The first round of the District 1-3A Duals took place this week and after four Ches-Mont League teams were selected to the tournament, only No. 5 Sun Valley advanced to the quarterfinals.
Thursday, No. 11 Downingtown East, No. 15 West Chester Henderson and No. 16 Avon Grove were eliminated with losses, while No. 5 Sun Valley advanced.
The Cougars traveled to No. 6 Spring-Ford and even though East won six of 13 bouts, the Rams rolled to a 37-20 victory.
East was in a 15-0 hole before Ricky Jewell (152 pounds) got the Cougars on the board with ad decision. Of East’s six wins, four gained no bonus points. Felix Mason (215), Adham Abouraya (285) and Declan McDowell (127) won by decision.
Abouraya, an honorable mention in the heavyweight rankings on pa-wrestling.com, knocked off Connor Hudak, who was No. 6 in the rankings.
Cade McDowell (172) and Valen Piff (121) managed major decisions. Five of the Ram’s seven wins came by fall, pushing the contest out of reach.
Henderson made its first trip to the duals with its new coach, Joe Gartland. The Warriors could muster just two wins. Angus Whittaker (133) had a 68-second pin and Faizan Ahmad (285) won by disqualification.
Second-seeded Pennridge won 11 bouts, eight by fall, leading to a 62-12 win.
Henderson’s old coach, Rob Beighley, led his new team to top-seeded Council Rock South. Avon Grove won just two bouts but saw some top-tier competition for the first time this season.
Noah Smith (107) started the dual off with a pin for the Red Devils, but South won the next 10. Jagger Vitelli (215) ended the run with another fall. In between, Christian Ford lost his first match of the year, 2-0 to Pat Woloshyn in the tiebreaker period. The Golden Hawks won, 58-12.
Wednesday night, No. 5 Sun Valley won eight bouts, six by fall, to discard No. 12 Perkiomen Valley, 45-30. Timmy Kearney (121), Dalton Pedrick (127), Josh Others (145), William Cadden (160), Brandon Carr (172) and John Deorio (114) pinned for the Vanguards.
Brecken Strickland (133) won by technical fall and Hunter Delaney (152) picked up a major decision.
Sun Valley will face No. 4 Quakertown in quarters, which will take place February 3 at 8:30 a.m. The finals and consolation finals are scheduled for 1 p.m., and the top four teams will qualify for the PIAA Duals.
