Schuylkill Valley Panthers take second place at the Berks Individual Wrestling Tournament

Led by four second place finishers, the Schuylkill Valley High School wrestling team captured second place as a team at the 2013 Berks Individual Wrestling Tournament held at the Geigle Complex in Reading on Jan. 11 and 12. Hamburg finished sixth as a team getting two second place finishers and two third place finishers. Tulpehocken finished in 15th place.

The Panthers’ Jake Horst, Josh Giorgio, Joey Waack and Trevor Crupi all finished in second place.

“We performed well,” said Schuylkill Valley Head Coach Duane Mauer. “But we did leave much to be improved.”

Horst, wreslting at 106 pounds, began the tournament with a 9-1 decision over Allen Arentz of Governor Mifflin in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinals, Horst won a 4-2 decision over Brett Kulp of Exeter. That sent Horst to the championship bout where he was pinned by Hunter Gimbor of Brandywine Heights in 5:53.

“Jake had a real nice tournament,” said Coach Mauer. “He defeated a top freshman in the semi’s and wrestled one of Pennsylvania’s rising freshman stars in the finals.”

Giorgio (120) open his tournament with a pin in 1:00 of Wilson’s Francesca Giorgio. In the semifinals he decisioned Sean Stanish of Hamburg, 8-4, then lost to Daniel Grant from Twin Valley in the championship bout, 5-4.

“Josh wrestled a good tournament,” said Mauer. “Ironically, he wrestled his cousin in the quarters, and wrestled a strong opponent in the semi’s. In the finals he wrestled one of the most exciting matches of the tournament.”

At 170 pounds, Waack began the tournament with a 7-3 quarterfinal round victory over Darren Pringle of Reading. In the semifinals, Waack pinned David Abbadusky of Twin Vlley in 1:04. But in the championship bout, Waack was defeated by a technical fall, 16-0, by Pete Renda of Brandywine Heights.

“Joey Waack did a very good job in the tournament,” said Coach Mauer. “He wrestled one of Pennsylvania’s superstars in the finals.”

Crupi, wrestling at 285 pounds, decisioned Dan Swope of Muhlenberg, 18-11 in the quarterfinals. He then won his semifinal round bout by a 3-2 decision over Wyomissing’s Ben Wertz. In the championship bout, Crupi lost a 3-1 decision to Reading’s Jaron Burke.

Trevor performed very well in the tournament,” said the coach. “He also had a very hard fought close match in the finals.”

At 220 pounds, Dante Giorgio opened his tournament with an 8-5 decision over Max Elliot of Twin Valley. But in his semifinal round match, Giorgio lost to Brandon Vaverio of Conrad Weiser by the slimest of margins, 5-4. He fought back by pinning Alex Robles of Reading in 1:44 in the consolation semifinals, then pinned Muhlenberg’s Kyle Pogue in 1:35 of his third place bout.

Zach Homan (145) of Schuylkill Valley captured fourth place after winning his quarterfinal round bout by a technical fall, 18-3 over Nick Gardocki of Twin Valley. In the semifinals, Homan lost a 7-6 decision to Daniel Boone’s Jordan LaHaise, but fought back in the consolation semifinals by decisioning Evan Gelman of Oley Valley, 11-6. In the third place bout, Homan lost a 3-0 decision to Bryce Pych of Wilson.

Hamburg Head Coach Derek Sola was pleased with his team’s performance. “I thought the kids who were there wrestled well, especially those who rebounded from a semifinal loss and came back to wrestle for third place.

Hamburg’s Chris Kummerer (132) started his tournament in the preliminary round where he pinned Jacob Stewart of Conrad Weiser in 1:43. Then in the quarterfinals, Kummerer won an 8-0 decision over Angel Canela of Wyomissing. But in the semifinals, he lost a 6-2 decision to Oley Valley’s Robert Ritschard. In the consolation semifinals, Kummerer recovered to win an 8-0 decision over Exeter’s Scott Baker. Then in the third place bout, he defeated Canela once again by the same 8-0 score.

Hamburg’s Austin Bashore (195) also started his tournament in the preliminary round where he pinned Daniel Boone’s Kurt Gheer in 2:16. In the quarterfinals, Bashore won a 9-1 decision over Kutztown’s Cody Madtes, advancing him to the semifinals. There he lost a 6-1 decision to Jan Johnson of Governor Mifflin, then came back in the consolation semifinals to win a 5-3 decision over Matt Reinhart of Reading. In the third place battle, Bashore decisioned Colby Auman of Conrad Weiser, 5-3.

Hamburg’s Sean Stanish (120), opened the tournament with a 15-5 quarterfinal round verdict over Mason Quinn of Conrad Weiser. In the semifinals, Stanish lost to Josh Giorgio of Schuylkill Valley, 8-4. In the consolation semifinals, Stanish came back with a 4-2 victory over Colin Johnson of Governor Mifflin, then lost in the third place bout, 3-1 to Joey Fick of Oley Valley.

Hamburg’s Cody Miller (182) began with a pin of Oley Valley’s Joe Goggins in 1:11 of their preliminary round bout. In the quarterfinals, Miller pinned Aboubacar Kallo of Reading in 5:12. Then in the semifinals, Miller was pinned by Brandywine Heights’ Adam Mackie in 1:44, sending Miller to the consolation semifinals where he won an 8-2 decision over Isaac Schannauer of Wilson. Then in the third place bout, Miller lost an 8-2 decision to James Moran of Exeter.

Hamburg’s Nick Oswald captued fifth place in the 138 pound weight class and teammate Joey Raffensperger finished in sixth place.

Hamburg’s Joe Raffensperger and Kerry Mega were eliminated from the tournament, but not by any of the other wrestlers. Raffensperger advanced to the semifinals, but has to forfeit his last two matches when he came down with the flu. Mega dropped out of the competition due to a knee injury.