Vulakh brothers, Files medal at Pope John Paul II Invitational

UPPER PROVIDENCE >> He picked up from where he left off nine months ago.

And with literally an outstanding effort.

After finishing third in the 2018 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Championships last March, Ryan Vulakh served notice Saturday he is looking to go even further this winter. The Pope John Paul II senior headed his numbers-thin team’s solid showing in the Pope John Paul Invitational by steamrolling through the 152-pound weight class.

Vulakh, with three falls in the early going, didn’t get the slap sweep in his 152-lb. final with Central Bucks South’s Corey Showaker. But he rolled up a convincing second-period technical fall for the Golden Panthers, complementing similar finishes by brother Matt at 113 and teammate Jack Files at 195 … and being named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

“I work to score points,” Vulakh said in regard to not getting the fall on Showaker. “I want to get some good mat time in. We have some big tournaments coming up like Beasts (of the East).”

Vulakh rolled up a 13-1 lead in the first two minutes, scoring a pair of takedowns around an escape by Showaker and a trio of three-point near-falls. In the second, he escaped from a bottom-position start and got the deciding takedown on Showaker 45 seconds in.

“I try to score more points in matches that kind of make a difference,” he said.

Matt Vulakh made his own case for OW consideration by pinning his way through 113. The PJP sophomore got the slap on CB West’s Chris Cleland at the 1:05 mark to start PJP’s gold rush, and Files capped his solid showing with a 25-second drop in the finals against Allentown Dieruff’s Xavier Garcia.

It was all good for a sixth-place team finish in the 18-school field … a significant showing, given the fact PJP had only four wrestlers in the varsity ranks. And it enabled assistant coach Bill Brower — he led the team in the absence of head coach Tom Hontz, who was away on another commitment — to give his boss a glowing report when he texted Hontz at the end of the tourney.

“Today was a good day,” Brower said. “It’s a good stepping stone for us … a huge confidence builder. Very rewarding.”

Matt Vulakh resumed the roll that netted him an eighth-place state medal at 106 last winter. Scoring a takedown on Cleland, he shot a power-half to finish off the Bucks sophomore, a Southeast AAA Regional qualfier at 106.

“I mix them up a bit,” Matt said of his pinning combinations. “The cradle is the main one.”

“This (tournament) gives me an idea of what to work on to get better,” he added. “There’s stuff I need to work on.”

Files, who had a pin and forfeit in earlier rounds, blitzed Garcia in the 195 final with a cradle hold. He cited a “feeling inside” as the basis for his success.

“I’m kind of like the Incredible Hulk, angry inside,” he said. “I try to use all my strength, speed and skills.”

Unable to qualify alongside the Vulakhs for a 2018 trip to Hershey — his season was ended in the third round of consolations at regionals — the PJP senior is focused on fixing that outcome.

“The big thing for me is to make states,” he said.

Pottstown, the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s other representative in the tournament, had a pair of medalists in Demond Thompson and Zach Griffin.

Thompson placed third at 138 after taking a gritty 2-1 decision from Overbrook’s Dennis Belleh. The Trojan senior answered Belleh’s escape from a second-period bottom start with a takedown, then weathered Belleh’s third-period rides to repay the 5-4 decision that dropped Thompson into wrestlebacks.

“It was our second match of the weekend, so I knew what he would do,” he said. “It was a little harder the first time. I was down 5-3 before I got an escape.”

Thompson’s earlier wins were by pin and major decision. He noted fixing his fireman’s carry move as a priority, noting “when I executed it, I had success.”

Griffin finished fourth at 195 off a loss to Dieruff’s Shawn Buffert. The Pottstown junior had posted three pins in the tournament’s early rounds.

NOTES >> Jim Thorpe emerged as the team champion with 145.5 points, beating out Penncrest (138), Dieruff (135.5), Abington (134.5) and C.B. West (98.5). PJP followed with 81.5 points, well ahead of seventh-place Upper Moreland (68.5). … Dieruff matched the Panthers’ total of individual champions, tying for the tournament lead in that category.