Sun Valley All-Delco Hunter Catka has been on quite a roll since he suffered his only loss of the season two months ago.
The sophomore extended his winning streak to 23 with three wins to win the 220-pound title and earn the Outstanding Wrestler award at the Ches-Mont League championships Saturday at Rustin.
Catka (31-1) decked Downingtown West’s Chris Madanat in 1:34 to win the title. It was his second first-period pin of the tournament.
Catka has recorded 17 wins by fall, two by technical fall and one major decision during his winning streak.
Catka was one of five Sun Valley wrestlers to medal and advance to the District 1 Class 3A West tournament at Interboro. Avery Frank took second at 160. Nicholas Bailey was third at 182. Ryan Catka placed fourth at 170 and John Griffin was sixth at 195.
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It was a league title or bust for Archbishop Carroll’s Nick Poulos and Jack McQuaid at the Catholic League championships.
They accomplished their mission.
Poulos (26-0) won twice to stay undefeated and capture the Class AAA 132-pound title with a 6-3 decision over Archbhisop Wood’s Max Shaffer in the final. It was Poulos’ second league title, as he won at 126 pounds as a sophomore. The two victories also give Poulos 96 for his career.
McQuaid defeated Roman Catholic’s Christian Petrucci, 9-3, to win the 160-pound championship. It was his second win in the tournament and second league title. McQuaid won the 170-pound title as a sophomore.
Poulos and McQuaid advance to the District 12 tournament at Archbishop Ryan.
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There’s a youth movement afoot in the Central and Del Val Leagues.
Of the 84 wrestlers to place at the Central League championships, 16 are freshmen and 18 are sophomores. Half the individual championships were claimed by freshmen and sophomores.
Garnet Valley’s Griffin Hollingsworth (106) and Colton Deery (220), and Morgan Lofland (113) from Conestoga were the freshmen who won individual titles. The sophomores who claimed league titles were: Charles Hodges (120) and James Ledo (152) of Lower Merion, Roberto Lesser from Harriton (132) and Upper Darby’s Deshan Peterson (182).
The amazing fact is that two of the four upper weight classes were won by a freshman and a sophomore.
In the Del Val League, 20 of the 42 place winners were freshmen (nine) and sophomores (11). While seven of the 14 league titles were won by seniors and four by juniors, the underclassmen did well.
Freshmen Chase Whartnaby of Chichester (106) and Aiden McDevitt of Interboro (126) won individual titles. Sophomore Osvaldo Carbajal took the title at 113 pounds. It was his second straight league championship.
