Bethlehem Catholic crowns four champs at Southeast 2A Regional wrestling tourney

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Now that Zeke Moisey's confidence level is where it needs to be, all that remains for the rest of his ultra-talented Bethlehem Catholic wrestling squad is to catch up to speed.

The Golden Hawks absorbed a little bit of a hit at the PIAA 2A Southeast Regional Wrestling Championships Saturday at Wilson High School, even though all 10 individuals they brought to this tournament made it through to states.

They placed only four champions — a disappointment by their standards — out of a possible seven, losing one final by a 1-0 score and two others in thrilling but controversial double-overtime clashes.

Moisey, who won the title at 120 pounds, made sure he didn't have to work overtime by handing previously undefeated Brad Farley of Bermudian Springs a 5-3 loss. Moisey escaped for a 3-1 lead just before the buzzer ending the second period and then took Farley down again in the third to avenge a loss to the senior in the state duals last month.

"It got my confidence up going into next week," said Moisey, who did not run at the end. "I was in twice pretty deep and didn't finish. I felt like I dominated."

Darian Cruz (106), Ryan Todora (145) and Elliot Riddick (170) also won titles for Becahi, which romped to the team title with 202 points. But a pair of overtime setbacks at 132 and 220 were what most people were talking about walking out of Discovery Gymnasium.

Becahi's Randy Cruz and Biglerville's Laike Gardner wrestled a fascinating final at 132, with Gardner ultimately making a first-period takedown stand up as the most crucial move in a 4-2 decision that was decided in double overtime.

Cruz was going for his fourth regional crown.

They began the third period in a 2-2 deadlock but with Gardner down to start. Cruz was able to ride him the rest of the way to force overtime, but picked up a stall warning and a second caution along the way.

That proved crucial when they wound up in the second overtime and Cruz was unable to get off the bottom in the first 30-second period, because when he flinched from the top to start the third, he was banged for his third caution, which meant a point for Gardner.

At that point, Cruz had little choice but to cut him loose for another point and then try for a bout-tying takedown, which he was unable to get.

A total of five cautions, three against Cruz, were called in the bout.

In the big picture, Becahi coach Jeff Karam theorized, the setback might actually work to Cruz's advantage, because he'll use it as a motivating force all week leading up the state tournament.

"As much as Randy has won this year," Karam said, "he hasn't been tested in quite a few weeks, and it was good for him to have a match like this."

The 220-pound final, in which Catasauqua's Luke Garner edged Becahi's Josh Alpha, was even crazier.

Garner's buzzer-beating escape at the end of the second rideout period of the second overtime lifted him to a 5-4 win. This, after Alpha had a takedown wiped out in the first overtime because Garner was dazed by an inadvertent head-butt a split-second earlier. Alpha also appeared to have a takedown at the buzzer ending the first overtime, but they wrestled on.

Garner won it by first riding Alpha for the full 30 seconds before pulling out his dramatic escape.

"I thought I was out of bounds," Garner said. "I tried to scoot back in. I got in, he held my hand, I just got out of that, I heard the buzzer go, I looked at the ref and he signaled neutral. It felt so great."

And an already great rivalry was enhanced.

"The first time I wrestled him, I got my 100th win off of him," Garner said. "And then he came back and he beat me in districts, and that just started the feud."

Among the others winning gold medals here were Pen Argyl's Mike Racciato (138), Brandywine Heights' Pete Renda (152) and Northwestern's Levi Veppert, who made a third-period escape hold up for a 1-0 decision over Becahi's Jose Ortiz at 182.

Veppert won by the same score in the semifinals overTri-Valley's Lyle Troutman.

Unlike the previous week, when Racciato was forced to go a full six minutes to beat the Hawks' Richy Cruz in the finals, he seemed to get stronger as this tournament wore on.

Racciato followed a technical fall over Columbia's Jordon Halter in the quarterfinals with a pin of Pequea Valley's Drew Jackson in the semifinals and then a 26-second pin of Milton Hershey's Sharron Townsend in the title match.

The top five in each weight class qualify for the PIAA State Championships, which begin Thursday in Hershey.

The semifinals featured many dramatic bouts, including the first loss of the season for Saucon Valley's Ray O'Donnell, who succumbed 6-5 in an ultimate tiebreaker to Hanover's once-beaten Derek Wolford at 195. Wolford escaped after choosing defense to start the tiebreaker.

O'Donnell pinned his way back to third place.

Ortiz came through with a 6-3 semifinal decision over Pen Argyl's Dylan Evans at 182, the key move coming on a takedown at the buzzer ending the second period. Ortiz then escaped to start the third for a 4-3 lead and wound up scoring a last-second takedown in the third to set the final score.

On the other side of the spectrum, Northern Lehigh's Ty Herzog stunned Pine Grove's Eli Brill with a last-second takedown in the semifinals for a 6-4 decision.

Bunce succumbed in a no-takedown semifinal at 285 against Wyomissing's Malcolm White when White was able to ride him out for a full 30 seconds in double overtime to preserve a 2-1 victory.

TEAM SCORING

1. Bethlehem Catholic 202; 2. Boiling Springs 119; 3. Tri Valley 118.5; 4. Pen Argyl 93.5; 5. Bermudian Springs 73; 6 (tie). Biglerville and Palmerton 57; 8. Hanover 45.5; 9. Brandywine Heights 45; 10. Saucon Valley 42; 11. Northwestern 37; 12 (tie). Catasauqua, Milton Hershey and Schuylkill Valley 34; 15. Eastern York 33; 16. Pequea Valley 32; 17. Oley Valley 31; 18. Wyomissing 30; 19 (tie). Halifax and Trinity 27.5; 21. Palisades 26; 22. Fairfield 24; 23. Pottstown 23; 24. Lancaster Catholic 22.5; 25. Northern Lehigh 21; 26. Tamaqua 19.5; 27 Lehighton 18; 28. Pine Grove 17; 29. Upper Dauphin 13; 30 (tie). Bishop McDevitt-Harrisburg and Camp Hill 12; 32. Phil-Mont Christian 11.5; 33 (tie). North Schuylkill and Wilson 11; 35 (tie). Columbia and Northern Lebanon 9; 37. Springfield 7; 38. New Hope-Solebury 6; 39. Lower Moreland 5; 40 (tie). Salisbury and Annville-Cleona 4; 42. Bishop McDevitt-Wyncote 3; 43 (tie). Delco Christian and Pius X 2; 45 (tie). Bristol, Church Farm, Franlin Towne Center, James Buchanan, Littlestown, Pope John Paul II, Susquenita and Williams Valley 0.

CHAMPIONSHIPS

106: Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) pin Korbin Myers (Boiling Springs) 3:08.

113: Ryan Diehl (Trinity) pin Joseph Byers (Boiling Springs) 1:40.

120: Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Brad Farley (Bermudian Springs) 5-3.

126: Arty Walsh (Schuylkill Valley) dec. Ian Brown (Hanover) 3-2.

132: Laike Gardner (Biglerville) dec. Randy Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) 4-2 (2 OT).

138: Michael Racciato (Pen Argyl) pin Sharron Townsend (Milton Hershey) :26.

145: Ryan Todora (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Ty Herzog (Northern Lehigh) 4-3.

152: Pete Renda (Brandywine Heights) pin Clay Kocsis (Fairfield) 3:45.

160: Sam Scheib (Tri-Valley) dec. Justin Marsh (Palisades) 6-5.

170: Elliot Riddick (Bethlehem Catholic) major dec. Tristan Sponseller (Bermudian Springs) 16-7.

182: Levi Veppert (Northwestern) dec. Jose Ortiz (Bethlehem Catholic) 1-0.

195: Derek Wolford (Hanover) pin Logan Murphy (Boiling Springs) 6:55 (OT).

220: Luke Garner (Catasauqua) dec. Josh Alpha (Bethlehem Catholic) 5-4 (2 OT).

285: Malcolm White (Wyomissing) pin Jonathon Hunsberger (Upper Dauphin) 2:25.

THIRD PLACE

106: Colin Mashack (Tamaqua) dec. Caleb Bordner (Tri-Valley) 13-1.

113: Josh Evans (Palmerton) dec. Matt Williams (Pen Argyl) 5-1.

120: Bryan Israel (Saucon Valley) dec. Sam Oberlander (Palmerton) 2-0.

126: Hunter Harner (Tri-Valley) medical forfeit Zane Heller (Bethlehem Catholic).

132: Mark Lentz (Boiling Springs) pin Austin Jackson (Bermudian Springs) 3:19.

138: Richard Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Drew Jackson (Pequea Valley) 4-3.

145: Robbie Moretz (Halifax) 7-5 dec. Eli Brill (Pine Grove) 2-1.

152: Ty Schoffstall (Tri-Valley) pin Cody Grohotolski (Palmerton) 2:10.

160: Adam Mackie (Brandywine Heights) dec. Mitchell Ball (Pequea Valley) 5-3.

170: Michael Balliet (Lehighton) dec. Evan Heffron (Tri-Valley) 6-3.

182: Dylan Evans (Pen Argyl) dec. Lyle Troutman (Tri-Valley) 803.

195: Ray O'Donnell (Saucon Valley) pin Brock Linebaugh (Bermudian Springs) 1:53.

220: Kane Kralik (Palmerton) dec. Joey Kaufman (Halifax) 3-2.

285: Kirby Mutton (Pen Argyl) dec. Omri Johnson (Milton Hershey) 6-3.

FIFTH PLACE

106: Jaryd Flank (Wilson) dec. Josh Giorgio (Schuylkill Valley) 11-5.

113: Terrence White (Bishop McDevitt) major dec. John Lobeck (Lancaster Catholic) 15-2.

120: Joey Fick (Oley Valley) dec. Grant Bond (Boiling Springs) 6-5.

126: Richie Cerebe (Phil-Mont Christian) dec. Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs) 7-2.

132: Trenton Clifford (Pottstown) dec. Shawn Phillips (Oley Valley) 5-0.

138: Blake Bowman (Tri-Valley) dec. Donald Minnier (Eastern York) 6-1.

145: John Vaughn (Boiling Springs) dec. Chris Schmid (Pequea Valley) 10-5.

152: Stephen Loiseau (Lancaster Catholic) dec. Tyler Lieberum (Biglerville) 1-0.

160: T.J. Nickle (Boiling Springs) pin Kyler Kutzler (Pen Argyl) 2:28.

170: Ryan Daub (Northern Lebanon) major dec. Brett Paul (North Schuylkill) 10-1.

182: Alex Cooley (Eastern York) dec. Rashaad Lighty (Pottstown)9-2.

195: David Tirpak (Northwestern) pin Camden Stoops (Eastern York) 1:55.

220: Gus Bostdorf (Camp Hill) dec. Buck Kauffman (Eastern York) 1-0.

285: Benjamin Bunce (Bethlehem Catholic) pin Jonathon Hunsberger (Upper Dauphin) 1:34.

SEMIFINALS

106: Korbin Myers (Boiling Springs) dec. Colin Mashack (Tamaqua) 2-1; Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) major dec. Jaryd Flank (Wilson) 16-3.

113: Ryan Diehl (Trinity) tech. fall Josh Evans (Palmerton) 16-1, 6:00; Joseph Byers (Boiling Springs) dec. Matt Williams (Pen Argyl) 7-6.

120: Brad Farley (Bermudian Springs) major dec. Bryan Israel (Saucon Valley) 10-0; Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic) pin Grant Bond (Boiling Springs) :40.

126: Arty Walsh (Schuylkill Valley) major dec. Richie Cerebe (Phil-Mont Christian) 19-5; Ian Brown (Hanover) dec. Zane Heller (Bethlehem Catholic) 3-0.

132: Laike Gardner (Biglerville) major dec. Trenton Clifford (Pottstown) 8-0; Randy Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) major dec. Austin Jackson (Bermudian Springs) 17-5.

138: Sharron Townsend (Milton Hershey) dec. Richard Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) 6-2; Michael Racciato (Pen Argyl) pin Drew Jackson (Pequea Valley) 2:45.

145: Ty Herzog (Northern Lehigh) dec. Eli Brill (Pine Grove) 6-4; Ryan Todora (Bethlehem Catholic) pin John Vaughn (Boiling Springs) 3:28.

152: Pete Renda (Brandywine Heights) pin Cody Grohotolski (Palmerton) 5:39; Clay Kocsis (Fairfield) dec. Stephen Loiseau (Lancaster Catholic) 2-1.

160: Sam Scheib (Tri-Valley) dec. Mitchell Ball (Pequea Valley) 5-2; Justin Marsh (Palisades) pin T.J. Nickle (Boiling Springs) 3:11.

170: Tristan Sponseller (Bermudian Springs) dec. Evan Heffron (Tri-Valley) 7-0; Elliot Riddick (Bethlehem Catholic) tech. fall Brett Paul (North Schuylkill) 27-12, 4:33.

182: Jose Ortiz (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Dylan Evans (Pen Argyl) 6-3; Levi Veppert (Northwestern) dec. Lyle Troutman (Tri-Valley) 1-0.

195: Logan Murphy (Boiling Springs) pin David Tirpak (Northwestern) 4:32; Derek Wolford (Hanover) dec. Ray O'Donnell (Saucon Valley) 6-5 (TB).

220: Luke Garner (Catasauqua) dec. Kane Kralik (Palmerton) 4-1; Josh Alpha (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Buck Kauffman (Eastern York) 3-1 (OT).

285: Jonathon Hunsberger (Upper Dauphin) pin Trevor Stover (Biglerville) 1:57; Malcolm White (Wyomissing) dec. Benjamin Bunce (Bethlehem Catholic) 2-1 (2 OT).

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-piaa-wrestling-regionals-2a-0303-20120303,0,3827334,full.story