READING >> Jesse Enck couldn’t wait to claim the top step on the medal podium at Reading High’s Geigle Complex.
Even while the next weight class’ bouts were taking place, Enck perched himself on the step marked with the big black “1.” He sat there, eagerly awaiting the awards presentation for a 182-pound weight class he dominated this weekend.
“I like my feet dangling off the ground,” the Daniel Boone senior, a picture of contentment, said. “I like to stretch my legs.”
There was no disputing Enck’s claim to the highest point on the podium. He closed out two days of competition from the Berks County Interscholastic Athletic Association (BCIAA) Individual Tournament with one of Boone’s two title finishes.
Enck completed his sweep of the 220-pound division with a third-period pin of Exeter’s Jon Greenleaf. It came after he pinned Reading’s Jesus Zavala 22 seconds into their opening bout, then recorded a 4-0 overtime decision on Oley Valley’s Daymond Zweizig in the semifinals.
Enck wasn’t Boone’s only top-step talent this weekend, either. Two weight classes earlier, Brenden Valverde struck gold with a gritty 9-7 decision of Hamburg’s Ignacion Reynoso at 182, the capper to a weekend that saw him score 14-2 and 9-2 decisions on Exeter’s Mike Crane and Wilson’s Bailey Funk, respectively.
Their efforts headed a solid showing by Boone, which came away fifth of the 16 schools competing in the county tourney. Owen Powell (138), Joey Yohn (145) and Cinque Ramsey (195) all placed third, Sam Zummo was fourth at 113 and Tyler Ring finished fifth at 152.
“This (tournament) was kind of a test for some kids, to let them know where we are,” DB head coach Kevin Oswalt said. “It was a gauge … we’re going to get better. But at over the halfway point of the season, we have work to do.”
Enck (16-1) and Greenleaf went 0-0 through the first period before the Boone senior escaped off a bottom start to the second period. The score remained 1-0 going into the third, before Enck dropped Greenleaf (13-8) and used a half-nelson combination to get the slap at 5:04.
“I was trying to work up a body snap on him,” Enck said. “I was also trying to shoot a headlock.”
Valverde had a tougher go against Reynoso, managing only a 2-1 lead after the first two minutes. He escaped off a second-period bottom start, only to see Reynoso pull even with a two-leg takedown.
But the Boone junior (17-2) escaped for a 4-3 lead going into the third. Reynoso again erased the deficit with an escape of his own, then went up 6-4 with a takedown before releasing Valverde.
Valverde took advantage of the situation by scoring a takedown, then repeated with 10 seconds left after Reynoso escaped.
“He’s tough,” Valverde said of Reynoso, who had scored falls in his quarterfinal and semifinal bouts, “but we’re pretty much equal. It came do to who wanted it more … who had the bigger heart.”
With little more than a month until the post-season tournament grind begins with the District 3-AAA competition, Valverde — like many of his Berks County counterparts — was happy to use the weekend’s action as a prelude to what is yet to come.
“I feel confident going to the sectional and districts,” he said. “It’s a good start. Everyone wants to get first here, and I’m proud of where I am.”
On the third-place mat, Powell (18-3) won by decision over Wilson’s Dawson Comoh, Yohn (16-3) also won by decision over Wyomissing’s Jakob Naylor, and Ramsey (12-7) handled Oley Valley’s Charles Wildermuth, 8-4. Zummo (14-7) ended up fourth after being decisioned by Twin Valley’s Mason Bennett, and Ring (11-12) got fifth with his win over Kutztown’s Tyler Fisher.
“I think we started slow Friday,” Oswalt said, “but we picked it up and finished strong. Overall, it was a great tournament.”
That was unquestionably the case for Exeter, which had 11 wrestlers make the medal round. Six of them were weight-class champions: Austin DeSanto (126), Brett Kulp (132), James Harkness (138), Tyler Bagoly (160), Dennis Karas (195) and Oscar Daniels (285).
“We only graduated one senior from last year’s team,” head coach John Rugg said. “All the others are a year older, a year more mature.”
Kulp (21-3) had a particularly memorable weekend, pinning his way to both a division championship and the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler honors. The Eagle senior didn’t go out of the first period in his early bouts with Conrad Weiser’s Alex Jablonski and Brandywine Heights’ Kyle Caskie, and he continued that roll against Wilson’s Tyler Wilkes.
“I was using the (arm) bar,” Kulp said. “I’ve been using it since elementary school, and I’ve gotten good at it.”
“It was fitting for him to be OW, pinning his way through the tournament,” Rugg said.
Prior to Kulp’s title roll, DeSanto (23-0) dominated his early bouts with technical falls on Wyomissing’s Payton Gonzalez and Wilson’s Kolbe Eidle. He continued his own roll by handling Twin Valley’s Aaron Wildonger in the finals.
Both Exeter grapplers are looking forward to the district and state duals competition coming up a couple weeks down the road, and getting beyond the first round of states. The past two years, the Eagles were eliminated by Spring-Ford one match short of qualifying for the Hershey phase.
“We’re really looking forward to that,” DeSanto said.
“We have the same team as last year,” Kulp added. “If our guys move around to their best weights, we should be a contender.”
Governor Mifflin had seven medal qualifiers, six of them going for the gold. But only two – Alex Centeno at 120, Zach Scheetz at 145 – were able to come away with the top awards for their weights.
Centeno (18-10) finished his weekend with a 9-2 decision of Wyomissing’s Connor Yourkavitch, and Scheetz (25-2) topped Wilson’s Tanner Vogel by a similar score. The Mustangs’ runners-up were Kyle Seibert at 113, Allen Arentz at 138, Ben Maack at 170 and Dylan Harr at 195.
“This is definitely not the high point of the season for me,” Centeno said after the medal ceremony, “but it’s a step up for sectionals and districts. I definitely had a successful weekend overall, but I have to work on some things.”
Scheetz also admitted to having some aspects of his game to work on, but with an eye toward the county’s duals tournament coming up later this month.
“I believe we’re in the running for the team duals,” he said. “If the rest of our guys can win, we’ll see what happens.”
Hamburg advanced nine wrestlers to the medal round, but only two for gold contention. Along with Ignacion Reynoso at 182, Shane Strausser got silver at 106 after an 11-1 loss to Wilson’s Brandon Connor.
Matt James was third at 152 while Matt Kline and D.J. Gromlich were fourth at 220 and 285, respectively.
Twin Valley had five medal qualifiers, led by Aaron Wildonger’s runner-up finish at 126. C.J. Morton (106) and Mason Bennett (113) were third in their brackets.
Brandywine Heights’ four medalists were headed by Hunter Gimbor’s second at 152, and Trevor Gimbor’s third at 120.
The best of Schuylkill Valley’s four medal finishers was Jethro Solomon, third at 126, and Teddy Limberiou, fourth at 152.
Jarryd Kase was the highest finisher of Kutztown’s four medal qualifiers, placing fourth at 182.
Daymond Zweizig headed Oley Valley’s trio of medalists with his third at 220. Charles Wildermuth followed with a fourth at 195.
Tulpehocken had only two medal qualifiers: Joshua Daub, fifth at 220, and Evan Hershey, sixth at 285.
