Escape the Rock is Council Rock South wrestling’s Shane Hanson-Ashworth’s favorite (VIDEOS)

HOLLAND – Council Rock South junior Shane Hanson-Ashworth was born and raised in the Holland area, though he didn’t arrive on Rock Way until September of this year after transferring from Malvern Prep.

Shane has competed in four tournaments thus far for the Golden Hawks including the Cumberland Valley Kickoff Dec. 8-9 at CV, the King of the Mountain Tournament held mid-December at Central Mountain and the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic held just before the end of the year at Bethlehem Liberty.

His favorite tournament, however, is the annual Escape The Rock (ETR) wrestling tournament held in January each year at CR South.

“I love this tournament; this is always – without a doubt – the highlight of my wrestling season every year,” he says. “This has always been my favorite tournament ever since I was little so I always look forward to wrestling here.

“It brings out the best in me.”

After taking fourth at 126 pounds at the Cumberland Valley Kickoff Dec. 8-9 at CV, and third at King of the Mountain Tournament held mid-December at Central Mountain, Hanson-Ashworth placed third at 120 pounds last Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 13-14 at ETR.

“The competition here is tough,” said Hanson-Ashworth. “You’re always going to get tough matches, no matter what weight class you’re in.

“You just have to push the pace and grind through it and try to win.”

Shane took second last year at 113 pounds and third his first year as a freshman at 106.

On day one of this year’s ETR, Hanson-Ashworth started off with a 19-3 tech-fall win over Lower Dauphin’s Sean Donnelly. After pinning Kingsway’s Cheney Kinner in 3:11, he majored Eamonn Logue of Father Judge, 10-2 to earn a berth in Sunday’s semifinal round.

While he dropped an 8-1 decision to Parkand junior Brandon Kassis in the semis, he wrestled his way back to third place with decision wins over Brandon Wittenberg (Battlefield, Va.) and Antoine Allen (La Salle, OH).

After taking third at Prep Nationals as a Malvern Prep sophomore in 2017, Shane decided he wanted to finish high school closer to home.

“I grew up in this area and then I went to Malvern (Prep) so I knew all these kids growing up.”

He says this year has not been that much different than last year.

“Practices are a little different because no two coaches are the same; each coach is going to run their practices differently,” explained Hanson-Ashworth.

“One thing here is the intensity level is really high. They challenge you to be the best you can be on and off the mat, without a doubt.”

At ETR, Shane was joined on the podium by teammate Kyle Waterman, a sophomore who claimed second place at 106 pounds, and junior Max Mendez, who grabbed a fifth-place medal at 113 pounds.

After recording just eight wins last year as a freshman, Waterman has over 20 victories on the mat this season. At ETR, Kyle went 3-1 including decision wins over Asa Walton (Delsea, N.J.), Jimmy Baxter (Canon McMillan) and Dustin Norris (LaSalle, OH).

He finally fell 3-1 in the final to Nico Nardone, of Delbarton (N.J.), which captured third place in the team standings.

A District 1 and South East Region medalist last year at 106 pounds, Mendez pinned his first opponent from Chambersburg then recorded decision wins over Evan Gleason (Easton) and Aaron Howell, of James W. Robinson (Va.).

On day two, Max was majored by Anthony Clark (Delbarton), then he dropped a 7-0 decision to Liam Logue (Father Judge). To his credit, he wrestled his way to a fifth-place medal with a 13-5 major decision win over Dayton DelViscio (Malvern Prep).

Competing in a field of 48 teams, Bethlehem Catholic took first place with 173 points followed by Cincinnati LaSalle (171.5). CR South placed 11th and sister school CR North was 38th.

CR North senior Shane Thompson (145 pounds), sophomore Cameron Robinson (138), sophomore Luke Lucerne (120) and freshman Kyle Hauserman (106) each went 2-2 in the tournament.