December 15, 2005 Issue
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December 15, 2005 Issue
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About Us Chestnut Hill Local Webmaster Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or ©2005 Chestnut Hill Local
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Episcopal wrestlers repeat at CHA tourney
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At last Saturday’s Chestnut Hill Academy Wrestling Invitational Tournament, Episcopal Academy fought off a challenge from Cardinal O’Hara High School to repeat as team champion, 183.5 points to 135, while the CHA Blue Devils earned 106 points to place third out of 17 teams.
Episcopal’s Churchmen had five of their six finalists collect gold medals, while two of O’Hara’s five finalists went all the way.
Host Chestnut Hill went two-for-two in the final round. Senior Sam Gilbert became a four-time CHAWIT champ as he topped the field at 171 lbs., and freshman Nick Varallo won the 112 lb. weight class.
Germantown Friends School also emerged with a champion, thanks to junior 145-pounder Max Hawes, and overall the Tigers chalked up 43 points, tying for 12th place with New Hope Solebury High School.
Coming into the tourney, host Chestnut Hill had an 0-2 record in dual meets, having given away 30 points in forfeits each time due to vacancies in the lineup. On the first weekend of the month, CHA finished fifth in Germantown Academy’s annual tournament. The Blue Devils filled 11 weight classes at last Saturday’s event, and team co-captain Walt Wynne was unable to compete at 125 lbs. due to a stress fracture of the right tibia.
Victory had also eluded Germantown Friends in its first two dual meets, and like CHA, the Tigers had been forced to hand over forfeit points. They had seven wrestlers on hand for Saturday’s competition.
Area native Pete Shaifer, a former coach at CHA, GA, and Episcopal, brought in part of his current team from St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, VA. He’d made the trip north to compete at the GA tourney as well, where he entered just nine men but still was able to finish second, behind team champ Hatboro Horsham and ahead of the host Patriots.
With just six of his younger wrestlers seeing action at CHA, Shaifer’s squad placed 14th with 39 points; the Saints’ top finisher was Ted Gottwald, who tied for third place at 130 lbs. with Mike Miles of Roman Catholic. There were two other ties for third place, because scholastic wrestling rules prohibit a wrestler from participating in more than five matches in one day. In these three weight classes, at least one of the athletes who reached the third-place match had fought all the way through the consolation bracket to get there, using up his eligibility in the process.
Nine of CHA’s 11 entries in the tournament won at least one match at the event. Justin Heller (103), Caleb Hill (119), Alex Blenheim (125), and Mike Flannery (145) each lost their first-round matches, but then pinned their first opponents in the consolation draw. Flannery (who joined the team just before the tournament) and Blenheim went out in the next round, but Hill went on to finish fourth at his weight, and Heller wound up with a bronze medal with a 14-3 major decision in the consolation final.
Meanwhile, Joe Aversa (130), Malcolm Taylor (140) and Henry Gilbert (152) opened with victories, but then lost in the second round. Aversa pinned his opponent in his first consolation match, then lost to Roman’s Miles in a consolation semifinal. His two teammates won the rest of their matches to come in third; Taylor took bronze with a 5-1 decision, and Gilbert won 3-1 to claim his medal.
Two of the seven grapplers entered for Germantown Friends used up their double-elimination chances in two matches, while a third, freshman Dan Feingold, lost in the main draw at 152 lbs., then won by forfeit in the consolation bracket before losing in the semifinal. Following setbacks early in the main draw, freshman Peter Todd (112) and sophomore Shohei Kurokawa (135) won consolation matches and ended their run in the semifinal round.
The Tigers’ 189, junior Emile Paulmier, lost his first match of the day but battled back through the consolation draw, winning a 7-2 decision in the semifinals. Unfortunately, this last bout was his fifth of the day and he was not able to wrestle for third place overall, sharing the distinction with Jonathan Downes of Valley Forge Military Academy.
The first area wrestler to see action in the championship round was CHA’s Varallo, who squared off against David Kloss of Westtown School at 112 lbs. Both had pinned their way into the finals, but here it was tougher going. Actually, Varallo almost stuck his man late in the second period before the clock ran out to save Kloss, but the CHA freshman was able to record a 7-3 decision in the end.
At 145, GFS’ Hawes had advanced with a pin and a pair of easy decisions. In the finals, however, he found himself in a barnburner with Jim Starr of Cardinal O’Hara. Starr led 4-1 after two periods, then Hawes scored a reverse from the bottom position at the start of the third round, and a stalling penalty on the O’Hara man sent the bout into overtime at 4-4.
Starr shot for a takedown, but tried to parlay the move into a pinning combination before he actually secured the takedown points. Hawes broke loose and the two scrambled to their feet before a successful takedown by the Tiger middleweight gave him a 6-4 victory.
Following a first-round bye, CHA 171 Sam Gilbert had pinned his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents in a total of 96 seconds, but it took him a lot longer to mat fellow finalist Ben Mickel of Episcopal. Scoring first with a takedown in the opening round, Gilbert remained ahead on points until he finally flattened Mickel’s shoulders with 22 seconds left in the match to win his fourth CHAWIT gold medal.
Another four-time champ at the Chestnut Hill event, Wilmington Friends 125 Ben Altman, was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
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Final Team
Standings and Scores
1) Episcopal Academy (183.5)
2) Cardinal O’Hara (135)
3) Chestnut Hill Academy (106)
4) Roman Catholic (95.5)
5) Valley Forge Military
Academy (91)
6) Father Judge High School (82)
7) Wilmington Friends School (80.5)
8) Westtown School (79)
9) George School (72.5)
10) Central High School (62)
11) Edison/Fareira High School (55)
12) Germantown Friends School (43)
New Hope Solebury
High School (43)
14) St. Christopher’s School (39)
15) Mercy Vocational High School (3)
16) Archbishop Carroll High School (2)
17) Woodlynde School (0)
Results: semifinals and finals
103 semifinals: Kyle Brooman (EA) def. Matt Whalan (FJ), Fall 3:34; Evan Bartle (WFS) def. Luke Westby (COH), 10-0
finals: Brooman def. Bartle, Fall 1:34
112 semifinals: Nick Varallo (CH) def. Gabe Aliquo (WFS), Fall 3:38; David Kloss (WES) def. Dennis Conn (COH), Fall 1:21
finals: Varallo def. Kloss, 7-3
119 semifinals: Chris Alexander (COH) def. Glenn Gallagher (EA), 4-2; Sam Titone (WFS) def. Chris Kearns (WES), 5-0
finals: Alexander def. Titone, 4-3
125 semifinals: Ben Altman (WFS) def. Eric Burgey (VF), 17-0; Jorge Galindo (GEO) def. Mike Dallara (RC), 9-2
finals: Altman def. Galindo, 12-1
130 semifinals: Nick Varacalli (COH) def. Ted Gottwald (STC), 9-2; Chris Calvey (VF) def. Dan Becker (WES), Fall 1:47
finals: Varacalli def. Calvey, Tech Fall 2:59
135 semifinals: Ricky Brooman (EA) def. Joe McGarrity (FJ), Fall 4:38; Shin Haraguchi (GEO) def. Frank Costa (COH), 9-5
finals: Brooman def. Hariguchi, Fall 1:13
140 semifinals: Nick Lane (RC) def. Malcolm Taylor (CH), 8-2; Ian Braciszewski (FJ) def. Andrew Lerner (EA), Fall 1:32
finals: Lane def. Braciszewski, 4-3
145 semifinals: Max Hawes (GFS) def. Will Moore (STC), 12-2; Jim Starr (COH) def. Bruce Merlino (RC), 7-2
finals: Hawes def. Starr, 6-4 in OT
152 semifinals: Charles Alexander (EA) def. Sung Kyu Hahn (WES), Fall 1:54; Chad Ennis (NHS) def. Henry Gilbert (CH), 10-5
finals: Alexander def. Ennis, Fall 2:53
160 semifinals: Brian Hahn (VF) def. Adam George (RC), Fall 0:52; Joe Varacalli (COH) def. Joshua Alicea (EHS), Fall 3:06
finals: Hahn def. Varacalli, 13-7
171 semifinals: Sam Gilbert (CHA) def. Chaz Livezey (NHS), Fall 0:57; Ben Mickel (EA) def. Matt O’Neill (WES), Tech Fall 4:08
finals: Gilbert def. Mickel, Fall 5:38
189 semifinals: Andrew Overton (CEN) def. Jonathan Downes (VF), 4-3; Mike Murphy (GEO) def. Andrew Kissner (EA), Fall 4:15
finals: Overton def. Murphy, 7-5 in OT
215 semifinals: Zach Morse (EA) def. Antonio Pagan (EHS), Fall 1:41; Joey Lenner (VF) def. Pierre Nix (CEN), Fall 2:43
finals: Morse def. Lenner, 4-2
275 semifinals: Chris LeVine (EA) def. Tim Lindline (FJ), Fall 3:07; Tim Kineen (COH) def. Greg Owens (RC), Fall 1:15
finals: LeVine def. Kineen, 5-2
