GRATERFORD — Dillon Bechtold’s farewell tour for high-school wrestling passed a significant milestone Saturday. Both for the 2023-24 season, and his scholastic career.
The Owen J. Roberts senior got his final postseason off to a supersonic start at Perkiomen Valley Saturday. He became a three-time District 1-AAA North champion by pinning his way through the 215-pound bracket, needing a combined 3:49 to get the slap in three bouts and run his season record to 34-0, and his four-year win total to 121.
Illness left Bechtold heading out soon after the post-tournament awards ceremonies were completed. In his place, head coach Steve DeRafelo was effusive in his praise in the elder of the program’s Bechtold brothers, whose ascent onto the area’s 100-win chart came 13 bouts into the current campaign off a combined 83-win run the previous two seasons.
“He wants to wrestle well every time,” DeRafelo said. ”He hits the mats hard, at a high level.”
Dillon also impressed his coach by performing through the bug with which he’s dealing.
“There’s a lot of stuff going round,” he noted. “But he showed up today, no excuses.”
Bechtold capped his latest district-title run with a first-period pin of Methacton’s Dylan Pachik. He also dispatched Boyertown’s Kaleb Dumin and Spring-Ford’s Daniel Borzillo in the first period of early bouts following a first-round bye.
Dillon was one of three Owen J. grapplers to defend 1-AAA North championships on the day.
Younger brother Dean (34-3) swept through the 285-pound bracket by pin (two) and technical fall, part of his season-long ascent from the 189-pound weight class he manned his freshman year. And senior teammate Sam Gautreau (37-4) turned in a performance similar to Dillon’s at 172, his two pins and a tech-fall garnering him the tourney’s Outstanding Wrestler honors.
“I go out looking to wrestle to the best of my ability, and trust in the work I put in,” Gautreau, whose previous North championship was at 152, noted. “If it’s a barnburner, I just do the best I can.”
Serving as a practice partner to his older brother, Dean credits Dillon with his own development as a regional champion and state-tourney medalist in just his second year of high-school competition.
“I don’t think there’s two better partners,” the younger Bechtold said. “Brothers always wrestle hard. Neither one of us wants to lose to his brother.”
Alongside the Roberts contingent’s gold strike, Boyertown did a banner job putting the word “team” in the team championship. The Bears’ title winners, Gavin Sheridan (133) and Owen Dykie (152), headed a legion of 10 medalists placing in the top four spots of their brackets. That helped give Boyertown the team championship plaque with 234 points, ahead of runner-up Spring-Ford (204) and Owen J. Roberts (171), and complemented the plaque awarded to head coach Tony Haley as the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Liberty Division Coach of the Year.
“We had all 13 of our kids score points,” he said, “and 10 are going to the (South East AAA) regional next week. Those are numbers you can be proud of.
“I have great coaches, and kids who bought into the program. We started last March, the kids working toward the goals they set. Their hard work in the off-season got them driving during the season.”
Gavin Sheridan of @BashAthletics rides out Upper Perks Branden Rozanski for 1-0 win at 133 final
Other winners have been Max Tancini (PV), Gus Smith (SF) and Miles Warkentine (Conestoga) pic.twitter.com/gTHUTSS3tn
— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) February 24, 2024
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Sheridan (42-3) successfully defended his North 133-pound crown. He gutted out a 1-0 win over Upper Perk’s Branden Rozanski on a day that saw him score a first-period pin and major decision to start off his own last lap through high-school wrestling.
“Performing this way was huge,” he said. “As a senior and captain, I have to set the example in the wrestling room and at tournaments, holding my head high.
“I try to be the big-brother type, treating everyone right, setting a good example and helping them grow.”
Dykie (36-11) opened the day with a pair of first-period pins before shutting out Spring-Ford’s Drew Dotterer in their gold-medal match. Like Sheridan, the Bear junior works to exert a positive influence on his younger teammates.
“Doing a good job every time, not giving up on scoring bonus points, keeping healthy … I like to be a role model to others,” he said. “I did what I expected to do, pinning my way to the finals. That will help out with seeding at regionals.”
Another 2023 North champion, Max Tancini, wowed the home crowd by repeating as a 107-pound champion. The Perk Valley sophomore (35-2) had a pair of first-period falls at the start, then rolled up a 10-0 shutout of Conestoga’s Ryan Kramer in the final.
“Wrestling at home is big,” he said. “It brings more people out to the school to see the hard work we put in.”
Joining Tancini on the top step of the medal podium were teammates Luke Knox and Carter Euker. Knox (39-4) continued his banner freshman campaign with an 11-0 whitewash of Boyertown’s Beck Babb at 139 while Euker (34-6) outlasted Spring-Ford’s Mason Richards in the 189-pound final, running his career win total to 94 in the process.
Spring-Ford’s two champions – Gus Smith (114), Jamie Silva (145) – headed its list of nine medal performers, one less than Boyertown’s total. Smith (31-9) handled Radnor’s Jayden Lee 17-12, and Silva (30-7) rang up a 6-4 win over Boyertown’s Shane Stankina.
Matty Shumaker (34-3) had a gold-medal finish for Methacton at 160. The Warrior junior dispatched Upper Merion’s Jowell Jones at the 5:03 mark of their title bout, upping his career win mark to 95 along the way.
“Staying aggressive and not being comfortable with the lead,” Shumaker said of the mindset he takes out on the mat. “Staying on the gas pedal is how you win all your matches.”
Gold-medal outings among the four non-PAC teams in the field (Conestoga, Great Valley, Radnor, Souderton) were turned in by Conestoga’s Miles Warkentine and Souderton’s Charlie Arobone. Warkentine topped UP’s Sean Murray at 127, 7-1, while Arobone scored a first-period pin on Boyertown’s Brody Coleman at 121.
Warkentine (33-4) ran his career win total to 93 in a North run that saw the junior post major decisions in his first two bouts. He described the PAC-heavy district lineup as being “pretty compatible” to the competition the Pioneers see in the Central League.
“I’m looking forward to the regional,” he said, “but I wish I could have wrestled better.”
Arobone (22-11) came out of the middle of his bracket, qualifying for the championship bout with a third-period fall and major decision. Striking gold after previous fourth- and third-place district finishes left him quite pleased.
“It’s a dream I had for four years,” he said, “but when COVID hit, I missed one. This was my biggest goal, to take one.”
Pottstown and Pottsgrove each came away with wrestlers qualifying for the South East tournament off fourth-place finishes. The Trojans will be represented by junior Evan Smith at 172, the Falcons by senior Damien Poloway at 285.
Norristown’s lone North medalist was Marston, third at 139. Gabe Ertle will represent Great Valley in regional action after placing fourth at 152.
NOTES: The top four wrestlers from each weight class advance to the South East AAA Regional Tournament being staged March 1-2 at Oxford Area High School. … Steve Adam was named the PAC Frontier Division’s Coach of the Year. His Upper Perk program went 11-6 during the regular season, and 5-0 in the division in addition to finishing fourth as a team in the PAC Championship tourney in January.
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