North Penn’s O’Neill, Cody win district titles

Quakertown >> For the next step in the PIAA State Playoff race, several teams competed at the District One East Championships at Quakertown High School Saturday.
Leading the way was Council Rock South, who is sending eight wrestlers to the regional tournament next weekend.
As for more local teams, Pennridge earned second place in the team standings only behind CR South and is sending six wrestlers to regionals.
North Penn High School wasn’t far behind finishing third and it’s also sending six wrestlers to the regional tournament.
North Penn was lead by two champions in Patrick O’Neill and Ryan Cody.
O’Neill, who is ranked second in District 1, earned a fall and major decision in his first two matches to reach the 160-pound final.
O’Neill won the title by a 5-0 decision over third-ranked Logan Green of Pennridge.
The final was the second time O’Neill and Green faced each other in a week as O’Neill won in the sectional tournament last Saturday.
“I always do my best to prepare for any match” said O’Neill. “Being the number one seed, I have more to lose than to gain so I wanted to live up to where I was seeded at.”
Cody got two falls in his first two matches to reach the final against top-ranked Nick Cooper of Bensalem, which turned out to be the championship match of the day.
After a scoreless first period, Cooper got a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.
With less than a minute left in the third, Cody was able to get the escape point and force sudden victory overtime.
With less than 10 seconds left in overtime, Cody was able to get the championship-winning takedown as well as his 32nd win of the season.
“A lot of our matches is about wearing the guy down,” said Cody. “I knew my opponent didn’t have a lot of full matches this year always going for the quick pin.”
“But I knew if I gave him six minutes, I could just force overtime so I could get a shot in,” added Cody. “That was my game plan and it worked out very well.”
Souderton High School also had a good performance finishing in sixth place as a team with two champions.
Tyler Williams won the 132-pound championship before Bruno Stolfi won the 195-pound title.
Stolfi beat Pennridge’s David Blanchard 6-2 in the final after he earned a tech fall and a 4-1 decision to get there.
Williams, who is ranked second in District 1, earned a hard fought 4-2 decision victory in the 132-pound final against third-ranked Ben Radner of Council Rock South.
“It feels really good,” said Williams. “It felt different that it wasn’t the finals match I expected, but it feels great to win.”
Williams was likely to face William Tennent’s AJ Tamburrino in the final, but he wasn’t able to participate in the tournament due to injury during the week before.
Souderton’s Harrison Andrade did make it to the 138-pound final, but had to forfeit in the championship match to Council Rock North’s Cameron Robinson due to injury. His status for the regional tournament in currently unknown.
Council Rock South won the team title with 177 points and three champions. CR South won by 43.5 points over second place Pennridge.
Pennridge was led by Joshua Stillings who won the 182-pound title with a 16-1 technical fall over second-ranked and previously unbeaten Harry Green of Upper Moreland.
His efforts with two falls and a technical fall earned him the most outstanding wrestler award.
“I keep it going by doing what I love,” said Stillings. “It’s not really a job for me, it’s all about having fun.”
“My goals are to go all out in regionals,” added Stillings. “I would also like to win the state championship and I would be the first ever at Pennridge to do that.”
The top four finishers in each weight class will now focus on wrestling at the PIAA AAA South East regional championships at Oxford High School. The two-day tournament will being on Friday, March 2.
District 1-AAA East Chamionships
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Council Rock South – 177 pts.
2. Pennridge – 133.5 pts.
3. North Penn – 128 pts.
4. Council Rock North – 120 pts.
5. Neshaminy – 96 pts.
6. Souderton – 92.5 pts.
7. Hatboro Horsham – 81 pts.
8. Plymouth Whitemarsh – 79 pts.
8. Quakertown – 79 pts.
10. Harry S. Truman – 62.5 pts.
106 pounds
Final: Kyle Hauserman (CR North) 8-1 decision over Kyle Waterman (CR South)
Third Place: Kyle Miller (Quakertown) 9-7 decision over Chris Cleland (CB West)
113 pounds
Final: Maximino Mendez (CR South) 5-4 decision over Luke Lucerne (CR North)
Third Place: Corey Cope (Quakertown) 5-3 decision over Zachary Martin (Neshaminy)
120 pounds
Final: Shane Hanson-Ashworth (CR South) 18-2 Tech Fall over Jake Rose (Abington)
Third Place: Connor Eck (Bensalem) 5-3 SV over Vincent DeSpirito (Quakertown)
126 pounds
Final: Gunnar Fuss (Harry S. Truman) 5-2 decision over Josh Stahl (Quakertown)
Third Place: Anthony Colella (William Tennent) 5-1 decision over Colton Jordan (Neshaminy)
132 pounds
Final: Tyler Williams (Souderton) 4-2 decision over Ben Radner (CR South)
Third Place: Shane Thompson (CR North) 5-3 decision over Domenic DeFalco (Quakertown)
138 pounds
Final: Cameron Robinson (CR North) won by medical forfeit. Souderton’s Harrison Andrade placed second.
Third Place: Corey Showaker (CB South) 10-5 decision over Eric Woloshyn (CR South)
145 pounds
Final: Jackson Erb (Neshaminy) 6-4 decision over Evan Widing (Pennridge)
Third Place: Connor Trowbridge (Souderton) 6-5 decision over Joseph Goldey (Harry S. Truman)
152 pounds
Final: Dillon Sheehy (CR North) 8-4 decision over Cole Flanagan (CR South)
Third Place: Erik Laughlin (North Penn) pinned Jadin Bass (Pennridge), 3:47
160 pounds
Final: Patrick O’Neill (North Penn) 5-0 decision over Logan Green (Pennridge)
Third Place: Zach Fisher (Plymouth Whitemarsh) 10-7 decision over no. 7 Matt Needleman (Hatboro Horsham)
170 pounds
Final: Nik Korbich (CR South) 8-4 decision over Reid Dentner (North Penn)
Third Place: Mason Novak (Upper Dublin) 6-4 SV over Brock Leinbach (Neshaminy)
182 pounds
Final: Joshua Stillings (Pennridge) 16-1 Tech Fall over Harry Green (Upper Moreland)
Third Place: Alex Litz (Harry S. Truman) 10-2 major decision over Giani Gilch (CR South)
195 pounds
Final: Bruno Stolfi (Souderton) 6-2 decision over David Blanchard (Pennridge)
Third Place: Yusuf Aladinov (William Tennent) pinned Daniel Sibel (North Penn), 1:54
220 pounds
Final: Nick Chapman (Hatboro Horsham) 2-0 decision over Owen Verespy (North Penn)
Third Place: Ryan Hieber (CB West) 1-0 decision over Michael Beljan (Pennridge)
285 pounds
Final: Ryan Cody (North Penn) 3-1 SV over no. 1 Nick Cooper (Bensalem)
Third Place: Paolo DiSanto (Plymouth Whitemarsh) 10-6 decision over Harrison Radovich (CB West)