TOWAMENCIN >> AJ Stayton concentrated on being efficient and effective in his 133-pound match with North Penn’s Jaden Stahl Wednesday night.
“I tried to focus on being not so sporadic and just getting to my shot and just finishing it,” the Souderton wrestling senior said. “I didn’t want to, with the postseason coming up, mess up my knee or anything so I just wanted to get a quick match in and out and just have fun while I was out there.”
Stayton did just that in a little under 90 seconds, collecting a pin at 1:29 to cap a run of four straight victories for the visiting Indians to send them out to an early 22-3 lead in the Suburban One League Colonial Division dual meet.
The Knights rallied to cut the margin to eight with four bouts remaining but Souderton responded by taking the next three in pulling away for a 43-24 victory.
“I feel really confident,” Stayton said. “Definitely a lot better than I was doing last year so just super confident and excited to get into the postseason.”
Stayton, who has committed to Shippensburg University, is aiming to make his third trip to the PIAA Championships but the first time at Souderton. He qualified for Class 2A states as a freshman and sophomore wrestling at Faith Christian.
As a junior with the Indians, Stayton placed third in 126 at the District 1-3A North Tournament but dropped his first two matches at the South East Regional.
“It was definitely super-disappointing last year – especially (because) I had such a bad performance at regionals,” he said. “Just super-motivating to get out there again.”
Stayton, an honorable mention at 127 pounds in the latest PA-Wrestling.com District 1 rankings, had won 11 straight until a knee injury forced a pair of forfeits at Lehighton’s Coal Cracker Invitational Jan. 20-21.
“I took a little break after Coal Cracker and then I came back for the rest of the duals here,” he said.
Stayton picked up a pin in Souderton’s 60-10 win over Central Bucks West last Wednesday with his victory by fall against Stahl improved his season record to 24-4 and put him at 95 career wins.
“Just my endurance is way up from last year,” Stayton said. “I had a rough go at it, I broke my wrist halfway through the season so I didn’t get enough endurance and just a lot better headset than I was last year.”
With North Penn – which was holding its Senior Night – trailing 26-6, William Mayland came close to a pin at 152 before being denied by the end of the first period. But he eventually found the fall at 1:44, cutting the Knights’ deficit to 14.
“I wasn’t really expecting to pin him first period, I was just going and being aggressive, pushing forward and it ended up getting him on his back,” said Mayland, a senior who is now 19-10. “I had sort of a moment where I might actually pin him, it didn’t work out but I just kind of tried to stay it safe, only first period.
“And then second period I just ran what worked the first period, aggressive, forward pressure and I went right back to where I was.”
Brayden Shannon gave North Penn (9-11, 1-4 division) back –to-back pins, his fall in 2:24 at 160 making it 26-18. However, Ben Beckett provided Souderton (9-11, 3-2) with a 22-7 technical fall in 4:08 at 172 while a forfeit win at 189 sealed the Indians’ win.
At 215, Michael McCormack needed just 16 seconds to give Big Red its third pin of the night.
Souderton hosts Springfield-Montco for its Senior Night 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Both the Indians and North Penn then compete at the SOL Colonial Championships Wednesday, Feb. 15 at North Penn.
Daniel Mallitz put the Knights up 3-0 with an opening-match 13-7 decision at 107. But Souderton took the lead for good when Jadon Bateman earned a pin at 114 in 1:15. An 8-0 major decision by Emily Sarr over Savannah Lanyi at 121 made it 10-3 Indians.
After a Souderton forfeit win at 127, Stayton’s pin in 89 seconds at 133 extended the margin to 19.
The Knights snapped the Indians’ run at 139 as Gabe Fletcher broke a 1-1 tie with Cristian Trinidad with a takedown in the third period’s final seconds for a 3-1 decision. Andrew Hallman answered with a 14-5 major decision at 145 to give Souderton a 26-6 advantage.
