NEWTOWN – Council Rock South won their second straight District 1-East championship over the weekend.
No surprise there. This year’s District 1 Dual champion, the Golden Hawks were expected to grab their third D-1 title in the past four years.
It’s a yearly ritual toward which CR South head coach Brad Silimperi grooms his charges.
“We peak now when the others are starting to fall off,” said senior Joe Doyle, one of four individual champions for the Hawks. “We peak during the postseason and that’s when we’re wrestling our best.
“Some guys, right now, want to cash it in and they want to be done while this is where we’re just getting started.”
A District 1 and South East Region champ at 195 pounds last year, Doyle captured a fourth place PIAA medal last year as a junior.
Doyle and the remainder of the Class of 2017 will leave behind a lasting legacy at CR South. Before their departure, there’s still work to be done, says Doyle.
“We’ve been working our tails off to get to where we are now and we’re not stopping here,” said Doyle. “We plan on bringing home a lot of hardware at states.”
With three pins in districts, Doyle pushed his way to 33-1 on the season. Big Joe’s only loss is to Upper Darby senior Brian Kennerle, a 6-4 decision won by the Royals wrestler at King of the Mountain. Doyle pinned Kennerle to win the 195-pound SE Region trophy last season so look for a rubber match in this weekend’s regional tournament at Souderton.
While Doyle has 122 career victories, classmate Zack Trampe has surpassed everyone on that list including CR North 135-pounder Oliver Hertzel (Class of 2008) and CR South 189-pounder Jamie Callender.
With a pair of tech falls including a 30-15 triumph over CR North freshman Cam Robinson in the D-1 132-pound final, Trampe is 33-1 on the season with 159 career victories. Trampe’s only loss this year was to Hazleton senior James Hoffman, who will wrestle this week in the North East Region tourney.
Trampe pinned Robinson in the third period of the Suburban One National League tournament about between the two. This time, he and the Indian freshman combined to score more points than any other in this district tourney.
“It’s almost like wrestling myself,” said Trampe. “High pace, high energy – all over the place.
“In both matches, I went in with the same mindset – to score as many points as I can.
“Last week, I just happened to land right in a cradle so I just ran it over and got the fall.
“This week, I just focused on scoring points and the next thing I knew the match was over.”
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Classmate Cary Palmer took the mat soon after Trampe left it, taking on Academy Park’s Mohamed Kaba in the 138-pound championship. Up 7-1 after two periods, Palmer was up 9-1 when Kaba recorded a pair of escape points and a takedown with 30 seconds to go.
“My goal there was to get one more takedown to get the major,” explained Palmer. “But I got lazy on my feet and he got a nice shot in right away. I couldn’t even defend; I was too heavy on my feet.”
For all the trouble he took in recording his 28 win of the season, which matches his win total from last year, Palmer had to perform post-match win sprints for getting a little gassed late in his championship bout.
Still, it felt good to finally capture a D-1 title belt a year after finishing runner-up to Pennridge 126-pounder Kordell Rush, who went back and forth with Cary’s twin brother Riley a couple years ago.
Riley took the mat immediately after it was vacated by Cary, posting a 15-2 major decision win over North Penn senior Will Laughlin, a 2-time District 1 medalist. With a pair of tech-fall wins earlier in the tournament, Riley is 13-2 after returning from an injury suffered at Escape the Rock.
After earning a state medal as a freshman, Riley failed to make weight for the 2015 postseason. He rebounded nicely with a South East Region title belt last year at 138 pounds.
“The name of the game is just advancing now,” said Riley. “The goal is top of the podium every year – nothing less.”
Others qualifying for regionals for the Hawks include Max Mendez (106), Braden Ricchini (113), Ben Radner (120), Nik Korbich (182), Nik Korbich (152), Tyler Gettmann (195) and Shane Anderson (285).
Led by D-1 champions Luke Lucerne (106) and Shane Thompson (113) CR North took third place in the tourney and had seven wrestlers qualify for states. Indian wrestlers advancing included Cameron Robinson (132), Nick Nucero (152), Aidan Burke (120), Jake Shalinsky (138) and Dillon Sheehy (145).
Truman has four wrestlers heading to regionals including sophomore Gunnar Fuss who captured a 120-pound title belt with a 2-0 decision win over Souderton’s Brandon Bach. Junior Alex Litz and senior Isaiah Goldbold are also advancing with third-place district medals and freshman Dan Baskin reached regionals with a fourth-place medal at 106 pounds.
Pennsbury has two wrestlers advancing as does Neshaminy. Junior Antonio Martoccio – a state qualifier in 2015 – and senior Connor Gown are headed to regionals for the Falcons while senior Kyle Osterhaudt and sophomore Jackson Erb are going for the Skins.
After losing to Erb 7-6 during the regular season, Martoccio outlasted the Nesahminy wrestler 5-4 in the District 1 third-place matchup.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
TOP PHOTO: Council Rock South senior Riley Palmer, right, captured his second straight District 1-AAA East title as did his team the Golden Hawks Saturday, Feb. 25 at CR North, Newtown, Pa. (Steve Sherman – 21st-Century Media)
District One-AAA East Tournament
(Feb. 25 at Council Rock North)
Team scores: 1. Council Rock South (CRS), 205.5; 2. North Penn (NP), 136.5; 3. Council Rock North (CRN), 132.5; 4. Pennridge (PR), 121.5; 5. Souderton (S), 70; 6. Harry S. Truman (HST), 66; 7. Central Bucks East (CBE), 60; 8. Academy Park (AP), 59; 9. William Tennent (WT), 58.5; 10. Chichester (C), 54.5; 11. Glen Mills (GM), 37; 12. Neshaminy (N), 36; 13. Pennsbury (PB), 31; 14. Interboro (I), 24.5; 15. Bensalem (B), 21; 16. Central Bucks West (CBW), 20.5; 17. Penn Wood (PW), 16; 17. (tie) Abington (A), 16; 19. Central Bucks South (CBS), 12.
Championship finals
106: Luke Lucerne (CRN) dec. Max Mendez (CRS), 8-3
113: Shane Thompson (CRN) dec. Braden Ricchini (CRS), 4-3
120: Matt Parker (PR) maj. dec. Ben Radner (CRS), 12-4
126: Gunnar Fuss (HST) dec. Brandon Bach (S), 2-0
132: Zack Trampe (CRS) tech. fall Cameron Robinson (CRN), 5:42 (30-15)
138: Cary Palmer (CRS) dec. Mohamad Kaba (AP), 9-5
145: Riley Palmer (CRS) maj. dec. Will Laughlin (NP), 15-2
152: Colin Shannon (NP) maj. dec. Nick Nucero (CRN), 12-1
160: Josh Stillings (PR) pinned Patrick O’Neill (NP), :53
170: Max Fitzgerald (AP) dec. David McCoy (WT), 10-9
182: Collin Stevens (CBE) pinned Nik Korbich (CRS), 1:02
195: Paul O’Neill (PR) dec. Brandon Ullman (NP), 6-4 (OT)
220: Joe Doyle (CRS) pinned Owen Verespy (NP), 3:54
285: Ryan Cody (NP) dec. Kyle Osterhoudt (N), 3-1 (OT)
Consolation finals
106: Osualdo Carbajal (I) pinned Dan Baskin (HST), 3:41
113: Chris Eck (CBE) dec. Jeremy Gannon (C), 9-2
120: Aidan Burke (CRN) dec. Harrison Andrade (S), 2-0
126: Antonio Martoccio (PB) dec. Jackson Erb (N), 5-4
132: A.J. Tamburrino (WT) pinned Connor Trowbridge (S), 4:38
138: Evan Widing (PR) maj. dec. Jacob Shalinsky (CRN), 9-1
145: Dillon Sheehy (CRN) maj. dec. Tyler Simpson (GM), 17-6
152: L.J. Kahn (CRS) maj. dec. Dylan Cordingley (C), 8-0
160: Shane Rose (A) dec. Connor Gowton (PB), 7-5
170: David Blanchard (PR) maj. dec. Jake Phaup (S), 14-5
182: Alex Litz (HST) dec. Dante Pangowish (GM), 12-6
195: Jack Morgan (S) dec. Tyler Gettmann (CRS), 3-0
220: Isaiah Godbold (HST) won by forfeit over Stephen Dadio (PR)
285: Nick Cooper (B) pinned Shane Anderson (CRS), :46
Outstanding Wrestler: Matt Parker, Pennridge
