Sunday, December 19, 2010

Darian Cruz and Zach Horan win individual titles at Beast of the East wrestling tournament

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Bethlehem Catholic's Darian Cruz (103) and Zachary Horan (130) of Nazareth captured Beast of the East wrestling titles to lead a strong performance by the local contingent in one of the top scholastic tournaments in the country.

The Golden Hawks finished in fourth place in the team race as Zeke Moisey (runnerup at 112) and Randy Cruz (5th at 119) also earned spots on the podium for head coach jeff Karam.

Blair Academy ran away with the team title with three individual champs and 248 points. Wyoming Seminary (171), Pitsburgh Central Catholic (152.5), Becahi (135) and Central Dauphin (117.5) rounded out the top five. Nazareth (14th) and Northampton (20th) also performed well in a field represented by more than 100 schools.

"Our goal was top five," said Karam, one week after his squad finished seventh at the prestigious Walsh Ironman. "I though we could break top three, but it was a good showing. I felt like we left a couple of wins on the mat."

Cruz and Horan each defeated Blair Academy wrestlers in the finals to bring home gold. Cruz won his fifth bout of the weekend by a 3-1 score over the Bucs' Joseph McKenna and Horan beat Todd Preston by a 4-2 score.

Moisey, a seventh seed, knocked off Liberty's Anthony Cabrera 4-3 in a morning quarterfinal and then defeated Will Mason of Cape Henry in the semis before falling 3-0 to Christianburg's JR Wert in the final.

"People say he (Moisey) is only a freshman, but he is a very seasoned wrestler," Karam said. "That is a big win, because Anthony (Cabrera) is one tough wrestler."

After falling to Jake Smith of JR Robinson in his final match of Saturday's action, Randy Cruz battled back through the consolation bracket and avenged the loss with a 4-1 win over Smith in the fifth place bout.

Randy Cruz, a PIAA Class AA runnerup at 112 in March, is starting to turn the corner after a slow start to the season, according to his coach.

"He is adjusting to watching his weight," said Karam. "He is finding his way and working his way back to form."

Other region wrestlers of note include: Liberty's Brett Marino (4th at 103), Devon Lotito (5th at 125) and Cabrera (7th at 103), Greg Noll of Nazareth (6th at 135). Northampton's Nick Sharga and Jason Stephen finished seventh at 215 and 135, respectively.

Mark Grey (125), Austin Ormsbee (135) and Brooks Black (285) all were champions for the first place Buccaneers.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/12/darian_cruz_and_zach_horan_win.html

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