WARRINGTON >> Eddie Galang grabbed a pin so fast at 132 pounds, the North Penn senior needed to put a little extra work in afterwards.
“I was hoping to get a good sweet in cause I have to make weight again tomorrow [against Quakertown],” he said of his 15-second victory. “So I was just running after the match, too, lose some weight.”
It took teammate Devon Pinkert a bit more time earlier Wednesday night in his 285-pound match but final result was the same – the sophomore securing six points, rallying to win by fall in the first minute of the third period.
“He was really tired like I was,” Pinkert said. “But I was able to get myself back together that last second and pull myself together to get down into the right stance and take him down.”
Pinkert’s pin was the Knights wrestling team’s third against Central Bucks South and capped a run of five straight victories to open the SOL Colonial Division contest, staking the visitors out to a 25-0 lead. The Titans won the next four to pull within 25-22 but Galang’s quick pin got the NP back on track as the Knights went on to claim a 38-28 win.
“Devon, our heavyweight, he wrestled out a smart match but we got to keep improving,” North Penn coach Robert Shettsline said. “I wasn’t really happy with our performance tonight. We wrestled Council Rock South tough [last Saturday in a 54-22 loss] and I told the boys they did OK and I was proud of them, tonight was a little bit lackluster. So we have obviously things to work on and it’s pretty tough in a shorter season. But at least we get these kids wrestling and I’m happy about that.”
Nophir Harrell and Dylan Verway started the night with back-to-back pins at 160 and 172, respectively, as North Penn (4-1, 4-0) finished with four falls among its eight victories. Benjamin Sanfelice at 189 and Joseph Morrow at 145 added major decisions as the Knights moved closer to earning the outright SOL Colonial title.
“Couple of us wrestled well but some matches could of done better, like lightweights they could of finished off better,” Galang said. “Just a lot of work in the room.”
North Penn can claim the division crown, its first SOL since winning the Continental Conference in 2017-2018, when visits Souderton Wednesday. Before facing Big Red, however, the Knights head up Route 309 take on Quakertown – which won the last two Continental crowns before moving to the SOL Liberty Division this season – 6 p.m. Thursday.
“For us to be better, you got to wrestle the better teams so I’m very happy that we got Council Rock South and tomorrow night Quakertown,” Shettsline said.
Pinkert trailed Collin Goetter 5-0 after the first period of their 285-pound match but the NP sophomore pulled to within 5-4 at the end of the next two minutes. Down 6-4 in the third, Pinkert got a tying takedown that led into a pin with 1:24 left in the period.
“Don’t let him beat you,” Pinkert said. “Pretty much, it was just don’t let him beat you because I already lost a few and I was already getting annoyed with it. So didn’t really to add on to that losing streak, so, wanted to win.”
Pinkert’s pin had Knights up 25-0, but CB South (3-4, 2-2) charged back by winning the next four, the first two on back-to-back forfeits at 106 and 113. A 10-2 major decision from Jake Neill over Dylan Reinhard at 120 made it 25-16 with Gabe Whittington’s pin of Michael Cliver in sudden victory at 126 getting the Titans to within three.
Galang, however, put a stop to South’s momentum with his quick 15-second pin of Peter Carmody, increasing the Knights lead to 31-22.
“I just snapped him down and then hit a cradle and then sent him to him back and finished it there,” he said.
For Galang, the win was the 70th of his career and bested his previous fastest pin of 39 seconds which came at the 2018 Sam Cali Invitational his freshman year.
“In the beginning I got COVID so it was hard, like my conditioning wasn’t there first couple days,” Galang said. “So I’ve been running in the morning to get my conditioning up and now I feel fine, just ready for the postseason.”
Brayden Shannon’s takedown with just 16 seconds in the third gave him a 4-2 decision over Cameron Grayson at 138 and put NP up 34-22. Morrow sealed the Knights’ win with a 15-4 major decision against Skyler Speak at 145, the Knights freshman tallying nine points in the second period.
“He’s strong, lot of natural talent. He just needs more mat time. So he’s coming along,” said Shettsline of Morrow.
William McAuley collected South’s second and last pin at 152 over Nicholas DiPippo in 5:09.
Harrell began Wednesday’s dual meet by pinning Tyler Bruzas in 30 seconds at 160. Verway made it 12-0 Knights at 172 as he defeated Nicholas Stoughton by fall at 3:12.
Sanfelice followed with 9-1 major decision over Mark Neill at 189. Rodney Perander extended NP’s advantage to 19-0 with his 4-1 decision over Jayson King at 215.
NORTH PENN 38, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 28
160: Nophir Harrell (NP) pinned Tyler Bruzas (CBS), 0:30.
172: Dylan Verway (NP) pinned Nicholas Stoughton (CBS), 3:12.
189: Benjamin Sanfelice (NP) maj. dec. Mark Neill (CBS) 9-1.
215: Rodney Perander (NP) dec. Jayson King (CBS) 4-1.
285: Devon Pinkert (NP) pinned Collin Goetter (CBS) 4:36.
106: Zach Thomas (CBS) win by forfeit.
113: Sheamus Kelly (CBS) win by forfeit.
120: Jake Neill (CBS) maj. dec. Dylan Reinhard (NP) 10-2.
126: Gabe Whittington (CBS) pinned Michael Cliver (NP), 6:06.
132: Eddie Galang (NP) pinned Peter Carmody (CBS), 0:15.
138: Brayden Shannon (NP) dec. Cameron Grayson (CBS), 4-2.
145: Joseph Morrow (NP) maj. dec. Skyler Speak (CBS), 15-4.
152: William McAuley (CBS) pinned Nicholas DiPippo (NP), 5:09.
