Youngsters stepping up at Pennsbury
BucksLocalSports Editor With a lineup loaded with seniors, the Pennsbury wrestling team is expecting to make waves in this postseason, which has already begun.
Having a group of veterans on your roster does you no good, however, if the experienced grapplers are among the sick and injured.
That’s the case with the Falcons, who were minus seniors Jason Bing (120), Anthony DiEmidio (132) and Mike O’Brien (195) last Thursday in the first round of the District One– AAA Duals Jan. 24 at CB East versus Upper Darby. Junior Tom Cwenar (160) and sophomore Eric Mongiello (106) were also on the disabled list last Thursday night.
That didn’t stop Pennsbury from outpacing the Royals, 37-25, to advance to the district Tuarterfinals versus Downingtown East Friday, Feb. 1 at Upper Dublin.
With the sides locked up at 25-apiece and the heavyweight bouts coming up, the Falcons’ Luke Johnson pinned Royals 220-pounder Tenzin Samphel in 3:42 and sophomore Mason Houriet pinned UD heavyweight Freddy Marcellino in 4:45, sending Pennsbury on to the next round of district duals.
Why can’t the Falcon veterans get onto the mat? Quite simply — cold and flu season.
“The flu has hit us pretty hard this season; Just about everybody has had a go with it,” said head coach Phil Kealy. “Right now, we’re just trying to get healthy.
If not for the efforts of some of the youngsters on the team, Pennsbury would not be advancing in this tournament and Kealy will be the first one to tell you that.
At 120 pounds, the Falcons saw freshman Connor Joyce decision Upper Darby’s Milton Rahman, 6-4, helping Pennsbury to its first points in the match. The Royals were up 9-0 when Connor took the mat.
Then, with the Falcons trailing, 19-15, freshman Alex Cwenar stepped up in place of his older brother junior Tom Cwenar and earned a 7-4 decision at 160 pounds, drawing Pennsbury back within a point.
The three points gave seniors Ryan Healy and Ernie Tessein some breathing room and the veterans used it to take control with Healy registering an 8-6 decision over Raequwan Maxwell and Tessein majoring Mike Kitain, 13-2, giving the Falcons a 25-19 edge.
When Upper Darby’s Joshua Yeboah-Gyasi pinned Delonte Blue in the 195-pound bout to tie things up at 25-all, Cwenar’s points loomed even larger.
“I’m real happy with the way guys have stepped up and taken care of business,” said Kealy. “To have so many guys out and to still be able to put a competitive team together and come out with the win, it really shows we’re doing the right things in the [training] room.”
What’s more, in the final bout of the evening, with the outcome of the meet still in question, Houriet was going up against a wrestler that pinned him back in mid-December’s Abington Duals. This time, Houriet was actually leading the match by three points when he pinned Marcellino with 15 seconds to go in the third period.two days That’s not all. The day before in a Suburban One League (SOL) pairing with National Conference Truman, the Falcons were in trouble at home with senior 220-pounder Luke Johnson added to the disabled list.
Houriet wrestled up at 220 pounds but he lost a close decision to Tigers Jake Goodman, a junior with twice as many wins as he has losses. Making matters worse, Pennsbury sophomore Alexander Holliday, wrestling his first varsity bout ever, got pinned by Truman 195-pounder Nick Rossi in 2:26.
The only reason why the Falcons still had a chance