NEWTOWN – For the senior wrestler, it was his 100th victory, and for the freshman, it was his first varsity win.
While Council Rock North senior Josh Shalinsky and his 9th-grade teammate Johnny Vanderslice are on opposite ends of their careers, their respective matches against their visiting Pennsbury counterparts resulted in exactly the same outcome – with the Indian grappler registering a win by fall.
In all, Rock wrestlers registered nine pins, posting a convincing 65-13 triumph Wednesday night (Dec. 23) in Newtown. The Indians pinned in six of their first seven matches and CR North junior Aidan Burke (9-3) posted a 17-0 tech-fall win over Falcons 120-pounder Mark Hertkorn, assuring a victory by Rock (6-1, 2-0: SONL), its second of the season against a Suburban One National League (SONL) foe and sixth, overall.
Shalinsky’s pin came in the second bout and was the defending District 1and Southeast Region champ’s 100th career victory and third win by fall in 2015, keeping him unbeaten at 8-0 on the season.
“It was a great win for him; he’s a great role model for our team,” stated CR North head coach Tom Vivacqua. “He’s a hard-working kid; he wrestles hard.”
“He’s got bigger plans, though,” added the coach, referring to his 170-pounder’s desire to return to states and earn a medal in 2016. “This is just a nice little accolade in his journey.”
Coming on the heels of a win by fall by classmate Luke Ely, who earned his 10th win of the season in the opening bout, Shalinsky’s pin put his team up 12-0 early.
First-period pins by Rock junior Dan Boruta (182 pounds) and senior Andrius Duncia (220) were sandwiched around a forfeit win by 195-pounder Tim Everett moments before Vanderslice took the mat with his team on top, 30-0.
Facing Pennsbury sophomore Simeon Appleton, Vanderslice failed to get a point in the first period. He registered an escape to begin the second however and another in the third and appeared to be on his way to a decision win. With Appleton appearing to tire midway through the match, Vanderslice decided to join the pin parade, putting the Falcon heavyweight on his back with six seconds remaining in the bout.
“I saw that he was getting tired so I just went for it at the end,” said Vanderslice. “The whole time, he was saying stuff under his breath so I kind of got a little mad.”
Pennsbury (2-5, 0-2: SONL) entered the season missing several wrestlers who decided not to enter the mat wars this season so many of the Falcons are still learning the ropes. Still, the Indians went out and methodically dismantled a formidable league foe to jump a win ahead of CR South.
“It was pretty amazing. We just went out there with spirit,” said Vanderslice, of his team’s effort. “We came together as a team and we work pretty hard both here at the match and at practice every day.”
Council Rock North entered the current campaign without the services of graduates Tom Matarazzo (120), Drew Burschlag (152), Mike Rademacher (195) and Kyle Thorpe (220). In addition to two more Shalinskys on the team, the Indians have received a big boost from Boruta.
“He’s wrestling hard,” said Vivacqua. “He’s getting some confidence and he’s getting stronger. He’s doing a nice job.”
Boruta kicked off his season by winning all five of his matches at the Brian Bealer Memorial Bear Duals Dec. 5 at Boyertown. He followed that up by going 2-2 in the Penn Manor Tournament Dec. 11 at Penn Manor and has pinned in his first two Suburban One bouts.
A pair of senior leaders on the team, Ely and Everett already have 10 wins under their belts.
“They are the experienced kids on the team,” said Vivacqua. “They do a good job at practice and they know how to work hard and prepare themselves for these matches.
“They’re just modeling how to do this. We have a good scrappy bunch of young sophomores who are following their lead – Nicky Nucero, Shane Thompson, Jacob Shalinsky.”
“This group of sophomores has really taken a step forward since last year.”
One of those 10th-graders, Gianncarlo Flores, had the misfortune of facing Pennsbury senior Connor Joyce – a 2-time regional qualifier – in the 126-pound bout. Joyce registered a takedown early on and was up 2-1 by the end of the first period, a frame that ended with a flurry of flips though not much in the way of scoring by either wrestler.
Joyce got down to business in the second stanza, beginning the period with a reversal and tacking on much more after that to take a 10-1 lead into the final frame. Connor came away with a 13-1 major decision for his 10th win of the season, against only one loss.
Sophomore Antonio Martoccio also has just one loss thus far. A 113-pounder and the Falcons’ only state qualifier last season, Antonio pinned CR North freshman John Shalinsky in the first period for his seventh win of the season.
A win by fall registered by Rock senior Wes Olsen (132 pounds), along with first period pins by Jacob Shalinsky (138) and Nick Nucero (145) put the Indians up 65-10 heading into the final bout of the evening.
Enter seniors Zack Clarke for Pennsbury and Billy Storm for Rock North in the 152-pound matchup. After an early takedown, Clarke was up 4-1 in the second period when Storm got an escape to narrow the gap to two points entering the final frame.
With both grapplers going for broke in the last period, Storm earned three back-points with less than 40 seconds left to take a 5-4 lead which would not last long. That’s because, seconds later, Clarke answered with an escape of his own and a 2-point takedown for 7-5 decision win.
“I wrestled the best that I can,” said Clark, still out of breath from the late flurry in the last bout. “I just pushed myself to win.”
“That was just sheer will; he did not want to lose,” added Falcons head coach Phil Kealy. “That could have gone either way but he did what he had to do to turn it around and get the win.”
After going 2-3 at the Ghost Town Duals Dec. 12 at Abington, Pennsbury lost on criteria Dec. 16 in its SONL opener at home. While the Falcons fall to 0-2 in league play, Kealy hopes his team can build on the kind of win registered by Clarke, one taken in the last moments of the match.
“It’s all about the fight,” said Kealy. “It’s all about putting everything you’ve got out there and turning loose, trying to win.”
The Falcons return to the mat in the Ralph Wetzel Memorial Holiday Classic Dec. 29 and 30 at Hatboro-Horsham High School while the Indians travel to Lititz where they will compete in the Manheim Holiday Tournament on the same dates at Manheim Central.
Contact the author at ssherman@buckslocalnews.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Council Rock North 65, Pennsbury 13
(Dec. 23 at CR North)
160 — Luke Ely (CRN) pinned Spencer Hickman, 3:42; 170 — Josh Shalinsky (CRN) pinned Connor Gowton, 1:27; 182 — Dan Boruta (CRN) pinned Patrick Chappell, :42; 195 — Timmy Everett (CRN) won by forfeit; 220 — Andrius Duncia (CRN) pinned Scott Diethorne, :18; 285 — John Vanderslice (CRN) pinned Simeon Appleton, 5:54; 106 — Shane Thompson (CRN) pinned Jacobs Dubbs, :48; 113 — Antonio Martoccio (P) pinned John Shalinsky, 1:33; 120 — Aidan Burke (CRN) tech. fall Mark Hertkorn, 17-0 (2:59); 126 — Connor Joyce (P) maj. dec. Gianncarlo Flores, 13-1; 132 — Wes Olsen (CRN) pinned Nate Smith, 2:29; 138 — Jacob Shalinsky (CRN) pinned Nick Pollazzi, :33; 145 — Nick Nucero (CRN) pinned Shaun Peel, 1:20; 152 — Zack Clarke (P) dec. Billy Storm, 7-5.
