BACK TO THE MATS
Pennridge’s Stillings aims for state gold; Knights try for Continental three-peat
Josh Stillings gets another chance to make run at state gold, North Penn looks to claim a third straight conference crown and the Pioneer Athletic Conference looks be tough once again as the 2017-2018 wrestling season begins in The Reporter/Times/Herald/ Montgomery Newspapers area.
Stillings ended last season settling for silver at 160 pounds as the PIAA Class 3A Championship. Now, the Drexel commit — who went 37-5 last year — will look try to become the Rams’ first state champ since 2005 while also helping a young Pennridge side compete for the top spot in the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
That position currently belongs to North Penn, which has gone undefeated in Continental dual matches the past two years. The Knights graduated two PIAA qualifiers but return two that made the trip to Hershey in seniors Owen Verespy (220) and Ryan Cody (285).
“We will be strong in the midweights where we have several returners and some quality backups,” North Penn coach Robert Shettsline said. “Our upper weights should do well this year too. Our biggest question marks come at the lower weights where
we lack experience.”
Souderton finished second behind the Knights in the Continental last year and will try to remain among the conference’s better sides.
In the SOL American, Plymouth Whitemarsh graduated just three seniors and return state qualifier Marco DiBattista as the Colonials try to replace Quakertown as the conference champ. Wissahickon, Hatboro-Horsham and Upper Moreland will all try to have their say in the matter.
Over the PAC, Methacton grad Brad Clark — a three-time state medalist — takes over is alma mater after a season as Pottstown head coach and looks to have Methacton keep up with a challenging PAC Liberty Division that includes regional heavies Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts.
“The coaching staff this year is excited to ‘Keep the strong tradition alive,’ at Methacton,” Clark said. “We are looking to continue the strong history of Methacton wrestling program by representing school and community with class and sportsmanship, all while having fun competing.
“This year the team has a strong family bond that the coaches believe will help achieve our team goals and expectations.”
In the PAC Liberty, Upper Merion has a new coach in Tim Harner while Pope John Paul looks for improvement in Year 2 under Tom Hontz.
Methacton
Coach: Brad Clark (first season). League: PAC Liberty. Last Season: 14-4 (3-2 division), lost to Owen J. Roberts in District 1-3A Duals consolation semifinals. Wrestlers to Watch: Corey Morabito (Jr., 113), Will Rebert (Jr., 126), Kibwe McNair (So., 132), Roman Moser (So., 145), Michael Blakemore (Sr., 160), Tonee Ellis (Jr., 285). Outlook: A three-time PIAA medalist at Methacton, Clark returns to his alma mater after a season as Pottstown’s head coach and is set on continuing the success Warriors have had the previous nine years under A.J. Maida. Junior Morabito and sophomores McNair and Moser were all regional qualifiers last season as each took third place at District 1-3A West.
North Penn
Coach: Robert Shettsline (24th season). League: SOL Continental. Last Season: 13-6 (6-0 conference) Key Losses: Colin Shannon (152/American University), Will Laughlin (145). Top Returners: Owen Verespy (Sr., 220), Ryan Cody (Sr., 285), Eric Laughlin (Jr., 145), Patrick O’Neill (Jr., 160), Reid Dentner (Sr., 170), Jabez Chae (So., 120). Others to Watch: Jarret Niedosik (So., 145). Outlook: The Knights are out to continue their team success from a year ago when they won a second-straight SOL Continental title and took second at District 1-3A East and 10th at regionals. Verespy (220) and Cody (285) both qualified for the PIAA Championships last season while O’Neill (160) just missed out on a trip to Hershey. Shettsline Niedosik would have been in the starting lineups for most teams last year as a freshman. North Penn tests itself in backto-back weekends in January, going to West Orange, New Jersey fro the Sam Cali Invitational Jan. 13-14 then visits Pennridge Jan. 20 for a key Continental match.
Pennridge
Coach: RP Norley (fifth season). League: SOL Continental. Last Season: 8-3 (4-2 conference). Key Losses: Matt Parker (Lehigh), Paul O’Neill. Top Returners: Josh Stillings (Sr., 182), Evan Widing (Jr., 152), David Blanchard Sr., 195), Logan Green (So., 170), Stephen Dadio (Sr., 285). Others to Watch: James Geiger (Fr., 126). Outlook: Pennridge is pretty young side — 12 of their 28 wrestlers are freshman — but one of the Rams’ veterans is Dexel commit Stillings, who took second place at states in 160 a year ago. Stillings has a chance to be Pennridge’s first four-time district champ and could make a run at the school’s career win total of 162 set by Kyle Gentile — Stilling sits at 120 after going 37-5 as a junior. Blanchard, Widing and Dadio were all regional qualifiers last year.
Perkiomen Valley
Coach: Jared Dubbs (fourth season). League: PAC Liberty. Last Season: 8-6 (1-4 division). Wrestlers to Watch: PJ Kakos (So., 113), Austin Rowley (Jr., 138), Gavin Euker (So., 220). Outlook: “We have a large team with a promising freshmen class,” Dubbs said. “We also look to capitalize on veteran leadership and wrestlers that already have two or three years of varsity experience. We are very excited about our experience and depth especially throughout the upper weights.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh
Coach: David Luthy (first season). League: SOL American.
Last Season: 9-5 (6-1 conference) Key Losses: Tommy DiSisto (Muhlenberg), Zack Wakefield (Mount St. Vincent), Nick Sudell. Top Returners: Marco DiBattista (Sr., 120⁄126), Scott Horry (Sr., 182), Warren Young (Sr., 152), Zach Fisher (Sr., 160), Paulo DiSanto (So., 285). Others to Watch: Justin Oliver (Jr., 138), Isaac Avellino (Jr., 145), David Garcia (Jr., 170⁄195). Outlook: The Colonials finished second to Quakertown in the SOL American last season and graduating just three seniors PW aims to be in the conference race again under first-year coach Luthy. DiBattista earned his first trip to states and picked up a victory in Hershey after taking fourth in 113 at regionals. The senior is 14 wins away from 100 for his career. Senior Horry also advanced to regionals last year.
Pope John Paul II
Coach: Tom Hontz (second season). League: PAC Freedom. Last Season: 5-13 (1-4 division). Key Wrestlers: Nick Boyce (Sr., 132), Ryan Vulakh (Jr., 145), Matt Vulakh (Fr., 106), Jack Files (Jr., 195), Matt Delciotto (So., 138), Ryan O’Donnell (Sr., 120), David Delciotto (Sr., 160). Others to Watch: Jake Stead (Sr., 170), Jacob Rau (Fr., 220), Aiden Mitchell (Fr., 132), Andrew Yacovelli (Fr., 106). Outlook: The Golden Panthers earned their first PAC win since 2011 last season and while this year’s side isn’t deep it does have some talent. Ryan Vulakh was ineligible his sophomore season after transferred from North Penn but now looks to return to states after taking eighth in Hershey at 132 as a freshman. “Numbers continue to be an issue as we lost a few guys from last year’s team who would have been returning starters. But the outlook is brighter on the individual side as Ryan Vulakh should be one of the top wrestlers in the state,” Hontz said. “Nick Boyce and Ryan O’Donnell have also showed improvement and newcomer Jack Files is a welcome addition as is freshmen Matt Vulakh. The Delciotto brothers also will be looking to continue to improve.
Souderton
Coach: Tristan Boyd. League: SOL Continental. Last Season: 10-7 (5-1 conference), lost to Spring-Ford in District 1-3A duals championship first round. Key Losses: Brandon Bach, Jack Morgan, Jake Phaup, Craig Finkenbeiner, Ethan Wardrobe Top Returners: Harrison Andrade (Sr.), Cole Ragusa (Jr.), Connor Trowbridge (Jr.), Bruno Stolfi (Jr.) Outlook: The Indians haver earned winning records in conference the past two seasons, with last year’s second place finish behind North Penn Big Red’s best since it was No. 2 in the Continental in 2010-2011. Andrade is a two-time regional qualifier with Trowbridge back after also making regionals last season. Ragusa and Stolfi both advanced to district last year.
Spring-Ford
Coach: Tim Seislove (19th season). League: PAC Liberty Division. Last Season: 16-5 (2-3 division), lost to Downingtown West in District 1-3A consolation round one. Key Losses: Jon Westlake. Top Returners: Louis Carbajal (So., 195), Ben D’Archangelo (Sr., 152), Mike Gradwell (Sr., 160⁄170), Matt Lepore (Sr., 285), Dirk Nugent (Jr., 126), Brandon Meredith (Sr., 120), Chase Smith (Jr., 182⁄195), Quinn Tobin (So., 113). Outlook: The Rams look to make some noise in a tough PAC Liberty Division with the return of state qualifiers Meredith and Smith and regional qualifier Lepore. Carbajal, D’Archangelo, Gradwell, Nugent and Tobin all advanced to District 1-3A West last year. “The team has been working hard so far this season. The PAC 10 is always tough and we are hoping to be competitive again this year,” Seislove said.
Upper Merion
Coach: Tim Harner (first season). League: PAC Frontier. Last Season: 0-14 (0-5 division). Key Losses: Matt Koresko. Top Returners: Anthony Yacovetti (Sr., 170). Others to Watch: Collin Powell (Fr, 106), Ayden Chenge (Fr., 113) Seasons as Head Coach: This is my first season as head coach. Last Season’s Record: We were 0-14 (0-5 league) Key Wrestlers Graduated/ Lost: Matt Koresko (27-9). Outlook: Harner, a four-time PIAA qualifier at Norristown, takes over a Vikings program that has nowhere to go but up after a winless campaign last year. Yacovetti went 11-4 before his season was derailed by a broken ankle. As a sophomore, he was 28-9 and was a district qualifier.
Wissahickon
Coach: Anthony Stagliano (ninth season). League: SOL American. Last Season: 13-13 (4-3 conference). Key Losses: Ben Maltin, Aaron Kaminsky, Jared Taylor. Top Returners: Nick Senderling (Sr., 160⁄170), Brian Fennell (Jr., 195⁄220), Mark Thompson (Jr., 220⁄285), Jim Thomas (So., (113⁄120), Peter Sweeney (Jr., 138⁄145), Kevin Salmon (So., 145⁄152), Jon Keller (Sr., 195⁄220), Dan Keller (So., 182⁄195), Brayden Druger (Sr., 126⁄132), Charlie Brammer (Jr., 120⁄126), Billy Bishop (Jr., 138⁄145), Jalyn Pachceo (Jr., 106⁄113). Others to Watch: Matthew Fritz (Fr., 120⁄126), Scotty Gilman (Fr., 113⁄120). Outlook: Wissahickon aims to make a push into the upper echelon of the SOL American after finishing fourth in the conference last season. Senderling reached regionals for the second time in his career after taking silver at District 1-3A Central at 152.