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Post by Eiwaman1 on Feb 6, 2017 16:27:33 GMT -5
Well the post season is here. Along with following the events here in VA I also track the happenings back in my home state of PA, specifically District XI. It’s somewhat old fashioned but some traditions die hard. I’ll provide some background information because to outsiders this can get confusing. There are a total of 42 schools in the district (22 AAA and 20 AA). They are broken down into 1 conference 2 leagues and independents. (EPC, Schuylkill League and Colonial League) All the schools in the East Penn Conference (EPC) are AAA but the other leagues are a mix of AA and AAA. During the year they are required to wrestle a minimum number of league meets. Unlike VA however they do not wrestle “conference” duals in one night via a quad. Most of the matches are traditional dual meets. The EPC has 18 teams so there is an A and B division. At the end of the regular season the top teams in each division wrestle each other for the conference title (1A vs 1B for title, 2A vs 2B for 3rd, etc.) No it is not a perfect system and some teams do not meet every year but the schedule rotates similar to how the Big Ten does for football. Of course this still allows for the big rivalry matches to happen (Nazareth-Easton, Becahi-Parkland, etc.) Well 2 weekends ago they had the EPC finals which had some awesome matches. The finals pitted 1A Bethlehem Catholic vs 1B Nazareth. They also happen to be 1-2 in the state. Bethlehem Catholic won the conference championship 40-20 in a match that was closer than the score. Well this past weekend was the District Dual Tournament where the top 12 teams compete in a dual meet tourney similar to the VA duals to not only determine the District champion but advance the top 2 teams to the states duals this week (there is a true second as well). As expected the top 2 seeds Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth met again, this time for the District title. This time Nazareth came out on top in a stunning upset 33-24. Both teams now advance to the 20 team state dual tournament, where they are in opposite brackets so we could see BC-Naz III. Why am I sharing all this with you? Well for starters no one else is posting anything, even though there is much to discuss with regionals this weekend. I think it’s pretty exciting to have such drama tied to the duals and these events have been packed, not to mention TV coverage and live updates. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had something like this here? Actual duals instead of multiple quads, events that mattered, and the creation of fan excitement?
Just some thoughts. Feel free to flame.
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Post by Eiwaman1 on Feb 8, 2017 13:36:48 GMT -5
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Post by Eiwaman1 on Feb 13, 2017 15:42:45 GMT -5
In what many are already calling an instant classic #9 (per Intermat) Bethlehem Catholic battled #11 (per Intermat) Nazareth for PIAA State Dual AAA Supremacy. This would be the 3rd meeting in as many weeks for these two teams. In the first meeting, Bethlehem Catholic won 40-20 in a match that was much closer than the score indicated to win the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Team Championship. In that dual, BC won 5 weights by a combined total of 10 points. The EPC team title earned them the top seed for the 12 team District XI dual tournament, where they breezed to the finals to meet #2 seed Nazareth who beat Easton and Northampton to set the stage for round 2. This time Nazareth would reverse 3 of the 5 close bouts winning them by a combined total of 6 points. They also received a boost at 106 by the return of super freshman Andrew Cerniglia wrestling his first match since suffering a broken collarbone at the Beast of the East where he finished 8th with 5 pins at 113 including falls over Sam Davis (Rob), Elijah Jordan (POW), Sam Braswell (MAT), and Brandon Wittenburg (BAT). Cerniglia responded with a 16-0 TF to key a Nazareth upset 33-24.
**Note: The mention of wins over VA wrestlers is NOT to diminish their accomplishments, but to highlight the talent level of this freshman phenom. **
Both Nazareth and BC advanced to the 20 team state duals in Hershey where they would meet one more time in a Battle Royal All-District XI final. These teams have 6 division I commits combined and there were tons of fireworks. The match started at 182 and Beth Catholic jumped out to quick 14-4 lead on the strength of a tech fall by Nebraska bound Mikey Labriola and a fall by American bound 285 Nick Camacho. They also reversed a previous loss winning at 220. Nazareth’s only points were a major decision by Princeton bound Travis Stefanik. BC gets a major boost at 106 when Dillon Murphy is able to keep Andre Cerniglia at bay and only give up a regular decision losing 7-0. Last week he lost by TF so this saves 2 team points and keeps momentum in BC’s favor. That changes as Nazareth ties the match at 14 with 2 huge wins. At 113, Nazareth’s Sean Pierson takes Kenny Herrmann to double OT and wins with a late reversal 5-3. At 120, Ryan O’Grady stuns the crowd avenging 3 previous losses to Zach Glen with an 8-0 major decision. Momentum swings back in Beth Catholic’s favor as they win the next 3 weights in stunning fashion. At 126, Ryan Anderson knocks off Harvard bound senior Trevor Tarsi 3-0, then Jarred Papcsy and Luke Carty bring the Giant Center crowd to their feet with back to back first period falls. Carty’s return is key as he was unavailable during the District Duals final due to injury. These 3 wins allow Beth Catholic to take a commanding lead 29-14 with only 4 weights remaining and Big MO is now in their corner.
The pressure is now on the shoulders of Nazareth 145 freshman Nathan Stefanik, younger brother of Travis. In the District final he lost 3-1 OT to Luca Frinzi and a loss here makes any chance of a comeback nearly impossible as Nazareth would then need 3 pins just to tie. Stefanik delivers with a hard fought 4-2 win to keep Nazareth’s hopes alive. At 152 Nazareth sends out Ironman champ and #3 nationally ranked Sammy Sasso against Garhett Gibson whose job is to just not get pinned. He succeeds losing by TF 21-5 and saving BC a team point (29-22 with 2 weights left). At 160 Nazareth has Harvard bound senior Brock Wilson and once again Beth Catholic’s goal is not to give up any bonus points, this time their wrestler is a bit too deliberate in his plan. Late in the third Wilson is working for NF points and BC’s Ryan Zeiner is hit with stalling giving him the points needed for an 8-0 major decision.
Going into the last weight, BC leads 29-26 and pits Nazareth’s Zack Keifer against talented freshman Tavion Banks. After a scoreless first period Banks chooses bottom and escapes to take a 1-0 lead. Late in the period Keifer is in deep on a single and while attempting to finish Banks makes a freshman mistake by turning and pulling Keifer off the mat. He gets called for fleeing the mat tying the score at 1-1. In the third Keifer gets the escape and holds on for a 2-1 win to tie the dual at 29-29. They go to criteria and Nazareth wins on Criteria D most bouts won (8-6) and upsets the defending AAA champs in back to back weeks to earn the State Dual title.
When you see two teams put it on the line like this you hate to see anyone lose, but it was great wrestling, intense action, and on the edge of your seat excitement. All the things that build a fan base and make our sport great.
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