QUAKERTOWN >> Micah Kunkle just had a little more left in the tank.
“I credit our conditioning in the room,” the Quakertown wrestling sophomore said. “(North Penn’s Ryan Schoppe) just got tired in the third and I wasn’t as tired as he was. So that definitely helped,”
The endurance paid off in the later stages of their match at 182 pounds, as Kunkle — who had trailed 4-0 earlier in the bout — pinned Schoppe with 32 seconds remaining in the third period.
“I just did a stand up and he went down for my leg so I sprawled, of course, and spun around,” Kunkle said. “And he flattened out ,so I just hit a cross-face cradle right away.”
The fall was the first of the five for the Panthers Wednesday night as they dealt the visiting Knights its first Suburban One League Continental Conference in four seasons, Quakertown winning five of the last seven matches to claim a 43-28 victory.
“We had some matches that did not go our way,” North Penn coach Robert Shettsline said. “But it was great to see a big crowd tonight. Very exciting, back-and-fourth through the early part of the match.”
Quakertown — back in the Continental after a two years in the SOL American, winning the conference both seasons — earned bonus points in all eight of its victories. Along with five pins, the Panthers got a technical fall from Kyle Miller at 113 and major decisions from Zack Lewis (126) and Domenic DeFalco (138) to end North Penn’s conference dual match win streak at 21.
“Going in that’s what we were preaching, it was all going to be about who gets the most bonus points and who doesn’t give up the bonus points,” Quakertown coach Kurt Handel said. “And we started the match off there with (Patrick) O’Neill with Kyle Goodwin not giving up (the pin)… O’Neill’s a stud, he’s fifth in the state and he’s a district qualifier Goodwin, so that was a big start for the team.”
“I think another big turnaround was Micah Kunkle that he got the fall at 182. He just wrestled that guy six minutes and the third period there it opened up and he got the fall.”
Jarret Niedosik (170), Amir Pickens (285) and Dylan Reinhard (103) earned pins for North Penn (6-7, 2-1 conference).
“The biggest thing, I guess, we just got to bounce back,” Pickens said. “We got a lot of time before our next match, so just recuperate, get the most work in with the time being and make the most of it.”
The Knights’ last SOL Continental loss came to Pennridge 47-24 in February 2015. NP went unbeaten in winning the conference crown the past three years and this season picked up wins over Pennridge and Central Bucks East before the run of success came was stopped on Quakertown’s Senior Night.
“They’re the big dogs,” said Handel of North Penn. “And for us to take them out I think is one big step in the right direction.”
The Panthers (7-5, 2-0) head to Council Rock South this weekend for the Escape the Rock Tournament while North Penn is next in action Tuesday at home against Central Bucks West.
“It’s still not over cause of the league (tournament on Jan. 26),” said Shettsline of the SOL Continental title race. “We’re going to place as many kids as we can and we’ll see how the numbers come out.”
O’Neill earned a 13-5 major decision over Goodwin at 160 while Jarret Niedosik extended the Knights’ advantage to 10-0 with his pin in 2:23 at 170.
Kunkle’s fall was the first of three consecutive pins by the Panthers — Max Russell following at 195 with a pin in 2:33 while Ralph Martin gave Quakertown an 18-10 lead by earning a pin in 1:13 at 220.
“I felt like I did and also Max Russell helped as well to swing the momentum in our way,” Kunkle said.
Pickens came up clutch late for NP at 285 to stop the Panthers’ 18-point run, the senior pinning Hans Muse with only 14 seconds left in the third.
“We were scrambling for a little bit, I see an opportunity and I took it,” Pickens said. “I know my team needed the points so I try my best to make it happen.”
Reinhard gave the Knights the lead for the second time in the match at 22-18 when he pinned Justin Adamson in 1:31 at 106.
“We told him we need a pin here, went out and good it,” said Shettsline of Reinhard. “No fear, wrestled his butt off, kept it close.”
Quakertown, however, went ahead for good at 113 on Miller’s 19-3 tech fall. Corey Cope followed at 120 with third-period pin (4:51) while Lewis’ 8-0 major decision at 126 had the Panthers up 33-22.
William Morrow got the Knights within eight with his 9-3 decision at 132. But DeFalco’s 14-4 major decision at 138 pushed the margin to 12 and when Trent Nielsen avoided a pin against Alec Schrum at 145 — Schrum claimed a 7-5 decision — the Panthers sealed the victory. At 152, Jake Wheeler finished the night with Quakertown’s fifth pin in 1:19.
