40-21 victory on the Hawks good for a third straight district duals championship trophy and advancement to the state tourney.
Boyertown (19-0) spotted the Hawks 12 points through three of the first four weights, then went on a run that chewed up South’s early lead and replaced it with its own insurmountable cushion. The run featured brothers Jakob and David Campbell with Jakob’s pin at 113 and David’s decision at 120.
No worries, coach?
“There were plenty of worries,” Ventresca said while his wrestlers, coaches and their families celebrated the latest three-peat by this unit. “They (South) are very tough. They have a lot of hard-nosed kids who come out to wrestle.”
None of that — particularly the initial 12-3 deficit in which they found themselves — seemed to faze the Bears. They settled in to win nine of the next 10 weights, starting at 170, before second-seeded C.R. South (14-1) closed out the affair with a moot-point decision at 132.
“We definitely worry about every match,” senior co-captain Gregg Harvey, who contributed a pin to the Boyertown surge, said. “Both teams fought the whole time. But we trust in ourselves and each other.”
To their credit, the Hawks held the Bears to their second-lowest point total of the season, the lowest coming in a 33-31 win over Cumberland Valley. But to its own credit, Boyertown put out considerable effort in picking up bonus points from all but one bout in the stretch run to leave Rock South embracing second-place hardware.
“We had plenty of worries,” defending state champion Jordan Wood admitted, “but we’re moving on. The past two days put us in a good spot.”
Boyertown’s run started at 170, where sophomore Elijah Jones posted a 6-2 decision on South’s Tyler Gettman. Harvey then kicked off the Bears’ modest pin parade by decking Eric Tsimberg in 1:40 at 182, with Wood needing just 45 seconds to dispatch Brandon Kohn at 220.
Tommy Killoran boosted Boyertown’s lead to 22-17 with an 11-1 major decision of John Anderson at 285.
“We knew the way the weights started, we had to get some matches starting the momentum,” Wood said. “Elijah definitely turned things around — he gets overlooked. Gregg had his pin, and Brody (O’Connell) avoided a pin at 195.”
The Bears’ seniors then yielded the mats to the underclassmen, who kept the pace going. Matt Wilde rolled up a 14-3 major decision on Rock’s Maximon Mendez at 106, followed by Jakob Campbell’s 55-second pin of Colin Waterman.
With Boyertown holding a 32-17 lead and three bouts remaining, David Campbell posted an 8-2 win over Mike McKinney in the injury-timeout pocked 120-pound contest. The clincher was followed by senior Lucas Miller racking up a 15-0 score on Eric Woloshyn at 126, good for a tech-fall in 4:45.
“This was a really important match,” Jakob said, “so we wanted to put a statement up.’
He contributed to David’s victory in a different role, offering advice to his twin during the various timeouts.
“I loved that he coached me,” David said. “He’s one of the people I look up to. Him being in the corner helped me get where I am.”
For the upcoming trip to Hershey, Boyertown will be looking to remain there a bit longer than the past two duals trips. Both times, the Bears went 2-2 and bowed out in the third round of consolations at the hands of Parkland.
“We’ll enjoy this tonight,” Ventresca said, “then be back at work (Sunday).”
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The final outcome notwithstanding, Pope John Paul II gained some benefit from its participation in the Class AA duals tournament.
“We like coming here every year,” head coach Jared Every said following his team’s elimination in the semifinal round by Bristol. “We get the exposure to AAA teams, and to wrestle tough matches.”
PJP got off to a good start, holding a 24-12 lead through the first seven weights of the forfeit-pocked — three singles, one double — contest. But Bristol swung the score back in its favor with three straight pins; and after an exchange of forfeits, the Warriors clinched the win with a final fall at 120.
Nick Yerger got the Golden Panthers (41-7) started with his 1:31 pin of Kyle Ford at 132. William Heid (160) and Brendan Rau (182) added other first-period pins around Bristol’s forfeit of 145 to Brian Bendig for the early lead.
But the Warriors reversed their fortunes with four falls – all in the first minute – down the stretch. The lone bout not decided by pin or forfeit was the 126-pound finale, where Ricky Patterson scored a 9-0 major decision.
“I think the matchups worked out for us,” Every said. “We wanted to get Yerger out at 138 … he got six and did his job.
“Today, the guys we knew would do the job did the job. The matches we focused on not getting pinned, we got pinned.”
The Panthers will now look to closing out their PAC-10 schedule between now and the league’s championship tournament Feb. 20. They will wrestle Owen J. Roberts next Wednesday (Feb. 10), then Pottsgrove Friday (Feb. 12).
NOTES >> Boyertown’s Hunter Vogels opened up the scoring for the Bears with a 14-7 decision at 152 pounds. … The AAA third-place match saw Downingtown East handle Upper Darby, 46-24. Those teams will be joining Boyertown and Rock South to represent District 1 in the state duals. … New Hope-Solebury won the district’s Class AA title — and its lone berth at states — with a 54-19 victory over Bristol.
