Photo by Nate Heckenberger West Chester Rustin's Evan Harkins looks for an opening against Fred Alderman of Garnet Valley during their final at 119 pounds. Harkins won the match, and the crown, 1-0.
Photo by Nate Heckenberger Unionville's Mason Popham, left, shoots in on West Chester Rustin's Steve Quinn in the first period of their 135-pound championship bout at the Class AAA District 1 South Tournament on Saturday. Popham won the title by technical fall.
ROYERSFORD -- Unionville's Mason Popham has not gotten too much of a challenge yet this postseason, but that did not take away from the impression he left at the Class AAA District 1 South tournament Saturday.
After a second-period pin in the semifinals and a technical fall over West Chester Rustin's Steve Quinn in the finals, Popham (135 pounds) earned his second consecutive district crown and was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
In the second day of action at Spring-Ford High School, five other locals garnered first-place finishes and West Chester Rustin finished third in the team scoring with a tournament-high five finalists. With the top-five finishers advancing to the Southeast Regional tournament next weekend at Oxford High, 26 area wrestlers will be in competition there with a top-four spot to the state tournament on the line.
West Chester Henderson's Jimmy Long (103), Rustin's Corey McQuiston (112) and Evan Harkins (119), Conestoga's Ben Hartshorn (130) and Great Valley's Brian Curless (189) all stood atop the podium at their respective weights, but none shone brighter than Popham.
"It's a good confidence-booster going into next week," said Popham of his award. "I will have a tough bracket so I'll need all the confidence I can get. It gets tougher each week."
Popham has won 32 straight bouts now and could find himself in a much-anticipated finals matchup against Council Rock South's Matt Rappo next week.
A streak that has been harder to come by for Hartshorn and West Chester East's Ryan Celenza is winning two straight in their series. After their fifth high school meeting, Hartshorn finally won back-to-back bouts against his friend and rival, taking Celenza down twice in the first period for a 5-3 victory. Hartshorn got the better of Celenza in the
Section 6 finals the week before.
Celenza reached the finals by knocking off top-seeded Eric Lee of Haverford, while Hartshorn bumped Owen J. Roberts' Adam Moser in the semis.
"It's great," said Hartshorn, who qualified for regionals for the fourth time. "I've never even been in the (district) finals, so that was nice to get."Continued...
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Long started the finals round in a flurry, taking Marple Newtown's Jason Rinaldi down early and tacking on a pair of near-fall points. Rinaldi was tough on top in the third, but Long held on for the 6-5 victory.
"A win is a win," said Long, who is looking to improve on his sixth-place finish at regionals last year. "Some are tougher than others and some kids are better than others. It doesn't matter what the score is at the end if you have the 'W.' That's all that matters."
McQuiston took a medical forfeit from Marple Newtown's Aaron Moldoff for his third district title in three tries. Harkins followed with a 1-0 shutout of Garnet Valley's Fred Alderman.
Harkins got in deep on a couple high singles early on, but Alderman fought them off. A second-period escape proved enough for the Rustin junior after he rode Alderman out in the third.
"It's very special," Harkins said. "It's something you look forward to as a kid. It keeps me focused and hopefully I'll be on the medal stand next week and heading to Hershey."
Curless was the final local champ on the night and he avenged a tight loss to Sun Valley's Seth Snyder a few weeks back with a 5-3 decision.
From the get-go Curless pushed the pace and led 4-0 heading into the third. Curless has won 10 in a row now and feels like he's peaking at just the right time.
"I had a couple losses during the season and I think people were sort of counting me out," Curless said. "I definitely feel better now."
Henderson's Charlie Grab (145) dropped a 6-3 decision to Owen J's Andrew Kinney and Rustin's Greg Thurston (152) couldn't quite figure out Jake Pickett of Upper Darby in a 3-1 loss, both coming in the finals.
Caleb Blake of Downingtown West gave Chichester's Bob Scheivert a run for his money, but Scheivert wound up on top with a fall late in the third period of the 160-pound final. In the 171-pound final, Tyler Wood of Rustin was bested by Boyertown's Tyler Mauger, 7-3.Continued...
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In the final two championship bouts of the night, Henderson's Matt Muscari (215) and Mark Muscari (285) ran into their nemeses -- Garnet Valley's Matt Idelson and Brendan Walsh, respectively. Idelson won with a second-period fall, his third pin of the tourney, while Mark Muscari took Walsh to double overtime before surrendering, 5-4.
Octorara's Josh Bowman (140), Oxford's Ryan Montgomery (145), Alex Roy (189) of Octorara and Kennett's Shawn Stewart won their consolation final matches, while Henderson's Josh Demi (135), Conestoga's Nick Becattini (189), Downingtown East's Matt Bartolotta (215) and Brendon Vaikeli (285) of West Chester East placed fourth.
Kyle Holeton (171) became Bishop Shanahan's first regional qualifier with a fifth-place finish, and Downingtown West's Dan Pommerer (112), Octorara's Brandon Arnsberger (130) and Coatesville's Matt Brownback (135) live another day with fifth-place finishes.
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