SOUTHAMPTON – Forty-seven teams from throughout the tri state area and beyond, last weekend, converged on Council Rock South and the home of the top-ranked Golden Hawks for the annual Escape the Rock wrestling tournament.
It was the 11th time the tourney was held here and it just seems to get bigger every year.
“It’s awesome to have this big of tournament and this caliper of wrestlers in our home town,” said CR South sophomore Ben Radner. “Just driving a few minutes on the road and we’re at our own house. It’s awesome to be at our home school
“It’s good competition,” added Malvern Prep assistant coach Nate Wachter, whose team put eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals. “You have some nationally-ranked teams here and we’re one of them. I know Belle Vernon’s another one – they’re tough. Boyertown is tough. Pennridge is tough.
“They always bring in good competition here.”
The 2016 ETR field was another strong contingent of quality teams, with plenty of depth in competition.
The teams that competed in the ETR Tournament this year included:
* 6 teams that were nationally ranked in 2014-15
* 7 teams that competed in the PIAA State Dual Championships
* 2 of the top 10, 4 of the top 12, 7 of the top 20 from the PIAA AAA State Tournament
* 4 of the top 15 from the PIAA AA State Tournament
* 1 Virginia State Champion and 6 teams that finished Top 5 at VA State Tournaments
* New Jersey Group 1 State Runner-up
* New York Catholic State Champion
With a half-dozen wrestlers who made their way to the quarterfinals, Rock South got off to a good start in its own tournament.
Juniors Riley Palmer (138 pounds), Zack Trampe (132) and Joe Doyle (195), seniors Lucas Martoccio (145) and Dylan Schwartz (152) along with sophomore Ben Radner all made it into the bonus round in the tournament.
It’s a good time to be a Golden Hawk. South captured runner-up trophies in both the Cumberland Valley and Bethlehem Holiday Classics and finished fourth in the King of the Mountain tourney Dec. 11 at Central Mountain.
More recently in the Parkand Duals at Parkland High School, the Hawks dismantled Central, 74-6, Exeter, 42-23, Pine-Richland, 58-12, Hayfield (Va.) 63-12 and finally the host team Parkland 35-24.
Exeter is ranked ninth in Pennsylvania and Parkland is listed eighth in the state.
“We always expect to be up there among the top caliper (teams) in the state,” said Radner. “Our hard work is paying off and we’re having a pretty good year.”
“We were ranked 12th going into that tournament and we knew we were better than that.
“We knew everyone had to do their part, whether that was not giving up bonus points or getting bonus points or winning the big match.
“Everyone stepped up and we just had a really good tournament.”
The Hawks have been infused with a burst of energy at heavyweight with the return of senior John Anderson at 285 pounds, who missed all of last season. Anderson went 4-1 at Parkland and won six of seven entering the ETR tournament.
“John was a great asset to us sophomore year and wound up getting hurt last year and having surgery,” added Radner. “Getting him back was pretty big.”
Additionally, junior Cary Palmer is a new addition at 126 pounds after missing the last two seasons with injuries.
“He broke into the lineup and really made a difference,” said Radner. “He’s pinning kids and everyone up and down the lineup is getting bonus points.”
After wrestling at 106 pounds last year, Cary’s twin brother Riley Palmer has bumped all the way up to 138 pounds. Radner says Riley is doing well in his new spot.
“He’s ranked at least top 10 in the state if not top five,” said Radner. “Me, Cary, and Riley were training all offseason – lifting and getting bigger.
“Riley really got a lot bigger and he’s doing really well at this weight class. He looks strong, he looks fast and he’s really working his style into it.”
Three Rock South grapplers joined the 100-win club so far this season including Schwartz, Trampe and Martoccio. Schwartz earned his 100th win at Bethlehem and the other two wrestlers hit the century mark at the Parkland Duals.
“They’ve been with us since the beginning. Zack is only a junior and he got his 100th win. In that same tournament, Luke Martoccio got his 100th win with a big pin that clinched the match in the finals.
“Dylan got his in the finals at Bethlehem Catholic so it was awesome to see all three guys get 100 in pretty fashionable ways.”
The list of teams making their first appearance at Escape the Rock in 2016 was headlined by its first representative from PIAA District 7, Belle Vernon (#38 in Intermat’s final 2015 HS Rankings) winning the tournament with 221.5 points. BV had a pair of champs in the tourney – Jarod Verkleeran at 145 pounds and Austin Bell at 170.
Boyertown was second with 156.5 and CR South took bronze with 151 points. South juniors Zack Trampe (132) and Riley Palmer earned title belts and Dylan Schwartz grabbed a runner-up ribbon. Senior Luke Martoccio (145) and Joe Doyle (195) finished fourth and Ben Radner (120) and John Anderson (285) took sixth.
Council Rock North junior Aidan Burke also made his way into the ETR quarterfinals. In just 3:03, he pinned Bethlehem Liberty’s Luke Werner, a two-time state qualifier and a PIAA medalist (8th) in 2014. A state medalist (4th) in 2015, Burke went 4-2 in the tournament and grabbed a fourth-place medal. He is 22-5 thus far on the season.
Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com, or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
COUNCIL ROCK WRESTLERS IN THE ETR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
120: Ben Radner, CRS vs Daniel Planta, St. Paul’s
132: Zack Trampe, CRS vs PJ Crane, Malvern Prep
138: Riley Palmer, CRS vs Bradley DeRito, Musselman
145: Lucas Martoccio, CRS vs Wyatt Jennings, Solanco
152: Dylan Schwartz, CRS vs Garrett Beam, Queen of Peace
195: Joe Doyle, CRS vs Blake Barrick, Big Spring
113: Aidan Burke, CRN vs Luke Werner, Liberty
Escape the Rock Wrestling and FloWrestling agreed to a five year partnership for live streaming rights in 2015. This agreement will be in effect through 2019.
Escape the Rock will be live on FLO Arena in 2016 with the Dashboard available to the public. FloPro subscribers will also have access to the live stream of every ETR match. The Escape the Rock Event Hub direct link is below:
www.flowrestling.org/event/252647-2016-escape-the-rock
