Upper Perkiomen shores up winning season with win over Perkiomen Valley

GRATERFORD >> Limited in numbers but strong on talent, Upper Perkiomen’s wrestling team assured itself of a winning Pioneer Athletic Conference record by virtue of a 47-30 victory over host Perkiomen Valley Wednesday night.

The Indians thus completed their PAC-10 slate with a 5-4 record (9-10 overall) while dropping the Vikings to 3-6 (7-9 overall).

Upper Perkiomen piled up big points with the aid of five pins, one technical fall and one forfeit en route to nine victories out of the 14 weight classes.

Junior Michael Modugno opened the card with a fall at 220 pounds for the Indians. Then after a 6-6 tie, the Tribe never trailed again.

Also recording falls for the Indians were sophomore Jarek Svanson (113), sophomore D.J. McIlvaine (138), junior Jacob Folk (145) and senior Mike Lockhoff (160).

“We go out there to get our bonus points,” said Folk. “We do our part to win the match. You have to go out there, wrestle our best, get points and not give up points. That’s what our team has been doing this year.”

Folk posted his fall within just 47 seconds of the first period to increase his record to 24-5 on the season with 10 falls.

Folk is one of five Upper Perkiomen wrestlers who have already registered 20 individual victories on the season. Svanson could be number six very soon. His pin against the Vikings moved his mark to 19-9 with 14 falls this winter.

Sophomore Jared Kuhns (106) is 23-5 with 10 falls. Modugno is 22-9 with 10 falls. Senior Michael Felix (170) is 22-7 with 15 falls and two technical falls. Senior Billy Brower (195) is 21-10 with eight falls.

“I am pretty happy with how I have been doing,” said Folk. “I wrestle my best and try not to do anything that might keep me from winning the matches.”

Upper Perkiomen head coach Sam Walters continues to be pleased with his squad.

“My older guys are more experienced,” said Walters. “We have a pretty experienced team. We need bonus points to win matches.”

Currently, the Indians have just 12 wrestlers who are capable of handling mat action. Two others have already been lost to surgeries.

“We’re down a bit, but I am happy with the way they’ve responded,” said Walters. “It’s not too shabby. The postseason could be fun. Right now, we just want to advance, advance, advance. That’s our goal from here going forward.”

Perkiomen Valley got pins from seniors Matthew Kenney (285) and Quinn Verbeke (152). Kenney’s fall came at the 1:57 mark while Verbeke picked up his slap at the 5:28 mark. Verbeke trailed Noah Falk 6-1 after the first period but battled back to win the match. The second period went scoreless. Verbeke started in the top position to begin the third. He notched a three-point near fall with 45 seconds left in the bout prior to his fall.

The Vikings celebrated Senior Recognition Night prior to the match for the wrestlers and their parents. The other Perkiomen Valley seniors include Nate Balog, Jake Latchum and Joe Lofton.

“You try to get a couple bonus points when you can,” said Perkiomen Valley coach Jared Dubbs. “It didn’t work out for us tonight. They’re banged up and we’re banged up at this point in the season. It just didn’t work out for us.”

The Vikings were awarded three forfeits for victories.

At 126 pounds, Upper Perkiomen’s Ryan Rossiter edged Owen Hartman, 6-3. At 195, the Indians’ Brower topped Paul Pearce, 6-2.
Felix won his technical fall by a 19-4 margin at the 5:05 mark.

Perkiomen Valley will compete at the Interboro Tournament scheduled for this weekend.