A look at Thursday’s District 1-3A Duals first round matchups. All stats and rankings are from pa-wrestling.com and were as of 1/23.
Quakertown’s Mason Ziegler. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 1 Quakertown (10-0) v. No. 16 Downingtown West (8-4)
Time and place: 5:30 pm at CB East
Ranked wrestlers:
Quakertown – Isaac Williams (106 pounds, honorable mention); Mason Ziegler (120, 1st); Todd McGann (132, 2nd); Collin Gaj (138, 2nd); Zach Borzio (145, 5th); Calvin Lachman (172, 5th); Frederick Retter (285, 2nd).
Downingtown West – Chase Sigle (106, 5th); Dom Findora (138, 1st); Mason Hale (215, 5th); Troy Mack (285, HM).
Outlook: The Panthers opened their season with a two-point win over Council Rock South and have been beating teams by an average of 56-14. Ten Panthers have double digit wins, despite a challenging schedule that featured the Bethlehem Holiday Classic and Escape the Rock tournaments. Quakertown has a strong combination of five seniors in the lineup and two sophomores (Ziegler and Lachman) and a freshman (Gaj) with at least 20 wins. Opponents have only scored bonus points in 21 percent of matches wrestled, which is second-best of teams in the tournament.
West will have its work cut out, as a major underdog. But unlike many 1-16 matchups, this can be a fruitful trip for the Whippets, even if it goes as expected. Findora could (should) get Gaj, Mack should see Retter, and Sigle will likely see Williams. The Whippets only have three seniors in the lineup, so a matchup against the top seed in District 1 can only help a young team grow up a little quicker. The Whippets are one of two teams (West Chester Henderson) who have not forfeited a bout this season.
Council Rock South’s Matt Colajezzi. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 2 Council Rock South (5-1) v. No. 15 Owen J. Roberts (6-8)
Time and place: 7 pm at CB East
Ranked wrestlers:
Council Rock South – Luke Reitter (106, 2nd); Ben Brillhart (126, HM); Shermuhammad Sadriddinov (145, 3rd); Bekhruz Sadriddinov (152, 2nd); Matt Colajezzi (160, 1st); Anthony Cerulli (172, HM); Lucas Doyle (215, 2nd); Charles Socki (285, HM)
Owen J. Roberts – Matt Englehardt (132, 3rd); Dillon Bechtold (172, 3rd); Francis McCoy (215, HM)
Outlook: This is the time of year when the Golden Hawks typically hit their peak. Outside South’s loss to Quakertown, the Hawks have lost just nine matches (not counting a forfeit) in their five dual meet wins. Owen J. was one of those victims, in December. South won 61-8, and while the Hawks can rack up points of their own, they’re also the stingiest team in District 1. The Hawks have only given up 29 pins all season in 298 bouts wrestled. They only give up an average of 4.2 points per loss and have only given up bonus points in 19 percent of the bouts wrestled, both lowest in the district. In the tight matches, South is 71-47 in decisions
Not counting last year, when the District 1-3A Duals were held after states and only had four teams in it, thanks to COVID-19, the Wildcats had won at least one match in 11 straight tournaments. Half of OJR’s dual meets this years are against District 1 Duals qualifiers, and the Wildcats went 1-6 against them. Only four teams in District 1 have given up more pins than OJR, who’s been pinned six more times than it’s pinned opponents. While this might not be the OJR of old, Bechtold is a rising star and Englehardt and Mason Karkoska (138) can add wins for a team that is always up for a good scrap.
West Chester Henderson’s Max Jackman. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 3 West Chester Henderson (9-0) v. No. 14 Strath Haven (10-2)
Time and place: 7 pm at Oxford
Ranked wrestlers:
West Chester Henderson – Carmen Cortese (120, 4th); Max Jackman (126, HM); Billy Wilson (132, 4th); Palmer Delaney (145, HM); Liam Keevill (285, HM)
Strath Haven – Kelton Brunner (152, HM); Chase Barlow (160, 2nd); Sam Milligan (189, HM); Ben Farabaugh (285, 4th)
Outlook: Henderson has five kids ranked, third-most in the district, but none are ranked higher than fourth. Clearly the Warriors’ lineup makes up a talented team, but whether or not they can qualify for their first state duals without a superstar will be determined in the next 10 days. No one in District 1 has more pins (128) than Henderson, who has scored bonus points in 46 percent of its bouts wrestled. On the flip side, the Warriors have only been pinned in 18 percent of their wrestled matches. A blessing and curse for Henderson is its depth on the first half of its lineup. Along with a solid group of starters, down low, Alfie Overton (120) and Hunter Delaney (126) give the Warriors options.
How much Henderson will bump may have a lot to do with Strath Haven’s strength in the middle. Brunner and Barlow can change the momentum in the blink of an eye, and the Panthers have five wrestlers from 145 and under with double digit wins. While Henderson isn’t exactly explosive up top, it is stingy, but Strath has Milligan, Anthony Crawford (215) and Farabaugh to make things interesting. A few weeks ago, at the Rock Yard Duals, Strath bumped Barlow to 172, but he was pinned by OJR’s Bechtold, and the Panthers dropped the dual, 35-32. That one lineup change made things a bit harder for both Henderson and Haven in the first round.
Spring-Ford’s Cole Smith. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 4 Spring-Ford (10-3) v. No. 13 Souderton (5-6)
Time and place: 530 pm at Oxford
Ranked wrestlers:
Spring-Ford – Gus Smith (106, HM); Cole Smith (113, 3rd); Dom Ortlip (120, 2nd); Quinn Smith (126, 4th)
Souderton – AJ Stayton (126, HM); Erick Dominguez (138, HM); Ben Beckett (160, HM)
Outlook: Spring-Ford has graduated three state medalists (one being a state champ), and four other state qualifiers the past two seasons, and still, the Rams find themselves a contender to head back to state duals. The Rams have been District 1 Duals champs the past two years and finalists the two prior. With their core of Ortlip and the Smith brothers, along with some middle and upperweights who are becoming reliable, the Rams are right back in the mix. Despite a challenging schedule, Spring-Ford has only given up bonus points in 26 percent of matches wrestled.
The Rams’ stinginess may come in handy against Souderton, who has pinned in 81 of its 117 wrestled bouts won. The Indians are not as tight, defensively, giving up 5.3 points per loss in bouts wrestled, the most out of the 16 qualifiers. The duals can bring a bit more attention to Dominguez, who won a title in Class 6A of the Kansas state tournament last winter. Dominguez had one of three pins in Souderton’s 53-22 loss to Spring-Ford, earlier in the month.
Perkiomen Valley’s Kelly Kakos. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 5 Pennridge (9-3) v. No. 12 Perkiomen Valley (11-3)
Time and place: 7 pm at Central Bucks East
Ranked wrestlers:
Pennridge – Colby Martinelli (106, 4th); Cole Coffin (113, 4th); Sam Kuhns (132, 1st); Talan Hogan (160, HM)
Perkiomen Valley – Kelly Kakos (138, 3rd); Grant Euker (215, HM)
Outlook: The Rams took the long and windy road to the fifth seed. They went from not getting any votes in the dual meet team rankings on pa-wrestling.com for the first two sets, to an honorable mention in the third set, to a potential top five team in District 1. Pennridge did it by knocking off three other qualifiers — CB East, Souderton and Pennsbury. Kuhns is a returning state qualifier, and the Rams’ talent is mostly young. Only three starters are juniors or seniors, and only six starters have double digit wins, yet the Rams keep overachieving.
Perk Valley is a team on the rise, as well, with just two seniors in the lineup. The Vikings also came up with one of their best wins in awhile, taking down Boyertown, 33-30, last week. The seeding committee was not impressed, as Boyertown was seeded six spots above Perk Valley, who may be entering with a chip on its shoulder. The one knock on the Vikings is they have the lowest percentage of bonus points scored (37 percent), per bout, in the field of 16. These teams’ scorers don’t line up, so it’s all about the bonus points for two squads looking to prove themselves.
CB East’s Quinn Collins. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 6 Boyertown (11-4) v. No. 11 Central Bucks East (8-4)
Time and place: 530 pm at Central Bucks East
Ranked wrestlers:
Boyertown – Brody Coleman (106, HM); Luke Heimbach (113, HM), Gavin Sheridan (120, 3rd); Chance Babb (152, 1st)
CB East – Mason Stein (152, 3rd); Nils Updale (172, HM); Quinn Collins (215, 1st); Joe Collins (285, HM)
Outlook: The Bears have done their fair share of becoming battle-tested, with 15 dual meets, getting a taste of District 11 and District 3. Boyertown is very strong down low, where CB East has struggled to score, and has given up the second-most forfeits (24) of anyone in the bracket. However, after Babb and Ryder Gehris (152), Boyertown doesn’t have anyone with a winning record. It will be imperative for the Bears to score early and often, and try to hold on with the Patriots’ strength at the back end. Of the 16 teams, Boyertown has the lowest pinning percentage (25) of bouts wrestled.
The Patriots began the season with an 11-point win over Spring-Ford, which opened some eyes. But the Pats have lost four of their last six duals, largely in part to having to forfeit 106 and 113. Against Pennridge, CB East won seven of the 11 matches wrestled, but the free 12 gave the Rams the dual. The good news for the Pats is that they have nearly double the amount of pins as they’ve given up. East gives up 4.4 points per loss wrestled (second-best of the 16), so if it can limit the damage in the first half of the lineup against Boyertown, Collins and crew are going to score up top.
Kennett’s Josh Barlow. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 7 Kennett (10-1) v. No. 10 Pennsbury (10-5)
Time and place: 530 pm at Oxford
Ranked wrestlers:
Kennett – Josh Barlow (160, 4th); Darrale Barrett (172, 4th); John Pardo (215, 4th)
Pennsbury – Kyle Von Schmidt (106, HM); Cade Gabbett (189, HM)
Outlook: Kennett continues its rise with just one senior in the lineup. The Blue Demons earned a top-eight seed and drew Pennsbury, whom they beat, 39-31, in the Rage in the Cage finals. There were nine total pins in that dual, and the closest decision was 7-1, so whichever team can fight off their backs better will have the advantage in the rematch. Kennett has done well in the close matches, this season, going 39-24 in decisions, and also has a 94-37 advantage in pins. Kennett has seven double-digit winners spread out through the lineup, which helps prevent runs by the opponent, but it does surrender a forfeit each dual.
The Falcons have a full lineup and boast similar stats to Kennett’s. They are top five in District 1 for pins, and have a 115-54 margin for pin/be pinned. Only a couple Falcons are in the rankings as honorable mentions, but 11 wrestlers have double-digit wins. Gabbett is 21-5 on the season, with 19 pins, which is third-best in District 1. Kennett has been missing one of its returning regional qualifiers, Joey Wuchter (132), and with a free six right off the bat, Pennsbury is hoping revenge will land them a trip to the quarterfinals.
Garnet Valley’s Sam DiTrolio. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
No. 8 Garnet Valley (12-4) v. No. 9 Sun Valley (7-2)
Time and place: 7 pm at Oxford
Ranked wrestlers:
Garnet Valley – Matt Ricci (126, 3rd); Daniel Husain (145, 4th); Sam DiTrolio (189, 3rd); Nick Mahoney (285, 5th)
Sun Valley – Shane Holefelder (120, 5th); Alex Gamble-Williams (152, HM); Chase Thompson (189, HM)
Outlook: When these two met in December, Sun Valley won seven of 13 bouts, but Garnet scored six in every win and took the dual, 36-33. Sun Valley gave up two of its three forfeits on the season that day, so the rematch should look a bit different, on both sides. On the Garnet side, Ricci and DiTrolio missed the first dual. The Jaguars always seem to show up ready to roll at district duals, and may be trending up after reversing a loss to Pennsbury at the Big Red Duals. DiTrolio returning after missing time in December changes the Jags’ lineup, dramatically. He was 1-2 in December and 10-0 since.
The Vanguards haven’t lost since getting edged by the Jags on opening weekend. They lead the district duals field in pin percentage (46 percent), points per win in bouts wrestled (5.2) and bonus point percentage (52 percent). Sun Valley can score, but it will hope its strength of schedule was enough to be prepared for a gritty Garnet team. Sun Valley has used the fourth-most wrestlers this season (23), so it has optionality and could manipulate matchups if it wins the toss. In a battle for Delco bragging rights, the Vanguards have long looked up at Garnet, who has set the bar for a long time. Undefeated Holefelder and the gang are hoping it’s finally their turn.
