QUAKERTOWN >> It may have been a Saturday night, but school was definitely in session for Penn Wood’s Abraham Charles and Interboro’s Eric Thomas and Dan Mea.
All three wrestlers learned a thing or two at the District One Class AAA East tournament at Quakertown High School.
Charles discovered that you better have a plan when you’re going to face the No. 1 wrestler in your weight class for a championship.
Thomas found out the hard way that it is tougher to repeat as a district champion than it is winning a title for the first time.
Mea realized that getting an early lead can be quite beneficial.
Charles, Thomas and Mea highlighted what was a good day overall for the Del Val League. The league has eight wrestlers moving on to the regional, the most since the District One went to the split district format in 2013.
Interboro, the league champ, and Academy Park led the way with three place-winners apiece. Moving on for the Bucs are Thomas (second at 145), Mea (third at 220) and Jeff Finley (fourth at 152). The Bucs also finished eighth in the team competition.
“It was a good day,” Interboro coach Dan Tobin. “I thought we would have three guys moving on.”
Moving on for Academy Park are Samika Kromah (fourth at 132), Mohamad Kaba (fourth at 1:38) and Max Fitzgerald (fourth at 170). Chichester had Craig Baldwin advance with a fourth-place finish at 126 pounds.
“I’m happy,” said Academy Park coach John Basile, who was recognized as the Del Val League Coach of the Year before the finals. The best thing is they’re all underclassmen.
Charles heard so much about Council Rock South’s Riley Palmer that Charles was not sure what to do when he squared off against the top-ranked wrestler in the district in the 138-pound final, which Palmer won, 9-3.
“The kid he wrestled was very tough,” Penn Wood coach Dan Madonna said. “But Abraham hung in with him for the whole match. He’s had a really good couple of weeks.”
“That’s one of the toughest matches I’ve had,” Charles said. “He’s so quick. He just got the better of me. I never faced anyone like him before, but I learned a lot.”
It is knowledge Charles will store in his memory bank and turn to just in case he and Palmer meet up again, which is a good chance since Charles does plan to be wrestling for at least a few more weeks.
“My goal is to get to states and get 100 wins,” Charles said.
Thomas came to Quakertown with the goal of winning a second straight district title. He won the 138-pound crown last year and hoped to add the 145-pound championship to his collection, but Dustin Stone of Harry S. Truman had other plans and came away with a 4-2 victory over Thomas.
“I got that first takedown and couldn’t get anything else,” Thomas said. “He’s really tough. He never really gave me a chance to do anything. Every time I tried to grab him he was able to get out of it.”
At least he got to the final and is moving on. That was the No. 1 goal coming into the district tournament.
“It just means that I have to work that much harder to get ready for next week just in case I get the rematch I want,” Thomas said.
Mea had a huge smile on his face as he received his medal for finishing third at 220 pounds after dropping his first bout of the tournament. Mea bounced back with three straight wins, including a 5-3 decision over Neshaminy’s Kyle Osterhoudt, 5-3, in the consolation final.
“I was hoping to do a little better,” Mea said. “I got off to a slow start.”
Mea fell behind in his opening match with Bensalem’s Jasin Speer and never recovered. He lost, 7-4, which put him under the gun. If he lost in the first round of wrestlebacks, or won and then lost, his season would be over.
“I knew that I had to get the early lead and maintain it,” Mea said. “That was key. That’s how I won the next three matches.”
Baldwin was happy and disappointed at the same time. He was happy to advance to the regional for the first time in his career. However, he was disappointed that he did not take third.
“I started slow,” Baldwin said. “I couldn’t get to my attack.”
Still, he had reason to smile.
“I lost in the consolation final (fifth-place) last year and didn’t get to go to regionals,” Baldwin said. “This year I do and it’s an awesome feeling.”
Council Rock South won the team title and the Golden Hawks’ 195-pounder Joe Doyle was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
In the Class AAA Central championships at Oxford, Sun Valley’s Nick Garvey finished sixth at 285 pounds.
At the National Prep School tournament at Lehigh, Chris and Mickey Kober both finished seventh in their respective weight classes to pace The Haverford School to a 14th-place finish.
Chris Kober pinned Harry Young of Benadictine in 2:01 to take seventh at 195 pounds. Mickey Kober decked James Frazier of Paul VI in 2:10 for seventh at 220. Teammate Freddie Corradetti was eight at 132 pounds.
