PV’s Kakos earns trip to state tourney
Kakos becomes PV’s first state qualifier in 4 decades; Bears’ Babb is Hershey-bound
QUAKERTOWN » It was a fast and productive time for Kelly Kakos Saturday. A memorable one, too.
Kakos achieved several goals – one of them his- toric – during the
PIAA East AAA
Super Regional at Quakertown.
The Perkiomen
Valley sophomore earned himself another week’s worth of postseason experience as he placed third in the 132-pound weight class, in the equivalent of getting through the “blood round” of the PIAA Championships in this year of coronavirus-influenced scheduling changes.
Along with a bronze medal, Kakos secured a first-time trip to Hershey’s Giant Center for the second phase of states, where all qualifiers are assured medals.
The PAC’s other Hershey-bound grappler among the lowerweights is Boyertown’s Chance Babb, who also placed third at 138.
The East Super Regional was contested in split sessions with the lower weights (106-138) going in the morning while the upperweights (145-285) competed in the evening.
Kakos became the Perk Valley mat program’s first state qualifier in more than four decades, the previous one 1977 graduate and 285-pound champion Bill Neill.
“I was confident I could make something happen,” Kakos said after picking up his latest medallion this winter. “All my goals were set.”
Kakos, whose previous post-season foray ended with a 2-2 at the 2020 South East AAA Regional, capped a 3-1 day by pinning Nazareth’s Dominic Wheatley in under two minutes in the third-place bout. It followed a 3:52 pin of Abington Heights’ Austin Smith in their consolation semifinal, the response to a majordecision loss at the hands of semifinalround opponent Matt Mayer of Bethlehem Catholic.
And he didn’t have to look far beyond his house to find support and inspiration for his heady post-season run.
“My family helped me a lot through the past weekend,” Kelly said. “I had friends text me through the day encouraging me.”
A particular source of support came from older brother P.J., a teammate during his 2019-20 season.
“P.J. came into the (wrestling) room this week and helped coach me through the positions,” Kelly recalled. “He knows what needs to be done.”
Kakos (14-1) got his big day going with a 5-2 decision of Emmaus’ Nick Velde prior to his semifinal loss to Mayer. He returned to Quakertown, site of the District 1-AAA North tourney where he was a weight-class champion, as the South East runner-up with hopes of making it to Hershey.
“As soon as I got off the mats, it hit me,” he said. “The stakes are definitely going to be higher for me the next couple years.”
The Boyertown junior Babb roared through the consolation bracket after a semifinal-round loss to Bethlehem Catholic’s Andrew Harmon, pinning Northampton’s Christian Fritz in 1:48 to qualify for Hershey and a third-place duel with Kennett’s Trent Kochersperger.
His capper was a 7-5 sudden-victory duel with Kochersperger.
A key to Babb’s success is the use of his legs in matches. That was particularly evident in the bouts with Fritz and Kochersperger.
“It’s one of my strengths … a thing I look for most of the time,” Babb (11-2), who came to the super regional as the South East region’s second seed, said. “It’s one of the things I do better than most people.”
Babb’s state-medal qualification is several steps up from his Hershey experience as a sophomore, where he was finished after a pair of losses. He admitted the day’s work took some pressure off him.
“But I’m not looking to finish eighth,” Chance said. “I want to get to the top.”
Four other PAC qualifiers saw their state-level runs end shy of medal finishes. Two of them got closed out with appearances in the tourney’s 5-6 place bouts.
Spring-Ford’s Cole Smith and Boyertown’s Jay Maldonado placed sixth at 106 and 120, respectively. Maldonado saw his scholastic career end with a loss to Bethlehem Liberty’s Javien DeLeon. His bid to qualify for a state medal was thwarted by a narrow 4-3 decision by Wallenpaupack’s Gunnar Myers in their consi-semifinal.
Smith, in turn, finished his state-tourney run by forfeiting the 5-6 match to West Scranton’s Tyson Cook. They met in the quarterfinal round, where Smith (15-3) rolled up a 7-2 decision before being edged by Abington Heights’ Luke Sirriani 6-5 and pinned by Council Rock North’s Tony Burke.
Spring-Ford’s Dominic Ortlip (113) and Boyertown’s Gavin Sheridan (106) went 0-2 in their respective brackets.
Early in the second session, Spring-Ford’s Jack McGill and Joey Milano reached the championship finals at 160 and 189, respectively. McGill (18-0) locked up his Hershey visit and medal finish with a 1:38 pin of Bethlehem Catholic’s Landon Muth while Milano (14-0) did the same with a 5-2 decision of Nazareth’s Drew Clearie.
NOTES » During the morning session, District 1 representatives presented their Sportsmanship Award to Council Rock North’s Kyle Hauserman, the super regional 145-pound champion. In the afternoon, Bensalem’s Connor Eck – he’s competing for first place at 145 in the East super regional - was named the South East region’s Outstanding Wrestler.
PIAA East 3A Super Regional At Quakertown Team Scores
1. Bethlehem Catholic (BECA) 128.0; 2. Nazareth (NAZ) 88.0; 3. Northampton (NHA) 83.0; 4. Easton (EAS) 51.0; 5. Spring-Ford (SF) 46.5; 6. West Scranton (WSCR) 46.0; 7. Delaware Valley (DEV) 42.0; 8. Council Rock North (CRN) 38.0;
9. Downingtown East (DE) 23.0; 10. Hazleton Area (HAZ) 22.5; 11. Abington Heights (ABH) 22.0; 11. Council Rock South (CRS) 22.0; 13. West Chester Henderson (WCH) 21.5; 14. Coatesville (CTV) 21.0; 14. Interboro (INT) 21.0; 14. Sun Valley (SUV) 21.0; 17. Boyertown (BT) 20.0; 18. Central Bucks East (CBE) 19.0; 19. Downingtown West (DW) 18.5;
20. Neshaminy (NESH) 17.0; 21. Bensalem (BNS) 16.0; 21. LaSalle (LAS) 16.0; 21. Perkiomen Valley (PKV) 16.0; 21. Quakertown (QT) 16.0; 25. Wallenpaupack (WAL) 14.0; 26. Emmaus (EMM) 13.0;
27. Kennett (KNT) 12.0; 27. North Penn (NP) 12.0; 27. Strath Haven (SH) 12.0; 27. Stroudsburg (SDB) 12.0; 27. Upper Darby (UDA) 12.0; 32. Bethlehem Liberty (BLIB) 11.0; 33. Central Bucks West (CBW) 10.0;
34. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 9.0; 35. Pottsville (PTV) 7.0; 35. Whitehall (WHL) 7.0; 37. Pennridge (PRG) 6.0; 37. Radnor (RAD) 6.0; 39. Bethlehem Freedom (BFR) 4.0; 39. Garnet Valley (GAV) 4.0; 39. West Chester East (WCE) 4.0; 39. West Chester Rustin (WCR) 4.0; 43. Crestwood (CRW) 0.0; 43. Lower Merion (LME) 0.0;
43. Oxford Area (OX) 0.0; 43. Pittston Area (PTSA) 0.0; 47. Haverford High (HAV) -1.0
Championship Semifinals
106 -- Luke Sirianni (ABH) dec. Cole Smith (SF) 6-5; Carson Wagner (NHA) dec. Josh Jasionowicz (SDB) 11-6
113 -- Charlie Bunting (NAZ) dec. Mason Ziegler (QT) 4-1; Zach Jacaruso (DEV) dec. Cael McIntyre (BECA) 7-0
120 -- Austin Fashouer (WSCR) dec. Gunnar Myers (WAL) 2-1; Dante Frinzi (BECA) maj. dec. Javien DeLeon (BLIB) 13-2 126 -- Dominic Findora (DW) maj. dec. Parrish McFarland (PTV) 10-1; Tyler Kasak (BECA) maj. dec. Patrick Snoke (NHA) 11-2
132 -- Nathan Lucier (CTV) dec. Dominic Wheatley (NAZ) 6-2; Matt Mayer (BECA) maj. dec. Kelly Kakos (PKV) 11-3
138 -- Kyle Hauserman (CRN) dec. Trent Kochersperger (KNT) 3-1; Andrew Harmon (BECA) dec. Chance Babb (BT) 9-5 145 -- Connor Eck (BNS) dec. William Morrow (NP) 5-3 OT SV; Sam McMonagle (WCH) dec. Dagen Condomitti (NHA) 3-1 152 -- Zac Martin (NESH) dec. Chase Barlow (SH) 5-2; Evan Gleason (BECA) dec. Dom D’Agostino (INT) 7-0
160 -- Jack McGill (SF) pinned Landon Muth (BECA) 1:38; Jagger Condomitti (NHA) dec. Matt Colajezzi (CRS) 6-2 172 -- Regan Loughney (LAS) dec. Matt Romanelli (DE) 7-5 OT SV; Dominic Falcone (EAS) maj. dec. Wayne McIntyre (ESN) 13-4
189 -- Joey Milano (SF) dec. Drew Clearie (NAZ) 5-2; Isaiah Reinert (EAS) pinned Bryce Molinaro (HAZ) 3:13
215 -- Ryan Catka (SUV) dec. Carl DiGiorgio (CBW) 7-2; Jason Henderson (DEV) pinned Quinn Collins (CBE) 3:57
285 -- Cameron Butka (WSCR) dec. Julien Laventure (UDA) 3-1; Sean Kinney (NAZ) dec. Matthew Cruise (EAS) 3-2 OT UTB Consolation Round 1
106 -- Tyson Cook (WSCR) won by forfeit over Gavin Sheridan (BT); Tony Burke (CRN) maj. dec. Cole McFarland (HAV) 8-0
113 -- Austin Noe (NHA) maj. dec. Dominic Ortlip (SF) 8-0; Sam Kuhns (PRG) dec. Carmen Cortese (WCH) 5-2
120 -- Keanu Manuel (DE) dec. Cannon Hershey (OX) 7-1; Jay Maldonado (BT) pinned Matthew Ricci (GAV) 2:01
126 -- Beck Hutchison (HAZ) maj. dec. Zach Borzio (QT) 14-5; Nate Shippey (INT) dec. Billy Wilson (WCH) 6-2
132 -- Austin Smith (ABH) dec. Eddie Galang (NP) 1-0; Nick Velde (EMM) won by tech. fall over Chris Cleland (CBW) 16-0 3:15
138 -- Christian Fritz (NHA) won by tech. fall over Trey Zabroski (CRW) 18-3 3:13; Connor Bevan (BFR) dec. Domenic DeFalco (QT) 11-8
145 -- Xavier Arner (WHL) dec. Preston Machado (DEV) 5-1; Andrew Luke (WCE) dec. Trey Miletics (BECA) 8-2
152 -- Noah Okamoto (NAZ) maj. dec. C.J. Demark (PTSA) 8-0; Kordell Waiters (EMM) dec. Zach Needles (SF) 2-1
160 -- Mason Stein (CBE) dec. James Spindler (PTSA) 4-3; Ryan Fairchild (NAZ) dec. Bo Horvath (DE) 7-5
172 -- Sonny Sasso (NAZ) maj. dec. Jack Lledo (LME) 11-1; Marek Seaman (WCR) dec. Darrale Barrett (KNT) 4-1
189 -- Anthony DeRosa (BECA) dec. Koh Bauman (WCH) 5-3; Sam DiTrolio (GAV) dec. Blake Silber (CRN) 4-3
215 -- Seth Hunsinger (HAZ) dec. Dante Burns (LAS) 8-2; Lucas Doyle (CRS) dec. Chase Levey (NAZ) 7-2
285 -- Frederick Retter (QT) dec. Sebastian Khamis (SDB) 6-0; Daetrel Jerome (RAD) won by inj. default over Max Harar (CRN) 1:10
Consolation Semifinals
106 -- Josh Jasionowicz (SDB) dec. Tyson Cook (WSCR) 8-7; Tony Burke (CRN) pinned Cole Smith (SF) 2:36
113 -- Cael McIntyre (BECA) dec. Austin Noe (NHA) 5-2; Mason Ziegler (QT) dec. Sam Kuhns (PRG) 4-2
120 -- Keanu Manuel (DE) won by inj. default over Javien DeLeon (BLIB) 3-2 4:31; Gunnar Myers (WAL) dec. Jay Maldonado (BT) 4-3
126 -- Patrick Snoke (NHA) pinned Beck Hutchison (HAZ) 2:21; Nate Shippey (INT) pinned Parrish McFarland (PTV) 4:52
132 -- Kelly Kakos (PKV) pinned Austin Smith (ABH) 3:52; Dominic Wheatley (NAZ) dec. Nick Velde (EMM) 8-2
138 -- Chance Babb (BT) pinned Christian Fritz (NHA) 1:48; Trent Kochersperger (KNT) dec. Connor Bevan (BFR) 9-4 145 -- Dagen Condomitti (NHA) dec. Xavier Arner (WHL) 1-0; William Morrow (NP) pinned Andrew Luke (WCE) 0:33 152 -- Dom D’Agostino (INT) dec. Noah Okamoto (NAZ) 3-2; Chase Barlow (SH) dec. Kordell Waiters (EMM) 1-0
160 -- Matt Colajezzi (CRS) pinned Mason Stein (CBE) 4:13; Landon Muth (BECA) dec. Ryan Fairchild (NAZ) 6-4 172 -- Sonny Sasso (NAZ) pinned Wayne McIntyre (ESN) 1:52; Matt Romanelli (DE) pinned Marek Seaman (WCR) 1:30 189 -- Bryce Molinaro (HAZ) dec. Anthony DeRosa (BECA) 3-1; Drew Clearie (NAZ) pinned Sam DiTrolio (GAV) 0:52 215 -- Quinn Collins (CBE) dec. Seth Hunsinger (HAZ) 10-8 OT SV; Carl DiGiorgio (CBW) dec. Lucas Doyle (CRS) 3-2
285 -- Matthew Cruise (EAS) dec. Frederick Retter (QT) 4-3 OT TB2; Julien Laventure (UDA) won by forfeit over Daetrel Jerome (RAD)
Fifth Place
106 -- Tyson Cook (WSCR) won by forfeit over Cole Smith (SF)
113 -- Sam Kuhns (PRG) dec. Austin Noe (NHA) 6-2
120 -- Javien DeLeon (BLIB) pinned Jay Maldonado (BT) 2:18
126 -- Beck Hutchison (HAZ) dec. Parrish McFarland (PTV) 5-4
132 -- Nick Velde (EMM) won by tech. fall over Austin Smith (ABH) 15-0 3:11
138 -- Christian Fritz (NHA) won by tech. fall over Connor Bevan (BFR) 16-0 4:09
Third Place
106 -- Tony Burke (CRN) won by inj. default over Josh Jasionowicz (SDB) 3-0 1:20
113 -- Mason Ziegler (QT) dec. Cael McIntyre (BECA) 3-0
120 -- Gunnar Myers (WAL) won by forfeit over Keanu Manuel (DE)
126 -- Patrick Snoke (NHA) pinned Nate Shippey (INT) 4:10
132 -- Kelly Kakos (PKV) pinned Dominic Wheatley (NAZ) 1:49
138 -- Chance Babb (BT) dec. Trent Kochersperger (KNT) 7-5 SV
Championship Finals
106 -- Carson Wagner (NHA) dec. Luke Sirianni (ABH) 3-1 SV
113 -- Zach Jacaruso (DEV) dec. Charlie Bunting (NAZ) 7-5
120 -- Dante Frinzi (BECA) pinned Austin Fashouer (WSCR) 4:16
126 -- Tyler Kasak (BECA) pinned Dominic Findora (DW) 2:42
132 -- Nathan Lucier (CTV) dec. Matt Mayer (BECA) 13-11 SV
138 -- Kyle Hauserman (CRN) dec. Andrew Harmon (BECA) 6-0
145 -- Sam McMonagle (WCH) dec. Connor Eck (BNS) 3-2