LOWER GWYNEDD >> For Matthew Fritz, success on the mat comes from making sure he has a good time on it.
“Just my main thing that I had to develop when I worked on this year was just having fun,” the Wissahickon sophomore said. “I feel last year I didn’t have as much fun out there on the mat so this year I’m not tense, I’m just moving out there, keeping my feet.”
It was hard for Fritz not to have a blast Wednesday night in his 126-pound match against Springfield-Montco’s Kevin Case. Fritz piled up so many points the scoreboard literally could not keep up — the number two would not show up as Fritz eclipsed 20 points in the third period.
“I was confused,” Fritz said. “It was funny. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”
Fritz finished with a 23-8 technical fall win at 5:32, helping the Trojans stay perfect in the Suburban One League American Conference as they cruised past the visiting Spartans 66-12.
“They did exactly what I asked them to do. They came out and wrestled very well. Good, basic stuff,” Wissahickon coach Anthony Stagliano said. “They really performed and executed moves. I didn’t care about winning and losing and the score, I wanted them to wrestle well, execute the moves well and they all did that.
“And I think they did it with some class. And that’s my alma mater over there so we don’t want to embarrass anybody or do anything that’s construed as that at all. Lot of respect for that coach and a lot of respect for that team.”
The Trojans (10-4, 4-0 conference) set the early tone with consecutive second-period pins by Jaylen Pacheco and D.J. Adriaanse at 106 and 113, respectively. Wissahickon went on to claim victories in 10 of the dual meet’s 11 contested matches, all of the wins coming with bonus points — six pins, two tech falls and a pair of major decisions.
“That’s great, we’re always looking for bonus points,” Fritz said. “I mean, that’s how you win a match. And then really it prepares us for the rest of the season. We don’t take anybody lightly. We’re going to just go out there and play our game, score points.”
The Trojans won the first eight matches to go up 42-0 before Springfield (2-7, 1-3) picked up its first six points on a forfeit at 160. Mitchell McCann gave the Spartans their other six points with the fastest fall Wednesday, earning a pin in just 22 seconds at 170.
Wissahickon added pins by Daniel Keller at 182 and James Pester at 220 to cap the night and stay level with Abington at the top of the SOL American standings.
“Setting ourselves up but again long way to go,” Stagliano said. “Abington’s still lurking out there, we’re not finished until we get through that match and that’s not going to be an easy match. Again, we wrestled them earlier in the year (a 36-31 Wissahickon win at the Abington Duals Dec. 15), it was a close match, so we’re not taking anybody for granted our anything. So that’s going to be a barn burner in their building. That’s going to be a big test.”
Wissahickon competes in Souderton’s Big Red Duals Saturday then is back in conference action hosting Cheltenham Wednesday. Springfield is home against Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday.
“It’s been a long time, I know, for our coach, Stagliano, and for the whole team — I mean, we’ve never won a league championship,” Fritz said. “It’s a lot of fun. And then ultimately we want to get to district duals for AAA and, yeah, winning the league would be great.”
Pacheco began the dual meet with a pin in 3:23 at 106 while Adriaanse doubled the lead to 12-0, earning a fall at 113 in 2:55. After Alex Prieston’s 10-0 major decision at 120, Fritz pushed for a pin but at 126 before earning the tech fall in the third period.
“Getting takedowns out there and getting him to his back a little bit,” Fritz said. “And then he was a good fighter off his back so that made it even more fun.”
The tech fall win — his first of the season — has Fritz at 14-3 after qualifying for the District 1-AAA East tournament last year as a freshman.
“I never go into a match ever thinking about possibilities of losing. All I’m thinking about is I’m just going to go out there and score points,” Fritz said. “I’m not even thinking about winning, I’m scoring points, that’s all I want.”
Charlie Brammer made it back-to-back tech falls, winning 15-0 in 4:46 at 132. Peter Sweeney extended Wissahickon’s advantage to 30-0 with a 15-3 major decision at 138. The Trojans made 42 points in a row with consecutive pins in the opening period by Owen Quinn (145) and Billy Bishop (152).
“You don’t want to go out there and win doing sloppy stuff or bad stuff and come out with a win and said ‘Oh, I did a good job,’ That’s not impressive to me,” Stagliano said. “What I want to do is win and win with good technique and good execution, that’s what impresses me. I think for the most part we did that tonight.”
