Championship finals in the first three weight classes had scoreless first periods. The opening match at 103 pounds was a rematch of the semifinal from last weekend's Walsh Ironman, with No. 1 Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic, Pennsylvania) battling it out against No. 9 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, New Jersey). This match was tied at 1-1 headed into the overtime period. Cruz secured the win in sudden victory with a takedown off of his leg attack.
Cruz was the lone champion and one of three place-winners for the Hawks, who finished in fourth place as a team with 135 points. "We've been tested to the umpteenth degree these last two weeks as a team and coaching staff," commented head coach Jeff Karam. "We've got a really young team, and were without a few pieces these last two weeks, so I'm optimistic about our prospects heading into the dual meet season and state tournament."
Fellow Bethlehem Catholic wrestler No. 11 Zeke Moisey fell short in the 112-pound final against J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Virginia). Wert used a second period rideout, a third period escape, and late takedown to secure the 3-0 victory.
Being in his third high school program in the last two years, Wert has had the benefits of many helpful resources along the way. "I feel so comfortable on top because of working with Mitchell Port (state champ for Bellefonte, Pennsylvania last year and redshirting this year at Edinboro)," he said. "Plus working with Joey Dance the last couple of months has been very good and helpful, along with Daryl Weber (Christiansburg head coach)."
Fellow Blue Demon No. 11 Joey Dance was in the 119-pound final against No. 4 Robert Deutsch (Eastern Regional, New Jersey). Like the first two matches, this one was scoreless after a period. Similar to the 103-pound final, the match went to overtime with a 1-1 score. After no scoring in the sudden victory period, it went to the tiebreak periods. Deutsch was able to ride out Dance in the first tiebreak, and then score an escape in the second to win 2-1.
This was the third one point victory of the day for Deutsch, the 2009 New Jersey state champion and Junior National freestyle All-American this past summer. "(These narrow matches) come down to determination, hard work in the wrestling room, and coming out there prepared," Deutsch observed. "Bobby (Stinson, the new head coach) pushes me to my maximum and knows how to prepare me to perform."
Starting a run of three consecutive Blair Academy, New Jersey finalists -- the Buccaneers had five in all on the way to dominating their way to the team title with 248 points -- was No. 3 Mark Grey at 125 pounds. Grey was the tournament's most dominant wrestler, and that showed with a 12-3 major decision victory over Kyle Casaletto (Southern Regional, New Jersey) in the championship final.
Three takedowns in the third period really separated a match that was already out of reach after two periods for the Major Ray Mendoza Award winner for scoring the most team points. "I really wanted to dominate every phase of the match this weekend," said Grey after winning his third Beast of the East title despite having no titles at the Ironman. "And I thought I did (dominate throughout).
Should Grey win a Beast of the East title next year, he would become the first wrestler to ever win four Beast of the East championships.
Teammate Todd Preston, ranked thirteenth nationally, was not as fortunate as Grey in his finals match against No. 2 Zach Horan (Nazareth, Pennsylvania). The 2008 Cadet National freestyle champion, a Fargo runner-up the last two years, and three-time state runner-up used takedowns in the first and second periods to earn a 4-2 victory.
"It feels great to win a title, especially always being near the top but seemingly not getting it done," Horan commented. "I hope to continue taking home first place medals all year long, in particular at the state tournament in March."
In third of the consecutive finals for Blair Academy, No. 1 Austin Ormsbee came through with a 6-2 victory against No. 20 Jeff Canfora (Delbarton, New Jersey) in the final at 135 pounds. This capped off a dominant weekend, which included two pins, a major decision, a technical fall, and a 9-2 victory prior to the finals match.
"I wanted to come in here and get my season back on track after losing (to Hunter Stieber, also ranked first nationally) in the Ironman final," said Ormsbee, a Junior National freestyle champion. "I'm happy with the results because I wrestled hard and got them."
It was yet another school -- Delbarton -- with a pair of finalists in back-to-back weight classes, as Devon Gobbo advanced to the 140-pound final with victories over a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers on Sunday morning; 9-4 over No. 18 Mark Pinero (Archbishop Rummel, Louisiana) in the quarterfinals, and 5-4 against Walsh Ironman champion No. 12 Evan Henderson (Kiski Prep, Pennsylvania) in the semifinal.
The championship final saw Gobbo facing No. 11 Jacob Crawford (Millbrook, Virginia), an opponent he had suffered a 7-2 loss against in the consolation semifinals at the Super 32 Challenge. However, the tone of this championship final would be different as Gobbo led 2-0 after two periods with a first period takedown and rideout to end that period and throughout the second period. There were three takedowns in the third period, two for Gobbo sandwiching one for Crawford to seal the 8-3 victory.
Even being a two-time New Jersey state placer and Super 32 Challenge placer, this tournament validated a marked improvement for Gobbo. "I've been training the whole spring, summer, and fall for this," he said."I just had to wrestle the same way, and it would work out." It did with flying colors, that is for sure. He also credited his training environment, working at the Iron Horse club and with teammate Canfora.
A pair of top ten wrestlers in the nation at 145 pounds, and uncommitted seniors ranked among the top 50 in the Class of 2010 met in the final – No. 2 Nick Hodgkins (Wyomissing, Pennsylvania) upended No. 10 Blake Roulo (Matoaca, Virginia) 4-2. It was yet another major event win for Hodgkins, who has titles at the NHSCA Junior Nationals and Super 32 to his credit in 2010.
"Everything is mental for me," observed Hodgkins. "The training, approach, and preparation are all about mindset. I really want that to get that second state title (he was champ as a sophomore) this year."
The next two weight classes were both won by wrestlers from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pennsylvania – Lorenzo Thomas at 152 pounds and No. 3 Jason Luster at 160. Boosted by their efforts, the Vikings finished third with 171 points.
Head coach Sunny Abe commented, "We wrestled so much better than last week at the Ironman, the kids gave 100 percent effort throughout the weekend. Thomas in particular made the necessary adjustments mentally and in terms of strategy to come through this weekend."
At 152 pounds, Thomas used a third period reversal to defeat Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania) 2-1. He agreed with Abe's sentiments. "I trained harder and made changes from the last two big tournaments (Ironman and Super 32) where I fell short of expectations." Thomas added that he "worked on being more aggressive, making sure to wrestle my match, and staying within the moment."
Despite not feeling that he was in the best shape, Luster survived a very tough championship final match against Cody Allala (Hopewell, Virginia) with a 4-3 victory in the ultimate tiebreaker. "I got through it with heart, desire, and resolve," said Luster. "It feels great to win (the Ironman and Beast) in back-to-back weeks.
At 171 pounds, it was a fourth consecutive Keystone State wrestler taking home a Beast of the East championship, as No. 19 John Staudenmeyer (Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania) earned a 4-2 victory against Scott Gibbons (Archbishop Rummel, Louisiana). This came despite failing to score a takedown in the match – as it was a two point near fall in the second period and reversal in the third period to give Staudenmeyer the requisite points.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Staudenmeyer about being a Beast of the East champion. "The fact that it's my first major title makes it all the sweeter."
The tournament's Cinderella story came in the form of 189-pound champion James Fox (St. Peter's Prep, New Jersey). Coming into the tournament as a two-time state qualifier and unseeded, he came into the tournament totally off the radar. However, that would no longer be the case after a 2-1 semifinal victory over No. 2 Kenny Courts (Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania), a two-time Beast of the East champion, in the tiebreaker periods.
"I didn't look at a bracket at all during the tournament," said Fox, "so I had no idea who my semifinal was against. I found out the significance after the match."
In the championship final, Fox wrestled returning state placer Dawud Hicks (Plainfield, New Jersey). With a 6-2 lead during the third period, Hicks was injured and defaulted from the match. As a result, Fox became an unseeded Beast of the East champion, the second in tournament history and second in as many years.
Based on this performance, the Harvard-bound Fox (who has a 4.0 GPA and is a National Honor Society member) was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. "It's truly a blessing. This is overwhelming, great, amazing, and surreal all put into one," said Fox about the whole weekend.
Last year's unseeded champion at the Beast of the East was Matt Idelson (Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania), ranked No. 17 in the nation this year and the top seeded wrestler at 215 pounds. His opponent in the finals was a freshman, Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Maryland) who had won championships in the first two tournaments of his career – the Ray Oliver Invitational and the War on the Shore.
Snyder would make it three-for-three with a 3-0 victory in the final over Idelson due to a second period rideout, an escape midway through the third period, and then a late takedown to seal the deal. Coming into the weekend, Snyder "thought he could do well in the tournament, and hoped to win it." Now with a Beast of the East championship added to the resume, he hopes to now just "keep on winning."
The final championship match of the evening was reflective of the final team standings -- Blair Academy winning it and Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania finishing in second place. The Blue Knights placed four wrestlers (tied with four other schools for second most behind the eight for Blair), a pair in second and a pair in third, to score 171 points.
"Our guys put a lot into it, we showed improvement from last week," head coach Scott Green said. "I'm pleased with some of those who went two-and-out last week but were able to win matches this week, and with A.J. Vizcarrando going 8-1 at 215 pounds to take third place after not competing last week."
In that 285-pound final, No. 5 Brooks Black (Blair Academy, New Jersey) was the third of three possible wrestlers to complete the Ironman-Beast double with a 1-0 victory over No. 19 Terrance Jean-Jacques (Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania). Black earned an escape in the second period and sealed the victory with a third period rideout.
"I knew I could hold him down, and I kept riding hard," Black said. "I started to wear him down even with the stoppages during the third."
Even though the Beast of the East is a very high profile event, it is as Wyoming Seminary head coach Green stated, "one stage during a training cycle in preparation for the post-season tournaments (state championships or National Preps), and we have things to work on."
Final Team Standings:
1) No. 3 Blair Academy, New Jersey 248
2) No. 8 Wyoming Seminary, Pennsylvania 171
3) No. 36 Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pennsylvania 152-1/2
4) Bethlehem Catholic, Pennsylvania 135
5) No. 20 Central Dauphin, Pennsylvania 117-1/2
6) No. 33 Christiansburg, Virginia 106
7) Delbarton, New Jersey 105
8) No. 38 LaSalle, Pensnylvania 98-1/2
9) No. 31 Cox, Virginia 97
10) Caesar Rodney, Delaware 94-1/2
T11) No. 27 Jackson Memorial, New Jersey 90
Colonial Forge, Virginia
Results:
Brackets
Team Standings
Complete Results
Special Awards:
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now