Emotional ride for ND-GP, Pennridge
HERSHEY — Bethlehem Catholic’s Mike Cole, Faith Christian’s Ben Clymer and Easton’s Jody Karam were proud beyond words of what their teams accomplished at the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships.
Gold and silver tend to do that. The raw emotions displayed by Pennridge’s Brian Kuhns and Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Matt Veres, however, were equally representative of the three days in Hershey.
Kuhns is still catching his breath. His Rams tested his heart as four of their five matches were decided by six points or fewer, including the 28-24 setback in the Class 3A third-place match that wasn’t decided until the final seconds of the final bout.
“It was a bittersweet thing,” he said. “Our goal was top four. I thought we had a shot to get to that final. With the number of seniors we have, it was like a last ride together.”
It was a wild ride.
Kuhns juggled a lineup that was missing key pieces for much of the dual-meet season. The Rams’ expected group didn’t come together until the District 1 team tournament final.
They were 6-3 in the team postseason, losing by a point to Council Rock South in the district final, by two points to eventual state runner-up Easton and by four points to Central Mountain in the third-place match.
“It’s definitely was memorable,” Kuhn said. “Every match was exciting. We had a chance in every match. It’s going to take a little while to digest everything, realize it’s the last time we’ll be together as an official team. A lot of these kids have been together since they were 6 years old. I love this group.
We had an awesome time. They’ve created memories that will last a lifetime.”
One of the highlights came in the third-place match when Sam Kuhns, Brian’s son, beat returning state champion Luke Simcox 3-1 at 152 pounds.
The senior 100-match winner got an escape with 1 minute, 23 seconds left to tie the match, then won it with a takedown with 37 seconds remaining.
Coach Kuhns hopes that victory serves as a springboard during the individual postseason.
“I had to take some time to let that one sink in,” he said. “I still had to coach the rest of [the match], but that’s one I think we’ll be talking about when we’re old men together. We told him, ‘This should carry you through the postseason, a huge momentum boost.’ It’s a huge win to get right before the start of districts and regions.”
The memories of those three days should carry the program well beyond this season. The seniors were part of consecutive state tournament appearances and the program’s first district team title.
“I love these kids,” Kuhns said. “They will be missed. But they created the program. This is Pennridge. We don’t plan on taking a step back.”
Veres has established Notre Dame-GP as a state power during his tenure. The Crusaders were third for the second year in a row after finishing second in 2022.
This year’s group has a returning state champion in Ayden Smith and a bunch of grinders and firstyear starters.
Senior 285-pounder Gino Guerrisi is representative of the group. He wrestled eight matches in his first three seasons as a back-up. He started this season 1-4 but has won 12 of his last 13. His only loss was 3-1 to returning state qualifier Mark Effendian of two-time state champion Faith Christian.
Guerrisi’s tie-breaker pin in the third-place match against Reynolds was representative of his and the Crusaders’ path.
“Gino is a special kid,” Veres said, fighting tears. “I think a lot of him, and what makes me proud about Gino is he wasn’t varsity for three years. He waited his turn and he’s varsity now and he’s doing incredible. “He came out this weekend and, aside from his wrestling, he was a real leader. He took a hold of some of the guys on the team and he became a leader. I’m just proud beyond words.”
Notre Dame-GP lost for a second consecutive year to Faith Christian in the quarterfinals, then won four matches in a row to take third. It handled District 3 third seed West Perry and District 4 champion Warrior Run before holding off District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge and pulling away from District 10 champ Reynolds.
“It was a full team effort,” Veres said. “We preach a lot about heart and desire and will. All weekend, you have your ups and your downs, but we said Saturday is 15 minutes of wrestling to lay it on the line, to be with your teammates for some of the last time that you’ll ever wrestle with the team. For the seniors, just go out and let it fly and they did. I’m so proud of them. I just can’t explain how proud I am of them.”
The 41-18 victory in the thirdplace match was particularly impressive because the Crusaders did it without senior Joey LaPenna, who was disqualified from the tournament after shoving Chestnut Ridge’s Alex Crist after a testy third period in the consolation semifinal.
The 189-pound bout intensified midway through the third period with LaPenna in control 4-0. Crist worked LaPenna’s surgically repaired shoulder. LaPenna took injury time after the official stopped the action because of a potentially dangerous situation with 1:09 left.
LaPenna escaped seven seconds after action resumed. Crist then appeared to poke LaPenna in the eyes, nose and mouth, but the official did not stop the action until LaPenna became angry and then two-hand pushed Crist, who then flopped to the mat.
After the official disqualified LaPenna and brought the wrestlers to the center of the mat to shake hands, Crist smiled and stuck his tongue out at LaPenna.
This was not typical behavior at Chestnut Ridge, a perennial state team tournament participant that acts with class and dignity.
But Crist’s actions provoked LaPenna. His Crusaders teammates, however, stayed calm, adjusted and pounded Reynolds to secure bronze medals.
“We have some weights where we shuffled some guys around and we knew coming into Reynolds we had to shift the lineup,” Veres said. “Those guys came up huge. Nino [Morici] had a great last match. We needed bonus points. He knew it. He went out and performed. [Josh] Ludlow, in and out of the lineup, another very tough kid, came out and wrestled really well. Got the job done for us.”
Impressive debut
There were a lot of curious eyes around the state on Bethlehem Catholic first-year head coach Mike Cole, who inherited a dynasty.
It was not a smooth ride, but Cole guided the Golden Hawks back to PIAA gold. Despite losing a state champion and state medalist to transfer and graduation leaving him without a 285-pounder, Cole kept the ship on course with his level-headed, even-keel and analytical approach.
He made it clear shortly after being hired in April that his rules may be different than the previous coaching staff. The trust factor evolved. The team’s development was evident the last six weeks.
It added up to a 10th state team title.
“I feel really good about my relationship with these boys,” Cole said. “They know my commitment.
This isn’t about me, but we worked hard on our relationship. When I was with some of these guys over the summer, I knew what I was in for. It was going to be exciting.”
Best kept secret
Mason Wagner was nowhere to be found on Faith Christian’s weigh-in sheets Thursday or
Friday. The 139-pound starter was replaced by Arment Waltenbaugh, who made that weight for the first time all season.
Waltenbaugh won his first two matches and nearly beat Bishop McDevitt stud sophomore Camden Baum (3-2) in the 2A semifinals.
But Wagner was in Faith Christian’s lineup for Saturday’s state final against Bishop McCort,
weighing in at 137 pounds. The two-pound weight allowance after Christmas plus two pounds for the third day of the PIAA tournament only required Wagner to lose a few pounds to fill a vacancy in the 133-pound weight class.
Wagner nearly beat 2021 state runner-up Mason Gibson but saved the Lions three points. It turns out they didn’t need them after dominating the previously unbeaten Crushers.
“We saw that Mason was eligible to make 137 on the third day,” coach Ben Clymer said. “Credit coach [Tom] Hontz for catching that. It changed the dynamic of [the state final] in that [Bishop McCort] didn’t know about it. And if they were going to bump, it took that away. From the point standpoint, it was three instead of six. Really grateful for Mason and Arment for being willing to adjust there.”
Notes
■ District 11 has won eight of the last nine Class 3A state team titles, coming up short in the COVID 2021 tournament.
■ District 11 has won 14 Class 3A titles overall. The rest of the state has won 12.
■ District 11 has finished second in 3A 10 times.
■ There have been eight times when one district had both 3A finalists. District 11 has been involved in six of those, including the last three years in a row.