By Jeff Stover
jstover@21st-centurymedia.com
@MercuryXStover on Twitter
ROYERSFORD >> It’s no longer a question of “if” in regards to Boyertown’s various “threepeat” quests this year.
It’s become a question of “when.” In the latest instance, the Bears clinched a third straight District 1-AAA West team title before any medals were passed out.
Coming off a dominating performance in the Pioneer Athletic Conference tournament last weekend, Boyertown kept its masterful roll going Saturday at Spring-Ford. It advanced all members of its 13-man district contingent to the Southeast AAA Regional, all of them by virtue of qualifying for medals of fourth place or higher. The Bears had eight of their 11 championship finalists come away with gold, and two others finish third or fourth in their weight classes … all of which contributed to their 240.5 team points, well ahead of the 98 posted by runner-up Owen J. Roberts.
“Very impressive,” head coach Pete Ventresca said afterward. “It was a great tournament. The kids performed well. They came in and took care of business.”
Among the records alluded to by Ventresca were ones for most points scored in a District 1 tournament, most finalists and — subject to research — most champions. The Bears also saw five of their wrestlers — Jakob Campbell, Lucas Miller, Gregg Harvey, Jordan Wood, Tommy Killoran — defend their 2015 district crowns, in addition to Harvey and Wood becoming four-time district champs.
“We wrestled phenomenally, 11 guys making the finals,” Wood said. “It’s been a great senior year.”
It was a time of table-turning for several Boyertown wrestlers, who looked to counter their runner-up finishes at PACs with titles at districts. Four of them (Matt Wilde, Miller, Garrett Mauger, Hunter Vogels) showed obvious happiness being on the top step of the medal podium, holding their bracket posters along with the gold around their necks.
“All those kids worked hard in practice this week,” Ventresca said. “And the hard work showed.”
Wilde (36-10) was extended to overtime by Owen J. Roberts’ Luke Resnick, but he capped his four-match run with a 3-1 decision. He took Resnick down 13 seconds into the OT frame afgter they traded bottom-start escapes in ths econd and third periods.
“I figured I’d be all right if I could stop his dumps,” the Bear junior, who lost to Spring-Ford’s Brandon Meredith in a 5-3 sudden-victory bout last week, said. “He has a really good one.”
The district title stands as the high point in Wilde’s career to date. While compiling an 11-3 record last year, he was bumped from the lineup by Jakob Campbell’s move down to 106 for the postseason.
“I’m happy now,” he said.
Miller (34-8) saw his hopes for a 126-pound PAC championship undone by Owen J’s Dan Mancini in a 7-2 loss. But this time around, he rode a thrid-period escape and penalty point to a 2-0 decision over the Wildcat freshman.
“After that ugly match, I put together a different game plan,” Miller explained. “I forced everything too much, so I worked to take a good shot if if was there, and to not take one if it wasn’t there.”
Mauger (30-11) faced a similar scenario at the PAC tourney, coming out on the short end of a 4-2 decision to Roberts’ Luke Resnick at 132. In Saturday’s rematch, Mauger scored seven second-period points off an escape, takedown, three-point near-fall and penalty to counter Resnick’s first-period takedown, then held on in the third for a 7-4 victory.
“I wanted to make sure he didn’t get ahead,” Mauger said. “I figured out what I needed to do, and I did it.”
Vogels (27-7) ended up with league silver at 152 when Pottstown’s Mason Pennypacker bested him, 7-5. But in the district final with Upper Perkiomen’s Mike Lockhoff, he rolled up a 14-4 major decision en route to a decided upgrade on his third-place district finish last year.
“I kind of went hard in wrestling practice, working on my feet, top and bottom,” he said. “It wasn’t like I focused on one thing. I worked on the whole group.”
Spring-Ford’s Hunter Mitch had a similar weekend, going from league silver to district gold at 120. Mitch (32-7) answered a 3-1 loss to the Bears’ David Campbell by scoring a 3-2 decision this weekend … an effort that helped him come away with the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler award.
“After that match last week, I reviewed tapes with the coaches to figure out what I did wrong,” Mitch, who got to the finals off a 3-2 decision of Garnet Valley’s Matt Marino (32-5), said. “Having that tough match with Marino boosted my confidence.”
Further up the scale, Steve Rice became the Rams’ second district champ with a 10-0 major decision of Boyertown’s Elijah Jones at 170. It was the second time in as many weekends the two wrestled each other, and the second time Rice (33-3) recorded a “major” on the Bear sophomore.
“My whole mental state was to not be satisfied,” Rice said. “I wanted to break him down, to make him not want to wrestle the third period.”
Boyertown’s other district champs were Jakob Campbell at 113, Harvey at 182, Wood at 220 and Killoran at 285. J.T Cooley was second at 138, Brody O’Connell placed third at 195 and Chris Berry fourth at 145.
Wood (42-1) posted a 6-4 decision of Conestoga’s Kade LaMarre hampered by what was described by Ventresca as an “undisclosed” chest pain. It didn’t prevent Wood from finishing, and he also dismissed any concerns it would affect him for regionals.
“It changed my style,” he said. “I didn’t push the pace or try to score more points.”
Harvey’s fourth district title came off a 5:21 pin of Owen J. Roberts’ Nick Duliakas. Jakob Campbell (30-3) posted an 11-3 major on Upper Darby’s Jacob Mejias at 113, and Killoran (36-7) pinned Upper Darby’s Peter Augustin in 4:26 of the 285-pound finale.
The PAC-10’s other district titlist was Pottstown’s Bryant Wise, who blanked Upper Perk’s Jacob Folk 3-0. Wise (26-3) will be joined at regionals by teammates Logan Pennypacker (third at 138), Saddiq Ibn-Mustafah (fourth at 160) and Isaiah Mayes (fourth at 170).
NOTES
Prior to the medal round, the Coaches of the Year for the PAC-10 and Central League were announced. Ventresca earned the honors from the PAC, as did Upper Darby’s Bob Martin for the Central … Conestoga 160-pounder Dan Iredale (34-0) scored the 100th win of his scholastic career during the championship semifinal round, with his 5-3 decision of Methacton’s Brendan Marion. … Upper Darby’s Colin Cronin also reached the 100-win mark in the 138-pound final, keeping his season record spotless at 37-0.
