Wilmington wrestlers win CHA tournament

by TOM UTESCHER

With five gold medalists, the host Blue Devils boasted the most individual weight class winners of the seven teams at the Chestnut Hill Academy Wrestling Invitational Tournament last Saturday.

CHA had no one entered in four of the 14 weight classes, however, and Wilmington Friends, which lacked only a 189-pounder, had enough depth of talent to capture the team title at the event, outscoring Chestnut Hill 171 points to 158. The Quakers took home four gold medals, three silvers, two bronzes, and finished fourth in three other classes. CHA had two seconds, two thirds and one fourth place finisher.

Episcopal, winner of the CHA tourney last year, was third this time around, with one gold, five silver, and three bronze medals in a 138-point performance. With 121 points, Archbishop Carroll was fourth in the team scoring, and the Patriots were followed by George School (109 pts.), Mercy Vocational (26) and Kensington High School (16).

Chestnut Hill has a larger roster than it has in the past few years, but not all of its athletes were tournament-ready. The Devils did not enter anyone in the 103, 112, 135 and 215 lb. categories. The ten who did compete fared well, all reaching the tourney semifinals. Junior Dan Cortes (145) and freshman Joe Aversa (119) captured bronze medals and ninth grader Chris Pittman came in fourth at 125 lbs. The other seven CHA entrants all went on to the championship round.

The finals began with Episcopal freshman Glenn Gallagher squaring off at 103 lbs. against Wilmington Friends sophomore Sam Titone. Titone built up a 9-0 lead in the first two rounds and then maintained that advantage through a scoreless third period for a major decision. At 112, where two sophomores faced one another, the Quakers’ Ben Altman traded takedowns with Ricky Brooman of the EA Churchmen, then Altman scored a reverse for a 4-2 decision. He had been the 103 lb. champion at CHA in 2002.

Wilmington picked up its third straight gold medal thanks to junior Nate Hoffman. The 119-pounder pinned George School freshman Jorge Galindo 61 seconds into their bout. In the following match, Episcopal’s Erik Minnick repeated as the tourney champ at 125 lbs., pinning fellow junior Danny Rhoades (WFS) with 51 seconds remaining in the opening round.

Next up was the first CHA finalist, 130 lb. sophomore Kevin Hines. He lost by fall in the middle of the first period of his tilt with Archbishop Carroll junior Jim Ganley, the defending tourney champion. Two juniors went the distance in the 135 lb. final, as Carroll’s Kyle Heselpoth forged a 14-6 major decision over Ted Cummiskey of George School. Save for one reversal by Heselpoth, all of the points were scored on takedowns and escapes.

Early in the 140 lb. match, CHA’s Brian Quigley almost completed a takedown that would’ve landed fellow senior Shaun Gould on his back, but the George School grappler rolled Quigley as they hit the mat, and then pinned him with 1:04 elapsed in the contest. Two juniors met at 145, and Carroll’s Bob Marano was in control the whole way en route to a 9-1 major decision. Cory Tieste of Wilmington scored his lone point with an escape in the third period.

The Blue Devil matmen then energized the home crowd with five straight victories. Senior Jim Crumlish, the tourney MVP and 145 lb. champion last year, stepped up to 152 and didn’t find easy going against Wilmington junior Ben Klein. After two periods Klein held a 5-4 edge, but in the third Crumlish tied it up with an escape and then recorded a takedown with 80 seconds to go for a 7-5 victory.

CHA’s 160, sophomore Sam Gilbert, rang up four takedowns during his match to steadily pull away from Carroll senior Bryan Maguire. Gilbert, the tourney’s defending champ at 160 lbs., wound up with a 10-4 decision. Blue Devil senior Tripper Sivick was tied, 2-2, with George School sophomore Mike Murphy in the middle of the second period in the 171 lb. final. Later in the frame Sivick went ahead with a reversal and a pair of back points, and he continued on to win, 10-6.

Following the pattern of the 135 lb. match, the 189 lb. final featured numerous takedowns by the winner and a series of escapes by the loser. The man executing the takedowns, Chestnut Hill junior Sam Greenwood, collected enough two-point shots for a 15-6 major decision over Zach Morse, a sophomore from Episcopal.

The last CHA finalist was 215 lb. senior Kevin Brewster, who had won the weight class in 2002. He took down Episcopal sophomore Ben Kissner with 50 seconds left in the opening period, and pinned him 19 seconds later. The tournament ended 58 seconds into the 275 lb. final, when senior Reggie Iacobucci of Wilmington Friends pinned EA freshman Ricky Ragin.

The tournament MVP award was shared by Episcopal’s Minnick, the two-time gold medalist at 125 lbs., and Gould, the 140 lb. champ from George School.