LANSDOWNE — Six points separated Interboro and Penn Wood when Bucs freshman Greg Ferrari stepped on the mat for his 189-pound bout with Victory Kelichi-Nwaogu.
The Patriots had won the previous four matches to turn what appeared to be an Interboro runaway into a dogfight.
To add to the drama, the Del Val League title was on the line, which made it a huge moment in Ferrari’s young career. And he came through when the Bucs needed him most.
Ferrari pinned Kelichi-Nwaogu in 3 minutes, 58 seconds to propel the Bucs to their third league title in four years with a 45-24 victory Wednesday night.
Interboro’s Kyle Cramphorn pins Aarion Hill of Penn Wood at 215 pounds Wednesday evening. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
“I was just having fun, excited to wrestle,” Ferrari said. “There’s nothing better than that. You’re living the dream, playing sports, wrestling varsity as a freshman, it’s as good as it gets.”
Kyle Cramphorn, who followed Ferrari with a pin at 2:15 to ice the victory, wasn’t surprised that his freshman teammate came through in such a big moment. He’s seen it before.
“During the football season we had some guys go down, and he had to step up big during the playoffs as a freshman on the line and he did great,” Cramphorn said. “He’s a heck of an athlete and to step up on the offensive line like that as a freshman and do a great job tells you a lot about him.”
Interboro coach Dan Tobin wasn’t shocked at Ferrari’s performance, either.
“We’ve wrestled a tough schedule,” Tobin said. “We wrestled Boyertown and were up at the Coal Cracker Invitational. He’s wrestled quality people, so he was ready for that level.”
The league title is a bright spot in what has been a tough overall season for the Bucs. They came into the match with a 3-12 record, wrestling against some of the best competition in the area. They’ve faced Pennridge, Sun Valley and Boyertown, which are ranked third, fourth and seventh, respectively, in District 1 by pa-wrestling.com.
“At least we got something out of this season,” Tobin said.
For a while, it looked like the Bucs were going to cruise to the title. Interboro jumped out to a 30-0 lead on the strength of pins by Ryan Rossiter (127) and Gavin Olivia (139), and forfeit victories for Colin Magee (114), Anthony Lascio (121) and Vincent Coghlan (133).
The Patriots, though, didn’t go quietly. Pins by twins Taiwo Mogaji (145) and Kehinde Mogaji (160) combined with forfeit victories by Caleb Brasby (139) and Jayden Jean-Gilles (172) cut that deficit to 30-24. Kehinde Mogaji usually wrestles at 152 pounds but moved up a weight class to give his team a boost.
“I’m small even when I wrestle at 152 so going up a weight class is a little bit scary,” Mogaji said. “I just had to do what I did for the team and myself. It doesn’t matter what weight class I’m at because it’s a chance to better my wrestling skills.”
That comeback gave the Patriots life. But it wasn’t enough to overtake the Bucs. Ferrari and Cramphorn saw to that. Ferrari took control of his match in the third period and came away with six huge points that gave the Bucs some breathing room. Cramphorn decked Aarion Hill in 1:17 to clinch the title.
“It’s amazing,” Cramphorn said of winning the league title. “We were sad that we couldn’t get it during the football season but we’re really happy to get in in wrestling. It’s a great feeling.”
Elsewhere in the Del Val:
Chichester 41, Academy Park 24 >> Montana Raymond (215) and Kareem Ballard (285) recorded first-period pins to pace the Eagles.
Raymond pinned Jahan Abdullah in 1:18. Ballard decked Mohamed Kamara in 1:06. Richard Briggs (133) and Ryan Whartnaby (172) also won by fall for Chi, while Blake Bryant (145) got a win by technical fall.
James Wallace (121), Mohamed Soumare (139) and Anthony Lombardi (160) won by pin for the Knights while Mekhi Dembele (152) was a winner by major decision.
In the Central League:
Marple Newtown 36, Garnet Valley 32 >> The upper weights came through in a big way to lead the Tigers to their first win over the Jaguars in nearly 20 years, according to head coach Arty Erle.
Neil McDermott (160), Jimmy Hally (172), Louie Diluzio (189), Noah Iyouri (215) and Vasili Tzimas (285) combined for 27 points.
Diluzio and Tzimas both won by fall, while McDermott scored an 8-4 decision. Hally and Iyouri won by forfeit. Will Evan came away with a 6-4 triumph at 127 pounds for MN.
“I’m very proud of the guys for fighting and never giving up,” Erle said. “We are a very young team that is only going to continue and get better.”
Doiminic May (114), Nolan Carroll (121), Ethan Bliss (139) and Matt Mesaros (152) all won by pin for the Jags, while Mason Troy and Paxton Hunt notched major-decision victories.
Conestoga 59, Springfield 15 >> Tyler Rush (107), Cayman Grier (133) and Tommy Rush (152) were the winners for the Cougars against the team that won the Central League championship meet on the weekend.
Tyler Rush defeated Ryan Kramer, 6-4. Grier pinned Charles Mucklow in 3:53 and Tommy Rush pinned John Hauser in 3:52.
August Mullin (114), Steven Wiechecki (121), Miles Warkentine (127), Edward McKenzie (139), Alex Calvitti (145), Matt Boye (160), Jake Allred (189), Bruce Beltrante (215) and Hayden Leon (285) all won by fall for the Pioneers.
