#1 Bethlehem Catholic and #3 Brookville Make Dual Team Statement

The top ranked program in Class AAA, #1 Bethlehem Catholic, cemented their spot as the top dual team in Pennsylvania and showed why they are considered a National power. Forgoing the Escape The Rock Tournament this season BECA participated in the first annual Flo Wrestling’s Who’s #1 Duals.

Competing against the top teams in the Nation Bethlehem Catholic had  record of (3-1) overall entering the event ranked #7 in the Nation by Flo Wrestling. In round 1 BECA upended the #8 ranked program Lake Highland Prep of Florida by a convincing score (43-21). In round 2 the most anticipated match featured #7 Bethlehem Catholic meeting New Jersey’s powerhouse #2 Bergen Catholic. The two teams both participated in the Beast of the East this season with Bergen Catholic finishing second in team points behind #1 Wyoming Seminary while Bethlehem Catholic was third. The highlight bout was a re-match of the Beast of the East finals at 126 lbs. between the Nation’s top two ranked wrestlers #1 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic) and #2 Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic). In the Beast finals Suriano earned a first period fall in (1:50) over Karam to claim the Championship title.

This time around the two battled for a full six minutes but with the same wrestler having his hand raised. Suriano collected a (4-1) decision over the 2x PIAA State Champion. Eight of fourteen bouts were decided by three points or less and with Bergen Catholic leading (26-22) the match came down to 106 lbs. There sophomore Zach Glenn made the crowd go wild when he pinned freshman Richard Halal to give BECA the monstrous win (26-22) over one of the top teams in the Nation.

The Golden Hawks followed the victory up with a dominating (51-15) win over St. Augustin Prep of New Jersey. Having won their pool Bethlehem Catholic advanced into the Championship finals to face storied program #6 Blair Academy. In another grueling affair BECA was unable to pull off a second incredible upset falling to the Bucs (36-18). The match saw nine bouts decided by two or less points. Unfortunately for head coach Jeff Karam and his squad dropped five of those narrow matches to Blair.

 

#7 BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 43 – #8 LAKE HIGHLAND PREP 21
106 Glenn (BETH) DEC Chauvin (LAKE) 10-8
113 Anderson (BETH) TF Castillo (LAKE) 4:51
120 Carty (BETH) WBF Andrew (LAKE) 3:18
126 Karam (BETH) DEC Silva (LAKE) 5-2
132 Gould (BETH) MAJ Bele (LAKE) 10-1
138 Papcsy (BETH) MAJ Monzadeh (LAKE) 11-1
145 Brindley (LAKE) DEC Maloney (BETH) 8-5
152 Karam (BETH) BY FORFEIT
160 Rogers (LAKE) WBF Zeiner (BETH) 2:43
170 Cleary (LAKE) DEC Labriola (BETH) 4-3
182 Ford (LAKE) DEC Soldridge (BETH) 2-1
195 Blackett (BETH) BY FORFEIT
220 Goldin (LAKE) BY FORFEIT
285 Camacho (BETH) BY FORFEIT

 

#7 BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 28 – #2 BERGEN CATHOLIC 26
113 Anderson (BETH) DEC Ferrante (BERG) 3-0
120 Angelo (BERG) DEC Carty (BETH) 4-3
126 Suriano (BERG) DEC Karam (BETH) 4-1
132 Gould (BETH) DEC Foca (BERG) 8-5
138 Unger (BERG) DEC Papcsy (BETH) 1-0
145 Maloney (BETH) DEC Cabanillas (BERG) 5-4
152 Ford (BERG) MAJ Zeiner (BETH) 12-3
160 Karam (BETH) WBF Asatrian (BERG) 0:54
170 Labriola (BETH) DEC Grello (BERG) 8-5
182 Mckenzie (BERG) DEC Soldridge (BETH) 3-2
195 Mulligan (BERG) WBF Blackett (BETH) 2:28
220 Delorenzi (BERG) MAJ Crouse (BETH) 12-3
285 Camacho (BETH) MAJ Alfano (BERG) 14-2
106 Glenn (BETH) WBF Halal (BERG) 4:46

 

#7 BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 51 –  ST. AUGUSTINE PREP 15
120 Carty (BETH) WBF Bodnar (AUG) 2:35
126 Karam (BETH) WBF Schwab (AUG) 0:48
132 Gould (BETH) MAJ Manera (AUG) 11-2
138 Papcsy (BETH) DEC Bechler (AUG) 3-1
145 Taylor (AUG) WBF Kurtz (BETH) 2:34
152 Karam (BETH) MAJ Donahue (AUG) 12-2
160 Clark (AUG) DEC Mauro (BETH) 6-3
170 Labriola (BETH) WBF Good (AUG) 4:28
182 Soldridge (BETH) WBF Murray (AUG) 3:08
195 Blackett (BETH) BY FORFEIT
220 Crouse (BETH) DEC Lynd (AUG) 6-5
285 Brady (AUG) BY FORFEIT
106 Redington (BETH) DEC Coleman (AUG) 6-1
113 Anderson (BETH) MAJ Kraus (AUG) 10-2

 

#6 BLAIR 36 – #7 BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 18
132 Requir Van der Merwe (BLAR) WBF Gould (BETH) 2:42
138 Papcsy (BETH) DEC Brackup (BLAR) 3-2
145 Merola (BLAR) MAJ Maloney (BETH) 14-4
152 Karam (BETH) DEC Pickett (BLAR) 3-2
160 Karoly (BLAR) WBF Zeiner (BETH) 0:40
170 Dallavia (BLAR) DEC Labriola (BETH) 1-0
182 Soldridge (BETH) DEC Stillerman (BLAR) 4-2
195 Singletary (BLAR) TF Blackett (BETH) 4:13
220 Mosco (BLAR) DEC Crouse (BETH) 6-4
285 Camacho (BETH) DEC Putnam (BLAR) 3-2
106 Colaiocco (BLAR) DEC Glenn (BETH) 3-1
113 Cannon (BLAR) DEC Anderson (BETH) 1-0
120 Sherman (BLAR) DEC Carty (BETH) 2-0
126 Karam (BETH) WBF Gobencion (BLAR) 2:58

 

BECA is clearly the top team in Class AAA but in Class AA the top tier teams are all capable of coming away from Hershey with a State Dual Team Championship. Brookville Area played host for the annual ‘Ultimate Duals” event that features the top programs in the State going head-to-head. The 2016 Ultimate Duals featured six teams all ranked in the Top 20 in the State; #1 Chestnut Ridge, #2 Reynolds, #3 Brookville Area, #10 Saegertown, #11 Greenville, and #18 Burrell.

 

Dual Results:

1st:  #3 Brookville Area (5-0)

2nd:  #2 Reynolds (4-1)

3rd:  #1 Chestnut Ridge (3-2)

4th:  #11 Greenville (2-3)

5th:  #18 Burrell (1-4)

6th:  #10 Saegertown (0-5)

 

The home team not only had the best performance but made the biggest impact on the State Dual Team Rankings. #3 Brookville Area will be ascending two spot to take over at #1 after going undefeated (5-0) and earning wins over #1 Chestnut Ridge and #2 Reynolds. In round two Brookville took down #18 Burrell with #1 Taylor Ortz and #10 Cole Aaron leading the way both picking up tech-falls in a (37-28) victory. In round three the Raiders faced the top ranked program in Class AA #1 Chestnut Ridge. Brookville won the bonus point battle by picking up six falls compared to Chestnut Ridge’s two. Chestnut Ridge was without Top Incoming Freshman #4 Jared McGill at 132 lbs. but regardless Brookville was in control of the dual meet winning (37-30).

In round four the Raiders took on a formidable opponent in #11 Greenville. A fall by #17 Bryce Town at heavyweight and two forfeits to #1 Taylor Ortz and #10 Cole Aaron sealed the dual for Brookville Area (35-27). In the Championship final rivals met as #2 Reynolds and #3 Brookville both entered with (4-0) records. #2 Reynolds opened up with a solid (47-18) over #1 Chestnut Ridge in addition to wins over #11 Greenville (47-19), #10 Saegertown (49-16,  and over #18 Burrell (39-30).

In the finals #3 Brookville and #2 Reynolds saw half of the bouts decided by six points or less plus three bonus points matches. The Raiders were able to grab three wins, two by falls and one by tech-fall, to surge (36-20). With the match starting at 220 lbs. Brookville could not have had a better performance in their opening two bouts. At 220 lbs. #20 Tyler Cook (Brookville) earned a wild (5-3 UTB) win over #6 Cole Rickert (Reynolds) to go up (3-0) in the dual. In arguably the most significant bout of the dual meet #17 Bryce Town (Brookville) upset PIAA State Medalist #3 Gene Ringer (Reynolds) by fall in (2:48). With Brookville up (15-6) two of the best wrestlers in the State faced off at 132 lbs. with PIAA State Champion #1 Cole Matthews (Reynolds) bumping up a weight to take on #1 Tate Ortz (Brookville Area). The two last met a year ago in the NW Regional Championship bout at 120 lbs. where Taylor Ortz won (4-2 SV) over the freshman. Matthews went on to win a PIAA State Championship while Ortz finished third in the State for the second year in a row. In a critical match Ortz not only got the win over Matthews at 132 lbs. but he earned a major decision (10-2) to put the Raiders ahead (19-6).

Brookville would hold on to win the dual meet (36-20) ending a perfect day (5-0) for the Raiders. For Taylor Ortz he went (5-0) and earned the “Ultimate Duals” Gilly Award for the most outstanding wrestler of the duals. The performance in their home gym will move Brookville to the top of the State Dual Team Rankings in Class AA.

 

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][embeddoc url=”http://uduals.tripod.com/DUALS16.pdf”][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]