Notebook: Spring-Ford hopes to be host with the most at 1-AAA West tourney

Boyertown got one final taste of home cooking this past weekend when it hosted the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s individual tournament.

Now it’s Spring-Ford’s turn to perform on another post-season stage in its own friendly confines.

The Rams will again serve as hosts for the District 1-AAA West Tournament Saturday. And like their Boyertown counterparts, who racked up 13 medals in addition to a team-championship trophy, they will have a goodly number of competitors in the field.

“The kids are excited about wrestling in their own gym,” head coach Tim Seislove said while reflecting on his squad’s second-place team showing at PACs.

The Rams will truck 11 of their own out on the home mats, headed by Pioneer Athletic Conference champions Brandon Meredith (106) and Steve Rice (170). Rice (30-3) is looking to improve on his 2015 district runner-up finish and making another trip to Hershey before graduating high school in four months.

Spring-Ford also had a pair of PAC silver medalists in Hunter Mitch (120) and Matt Lepore (285). Matt Krieble (138) and Chase Smith (182) scored bronze medals while Dirk Nugent (113) and Jimmy Frank (126) were fourth in their respective weight classes.

“The kids wrestled well,” Seislove said. “They were aggressive. All 14 contributed.”

One of Spring-Ford’s district qualifiers will be resuming his march toward the 100-win mark. Krieble came out of the PAC-10 tourney with 95 career victories, the senior looking to become the program’s 16th member to reach triple digits.

Boyertown will be looking for a “three-peat” in district team championships, and it comes into Ram Country in good position to do so.

The Bears, coming off a third straight PAC-10 regular-season title finish, bring a corps of medalists who finished third or higher at the league tournament. They had a whopping six champions in Jakob and David Campbell (113 and 120), J.T. Cooley (138), Gregg Harvey (182), Jordan Wood (220) and Tommy Killoran (285), and five silver medalists in Lucas Miller (126), Garrett Mauger (132), Hunter Vogels (152), Elijah Jones (170) and Brody O’Connell (195).

Matt Wilde (106) and Chris Berry (145) scored thirds for a Boyertown unit that saw five of these principals — Jakob Campbell, Miller, Harvey, Wood, Killoran — win district titles in 2015 to lay the foundation for their eventual “Fab Five” legend at the state tournament.

“It was really nice, the way the whole team was dominating,” Wood, a four-time PAC individual champ at 220, said. “This was our last (home) one, so it was time to let it fly. The seniors all knew what they had to do.”

Owen J. Roberts brings 10 PAC medalists across the river to districts, led by champions Daniel Mancini (126), Ryan Resnick (132) and Xavier Ferrizzi (195). Following them are runners-up Luke Resnick (106), Nick Duliakas (182) and Connor Mitchell (220).

“There were a couple we got, and a couple we wished we had gotten,” OJR head coach Steve DeRafelo said in regard to his team’s third-place showing. “But overall, the kids wrestled well.
League championships by Bryant Wise (145) and Mason Pennypacker (152) were the first for Pottstown since the 2013 tournament, when Darien Hain took gold at 145. Logan Pennypacker added a silver at 138 while William “Bubba” Gephart (120) Saddiq Ibn-Mustafah (160) and Isaiah Mayes (170) placed third as part of the Trojans’ seven-man district contingent.

Though it didn’t have any individual champions, Methacton nonetheless matched OJR for number of 1-AAA West qualifiers with 10. The Warriors are headed by PAC runners-up Bryce Reddington (145) and Brendan Marion (160) and bronze medalist Dylan Henry (132).

Upper Perkiomen’s Mike Felix rounds out the list of PAC-10 champs. Felix, the overall winner at 160, leads an Indian contingent that includes silver-medalist Jarek Svanson (113) and a trio of third-place finishers in Mike Lockhoff (152), Billy Brower (195) and Mike Modugno (220).

Pottsgrove has a pair of third-place district qualifiers in Chase Banyai (113) and Kylif Underwood (126). Perkiomen Valley’s Matthew Kenney (285) goes to districts off a bronze-medal performance at PACs.

District 1-AA

Nick Yerger got a top seed to the tournament at Oxford, from which he will be looking to defend his 2015 championship.

The Pius junior (21-6), who topped the field at 126 last winter, sits atop the 132-pound bracket this year. He and classmate Brendan Rau (19-12), the second seed at 182, will head the Golden Panthers’ 10-man contingent in their bid to qualify for the Southeast AA Regional at Wilson-West Lawn the following weekend.

The wrestling action for the district’s nine AA teams starts at 10 a.m.

South Central Region

Brenden Valverde and Jesse Enck head a quartet of Daniel Boone grapplers making the first of two possible trips to Hershey in a span of the next three weekends.

Valverde and Enck will be joined by Samuel Zummo and Owen Powell as the Blazers join the top finishers from five District 3 AAA sections for two days of regional-level Class AAA competition at Hersheypark Arena. The top qualifiers from that tourney will be back at Hershey March 10-12 — albeit at the Giant Center — for the PIAA Championships.

Valverde and Enck won their respective brackets at the District 3-AAA Section Four competition this past weekend. Valverde (32-2), a senior and champion at 182, will open against Cumberland Valley senior Jake Schalles (21-10), Section One’s fourth-place finisher. Enck (31-2), a junior wrestling at 285, starts off the tournament against Carlisle senior Muhamed Alic (20-9), also a Section One fourth seed.

At 113, Zummo (23-14) faces Waynesboro freshman Laken Rouzer (27-9). Zummo was second in Section Four, Rouzer runner-up in Section One.

At 138, Powell (33-4) opens with Warwick senior Ben Hershey (29-10). Both were runners-up, Powell in Section Four and Hershey in Section Three.

Friday’s session starts at 3:15 p.m., Saturday’s at 10:15 a.m.

National Preps

Seven Hill School wrestlers will be pursuing national titles this weekend at Lehigh University.

Dymir Davis-Carruth, who placed third in the Pa. Independent Schools (PAIS) tournament last week, heads the Blues’ contingent with a fourth seed at 220. Will Hare, seeded ninth at 285 after placing third at the state preps, is the Hill’s other Top 10 seed in any weight class.

The Blues’ other competitors are Zach Sheehan (138) and Hakim Coles (182), both seeded 10th; 11th seeds Kyle Gorant (132) and Nolan Butcher (160); and unseeded Ted Kennedy (106). Sheehan was the Hill’s highest finisher last weekend, scoring a silver medal while Gorant, Butcher and Hare joined Davis-Carruth in claiming bronze medals.

The prep action begins 9 a.m. Friday with rounds of 32 and 16, followed by quarterfinals and consolations at 6 p.m. Saturday’s schedule has consis and semifinals at 8:30 a.m., preceding the 12:30 p.m. finals.