HORSHAM >> Coming into this season many felt as if the Suburban One League Continental Conference was as open as it has been it in recent years.
While Pennridge is probably the class of the conference there is a log jam for second place. Wednesday night, North Penn made a big case for itself being the second best team in the Continental as it thoroughly dominated Hatboro-Horsham with a 49-24 victory.
North Penn’s Jee Ea Gay topples Hatboro Horsham’s Dylan Simerson in their 106-pound bout during the teams’ SOL Continental match on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. (Bob Raines/Montgomery Media)
The Knights figured to have a strong team in the middle weights but would have to see how the team would make out at the lower and higher weights. North Penn past that test Wednesday night as it earned wins at 106 by Jee Ea Gay, 113 by Erik Laughlin and a big win at 195 by Owen Verespy.
“We had some unexpected wins, we actually had the match a little closer on paper,” North Penn coach Robert Shettsline said. “We got some wins early on.”
Hatboro Horsham struggled to get the points it needed all night, especially at the spots it was banking on. The aforementioned losses at 106 and 113 certainly hurt but even like 220 pounder Nick Schuck made a mistake that cost him the bout and Nick Chapman could only eke out a one-point win at 195.
“That wasn’t Nick,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Glenn Kaiser said. “He’s off to an 8-2 start and that wasn’t really him and I don’t know what was going on tonight.”
The Hatters could not overcome a flat start, especially as the Knights racked up the bonus points with pins and tech falls. All but one of North Penn’s wins in the match came via pin or tech fall.
“We’re young coming around, but top to bottom I got to say they came to wrestle we didn’t,” Kaiser said. “Even Gay at 106 there you know they’re going to get bonus points even against our tough kids. (Brendan) Wawrzynaik took fifth at districts last year and O’Brien tore him apart with a tech fall.”
It’s hard to say that winning a conference opening dual meet sends a message to the Continental, but for North Penn it could certain stand as a tone setter for the rest of its conference season.
“They’re a lot more solid than people think,” Kaiser said. “We knew they were really good in the middle with the three studs there. They got some good wrestlers and they’re solid.”
