Sensational season for Upper Dublin continues with victory over rival Abington

ABINGTON >> They’ve made history, and keep adding to it.

Upper Dublin, which had already set the school record for wins with 20, notched win number 21 on Wednesday night with a spirited performance over rival Abington.

The Cardinals took control of the match in the middle weights, winning four straight to close things out, and came away with a 33-21 victory over the Ghosts in a Suburban One League Liberty battle.

“Our middle weights are tough, and we knew that. It was about wrestling well, winning matches, and the last four guys did it. That’s all we can ask. We’re a solid team and we have a bunch of solid seniors,” coach Dave Jones said.

The Cardinals raised their impressive overall record to 21-2 on the year, including a 4-1 finish in the Liberty. They’ll now get ready for the SOL Liberty Championships on Feb. 15 at Quakertown.

Abington, which got several strong performances on its Senior Night, is now 9-8 on the season and 3-2 in the Liberty. The Ghosts are at the Falcon Invitational Saturday at Cedar Crest High.

C.J. Ambrose’s win by decision at 133 pounds brought the Cardinals within 21-18. Dan Gorman won by pin at 139 to catapult Upper Dublin into the lead and then Elias Abebe held on for a satisfying 4-3 decision at 145, giving the Cardinals a 27-21 advantage.

Said Abebe: “I got my last dual-meet win of my career and it was a meaningful win, so I’m glad. I just saw that (Nick Brown) was going for dumps at the end. I got my takedowns early and was aware he was going for dumps – I could feel him pulling down, so I was making sure not to hop on the one side where he dumped me. And just finish the match.

“All of our middle weights are seniors and the majority of them are captains. So we knew we were strong there and could finish strong.”

Those seniors, including Abebe, have been there through it all.

“Freshman year, I don’t even remember how many we won,” Abebe said (the young Cards were 6-19 that season). “We didn’t have anybody above 132 pounds. We had to bump everybody up two weight classes. I wrestled two weight classes up and three other guys did as well. And now, we all kinda grew. We grew into our bodies. And we actually have a full roster now. And we have some really good freshmen.”

Austin Pendleton closed things out with a pin at 152 to cap another terrific night for Upper Dublin.

“It’s been a great year. We misfired twice. Quakertown’s tough and we didn’t wrestle up to our potential against Penn Charter, who is tough. But we’ve wrestled well,” said Jones, who guided the Cards to a 17-win season a year ago and now to their school-record 21. “Now we’ll hunker down and get ready for the league tournament and districts. Getting seven or eight guys to districts is the goal.

“Great group. These guys have worked together for four years.”

Mark Podolsky, one of Abington’s seniors, pulled out a 4-3 decision at 127 to help power the Ghosts.

Upper Dublin 33, Abington 21
160: Tommy Clayton (UD) major dec. Luis Ramos 10-2; 3-0 (UD deducted a point).
172: Dylan Kiesling (A) dec. Gus Platt, 8-1; 3-3.
189: Gavin Rockey (UD) pinned Laim Knotek, 2:41; 9-3.
215: Jaime Rivera (A) dec. Noah Morganstin, 4-2; 6-9.
289: John Wright (A) pinned Phil Roll, 1:10; 12-9.
107: Jake Evans (UD) pinned Cayden Patterson, 1:25; 15-12.
114: Isaac Pantano (A) dec. Zach Gallagher, 5-4; 15-15.
121: Nathan Sanders (A) dec. Caden Cerminaro, 10-4; 18-15.
127: Mark Podolsky (A) dec. Joseph Sirianni, 4-3; 21-15.
133: C.J. Ambrose (UD) dec. John Kaplan, 5-2; 18-21.
139: Dan Gorman (UD) pinned Jacob Chen, 1:59; 24-21.
145: Elias Abebe (UD) dec. Nick Brown, 4-3; 27-21.
152: Austin Pendleton (UD) pinned Ryan Solomon, 1:08; 33-21.