In wrestling, SCH skeleton crew has tough time with Penn Charter

by Tom Utescher
Posted 2/1/23

In their last home dual meet in the Inter-Ac League this winter, the Blue Devils of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy lost to the Quakers of Penn Charter.

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In wrestling, SCH skeleton crew has tough time with Penn Charter

Posted

In their last home dual meet in the Inter-Ac League this winter, the Blue Devils of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy lost to the visiting Quakers of Penn Charter last Friday, 71-3. SCH gave up most of these points through forfeits, having only five athletes available for duty. Starting the rebuilding process under a new head coach, the Devils were dealt a blow recently when one of their more experienced grapplers, junior Andrew Mahoney, suffered an ACL tear.

With a much bigger roster, Penn Charter has been able to go 4-0 in Inter-Ac dual meets, as well as participating in numerous tournaments throughout the season. With the outcome against PC last Friday, SCH slipped to 0-4 in the league and 2-8 overall. Nationally prominent Malvern Prep, also an Inter-Ac member, has developed an elite travel squad, and sends their "B" team out against most local opponents.

Last Friday both SCH and Penn Charter chose to forego the 106 lb. match, so the action got underway in the 113 lb. weight class, where Blue Devils freshman Damian Melzer-Surkan met Penn Charter eighth-grader Carter Mangan.

A takedown and a pair of back points netted Mangan a 4-0 lead going into the second period, which began with both wrestlers in the neutral stance. Mangan increased his lead in points with another takedown, then pinned Melzer-Surkan with 48 seconds left in the second round.

PC's lead in the meet scoring grew to 18-0 once the Blue Devils forfeited to Henry Greenberg at 120 lbs. and to fellow sophomore Munir German at 126.

Springside Chestnut Hill 10th-grader Sean Brett scored the only points in the first period of the 132 lb. bout with a takedown. He escaped and then took down Charter junior Lucas Weinstein in the second stanza to lead 5-0. From a neutral start in the third, Brett executed another takedown with a dozen seconds elapsed, then remained in control to give the home team a 7-0 win by decision.

The Quakers recouped those three points and rang up nine more thanks to SCH vacancies in the 138 lb. and 144 lb. weight classes. PC sophomores Hugh Maley and Greyson Catlow-Sidler accepted these forfeits for the visitors.

The was mat action again at 150 lbs., where SCH sent out freshman Robbie Murray and Penn Charter also went with a ninth-grader, Simon Bethea. The advantage changed several times in the opening round as the grapplers tumbled around, but back points helped Bethea build a 9-4 lead by the end of the period. Starting in the down position for the second, the Quakers middleweight completed a takedown with 40 seconds elapsed, and then pinned Murray 10 seconds later.

After PC sophomore Leonardo Pritchett collected a Blue Devil forfeit at 157 lbs., visiting junior Jack Bowen and sophomore Nasir Yard of SCH maneuvered to a 0-0 draw in the first frame at 165 lbs. Bowen maintained control after starting on top for round two, twice registering back points for a 4-0 lead.

After an escape and takedown at the start of the third frame, Bowen went to work again with near falls, and reached a 15-0 lead for a technical fall late in the period.

Scoring a takedown for the only points of the opening round in the 175-lb. match, Penn Charter's Pat Rullo started in the down position against fellow senior Micah Ford for the second period. It took about 20 seconds for Rullo to complete a reversal, and he got a pin with 1:12 remaining in the round.

That was it for the actual wrestling action in Friday's meet. It only remained for Penn Charter seniors George Glomb and James Glomb and junior Charles English to accept Blue Devils forfeits at 190, 215, and 285 lbs., respectively.