LANGHORNE — With six wrestlers heading to districts Harry S Truman is looking to make some noise with senior Dylan Nuttall, a senior with 130 career wins, leading the way.
Nuttall wrestled his way back to take third place at districts last year, earning decision wins over then Council Rock North freshman Aidan Burke and Quakertown senior Collyn Dorney.
At this year’s SOLs, Nuttall made a statement in the finals with a 4-1 decision win over Pennsbury junior Connor Joyce, who last year at 113 pounds, captured a District 1 crown and a fourth-place regional medal.
After qualifying for the South East Region Tournament the last two years, Nuttall is looking to make it to states this time around.
“We’re definitely looking at a nice state run for Dylan this year,’ said Truman head coach Jesse Dunn. “We’re hoping to bring a medal home too.’
Dylan leads a strong junior class of Tiger wrestlers to the District 1-AAA East Tournament which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday morning at Interboro High School.
Topping the list of 11th-graders are Dustin Stone and Dennis Burns, who didn’t compete in the postseason last year after sustaining a late-season injury.
Stone went 33-7 last year, a mark that includes district tournament wins over Chichester then senior Anthony D’Amico (pin) and North Penn then sophomore Colin Shannon (major). Dustin had the misfortune of running into eventual D-1 champion Tim Ambacher a regional medalist from CR North and Anthony Gonzales, an Interboro senior who pinned Stone to keep him from advancing.
Stone is 29-5 with a title belt taken at the Colley Classic Dec. 13 at West Chester East. Both he and Burns grabbed second-place medals at SOLs with Burns losing only to up-and-coming CR South freshman Ben Radner and Stone falling 6-0 at the hands of South junior Luke Martoccio.
Ironically the two wrestlers didn’t see each other during the season. Martoccio didn’t weigh in before the Tigers dual meet with the Golden Hawks on Feb. 10 at South.
“That was a match that we anticipated the other night,’ said Dunn. “Today, we saw it for the first time.’
Stone did well, but especially considering he was battling an ankle injury that kept him out of a dual meet with Bensalem earlier in the week.
Burns and Stone finished second and third, respectively Jan. 23 and 24 in the New Oxford Invitational Tournament. Burns, along with senior Brandon Wiley, who took third at SOLs, each captured tournament title belts at the Colley Classic.
With 25 wins thus far, Wiley is having his best year ever as a senior. He pinned Neshaminy sophomore Kyle Osterhaudt for the second time this season to win a third-place medal at SOLs. He has twice as many wins as losses in 2015 with a 12-6 mark since the New Year began.
With 20 wins, junior Austin Vossbein is also having a solid season. He wrestled back at SOLs with impressive wins over Pennsbury sophomore Connor Romano and CR South senior Robbie Fasciocco.
Junior Justin Litz is just 12-9 but he recorded two solid victories at SOLs with wins by fall over Neshaminy junior Tom Errico and Pennsbury senior Alex Holliday.
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SOL National Conference Championships
(Feb. 14 at Neshaminy)
Championship Finals
113 — Ben Radner (CRS) maj. dec. Dennis Burns (T), 14-4
120 — Dylan Nuttall (T) dec. Connor Joyce (P), 4-1
145 — Lucas Martoccio (CRS) dec. Dustin Stone (T), 6-0
Third Place
132 — Austin Vossbein (T) dec. Robbie Fasciocco (CRS), 3-1
195 — Justin Litz (T) pinned Alexander Holliday (P), 2:53
220 — Brandon Wiley (T) pinned Kyle Osterhoudt (N), 4:16
