Upper Dublin makes strides at Cardinal Classic
Perk Valley wins title
In the first ever Cardinal Classic hosted by Upper Dublin, the Cardinals and Upper Moreland High School wrestling teams ended the regular season in style.
The tournament featured eight teams including Perkiomen Valley, Upper Moreland, Phoenixville, Upper Dublin, Pequea Valley, Pottstown, South Philadelphia, and Belmont Charter.
Although it was an individual tournament, Perkiomen Valley was the best team with 199.5 points and three champions.
Phoenixville High School finished the tournament third in the team standings with four champions, which is the most of any team.
Upper Moreland finished second in the team standings sending five wrestlers to the finals with two of them earning titles.
Pequea Valley High School’s Gabe Miller earned the most outstanding wrestler award in the tournament.
Miller, who is currently 33-0 heading into the individual playoffs, went 2-0 with a pin and tech fall to earn the 145-pound title.
“I felt good today just getting ready for the postseason,” sadi
Miller. “I’m planning on being a state champ this year since I finished third last year.”
Host Upper Dublin sent one wrestler to the championship finals with Aiden Reed at 113 pounds. He was pinned by Phoenixville’s Paul Kakos in 36 seconds.
Five Cardinals finished third in their respective weights including Brett Rama, Jackson Rock, Mason Novak, Rocco DeSimone, and Andrew Senlick.
Upper Dublin’s John Palmer and Justin Heckler each finished fourth.
Upper Dublin head coach Dave Jones was proud of the way his young team performed at the last event at home this season.
“We should’ve had a couple guys that went further,” said Jones. “But we have a young team so we’re pretty satisfied with our performance today.”
“We took fourth overall today,” added Jones. “So it wasn’t a great day but it wasn’t a bad day either.”
For Upper Moreland, the team came away with two champions in Chris Walker and Harry Green at 126 and 182 pounds respectively.
Walker pinned Pottstown’s Kentz Gustavel in 1:51 and Green earned a 16-1 tech fall in 1:41 against Perkiomen Valley’s Jakob Sterling.
Upper Moreland had three wrestlers finish second including Hunter William, Austin Zubyk, and Nasir Thomas.
Upper Moreland had four wrestlers finish in third place including Christopher Diaz-Jackson, Aiden Supsic, John Richter, and Tyler Welmar.
The Upper Moreland wrestling team took second in the team standings only behind Perkiomen Valley.
Both Upper Moreland and Upper Dublin will now look forward to the individual playoffs as they will travel to Hatboro Horsham High School fort he Suburban One American Championships on Saturday. Action is to start at a time yet to be determined. Cardinal Classic Team Standings 1. Perkiomen Valley – 199.5 pts. 2. Upper Moreland – 180.5 pts. 3. Phoenixville – 144 pts. 4. Upper Dublin – 140 pts. 5. Pequea Valley – 127.5 pts. 6. Pottstown – 120 pts. 7. South Philadelphia – 94 pts. 8. Belmont Charter – 29 pts. Finals 106: Antonio Valenteen (Phoenixville) pinned Jace Beegie (Pequea Valley) 1:28 113: Paul Kakos (Phoenixville) pinned Aiden Reed (Upper Dublin) 0:36 120: Stephen Coleman (Perkiomen Valley) pinned Matt Wallence (Phoenixville) 2:50 126: Chris Walker (Upper Moreland) pinned Kentz Gustave(Pottstown) 1:51 132: Nate Parson (Pottstown) 13-11 SV over Coddy Jefferies (Perkiomen Valley) 138: Anthony Wiggins (Pottstown) 5-1 decision over Dawud Faruqi (South Philadelphia) 145: Gabe Miller (Pequea Valley) 17-2 tech fall over Naseen Pennington (South Philadelphia) 4:11 152: Riley Kershaw (Perkiomen Valley) 13-2 major decision over Anthony Stevenson (Phoenixville) 160: Alex Washington (Phoenixville) 10-3 decision over Hunter William (Upper Moreland) 170: Bryce Thompson (Phoenixville) 1-0 decision over Austin Zubyk (Upper Moreland) 182: Harry Green (Upper Moreland) 16-1 tech fall over Jakob Sterling (Perkiomen Valley) 1:41 195: Willie Mathis (Perkiomen Valley) pinned Nasir Thomas (Upper Moreland) 1:44 220: Joey Coblentz (Pequea Valley) 7-4 decision over Gavin Euker (Perkiomen Valley) 285: Nate Miller (Pequea Valley) pinned Marquise Millen (South Philadelphia) 2:58