by Tom Utescher

Halfway through last Friday’s Inter-Ac League wrestling season opener at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, the host Blue Devils were hanging right in with visiting Penn Charter, only trailing the Quakers by four points at 19-15.

The situation would change markedly over the course of the other seven matches. PC widened the gap with a major decision, a regular decision, and a pin, and then senior Adam Cohen’s second-period pin at 160 lbs. clinched the meet victory for the Quakers.

Cohen’s victory spread the score out to 38-15 with three bouts to go, so the host Blue Devils could not possibly accumulate more than 33 points overall. The Quakers then tacked on a major decision and a pin before forfeiting to SCH in the final weight class, 195 lbs. The 44-25 win in their league debut gave the Charter grapplers an overall dual meet record of 3-4, while Springside Chestnut Hill slipped to 4-2.

Coming off a tournament championship effort at the end of December at Virginia’s St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes School, Charter started out with a 6-0 edge at SCH last week as junior Harold Anderson accepted a Blue Devils forfeit at the opening weight of 220 lbs.

Although SCH sophomore Sean McCann dodged a pin at 285 lbs., Charter junior Billy Costello used several near-falls to roll up an 11-1 major decision. Blue Devils freshman Simon Kioko began the 106 lb. bout with a takedown, but Quakers 10th-grader Jordan Steinhouse was in control the rest of the way. He fell just short of a major, his 9-3 decision giving the visitors a 13-0 lead in the meet score.

SCH got on the board with a hard-fought win at 113. Going into the third period with the score tied 2-2, the Blue Devils’ Luke Purcell executed a reversal from the down position, but then fellow freshman T.J. Henry escaped to cut his deficit to a single point. Henry shot for a takedown in the waning moments, but the grapplers ended up outside of the circle and Purcell won, 4-3.

Taking a 7-3 lead into the second period at 120 lbs., Quakers junior Gene Naumovsky scored a takedown from a neutral start and then pinned SCH sophomore Jordan Bell with 45.6 seconds remaining in the round. The home team quickly recouped the six team points as freshman Victor Jones collected a forfeit from Penn Charter in the 126 lb. class.

The meet tally was now 19-9, and Springside Chestnut Hill quickly closed it up to 19-15 by wrapping up a pin with 26.6 seconds left in the first period at 132. Here, it was SCH sophomore Kyle Williams notching the win against Samuel Shemtov, a PC freshman.

The Blue Devils were a pin or a forfeit away from taking the lead, but little went right for them from here on out. In a high-scoring 138 lb. encounter, the count was already 9-6 at the end of the first period, with the Quakers Alex Koenig leading fellow sophomore Myles Hugee of SCH. After more near-falls, escapes, and takedowns, Koenig emerged with a 21-12 major decision.

Owning just a 2-1 edge one round into the 145 lb. contest, PC senior James Frye opened things up with some takedown point in the second stanza. He came close to recording a major decision, but a late escape point for Blue Devils sophomore Andrew Cramer brought it back down to a regular decision, with a 10-3 final.

Charter’s lead bumped up more significantly at 152, where a pin added six points for a 32-15 overall tally. Junior David Woodruff-Giorno rolled up an 8-0 lead in the opening frame thanks to several near-falls, and then he finished off Blue Devils sophomore Matt Greenberg with 48.2 ticks to go in the second period.

The visitors were now close to acquiring an insurmountable lead in the meet, and they got over the hump in the 160 lb. match. Cohen began with takedown, then fought off an attempted reversal by his junior host, Grant Dalsemer. Instead, Cohen picked up a three-point near-fall to carry a 5-0 lead into the next round. Off of a neutral start in the second stanza, the PC grappler quickly secured a takedown and then matted Dalsemer with 1:23 left on the clock, putting the visitors up 38-15.

At 170 lbs., SCH junior Mike Spirito was not quite able to convert either of two three-point near-falls into a pin, but that no longer mattered in terms of the meet outcome. Facing visiting junior Chris Johnson, who sometimes wrestles as light as 152, Spirito logged a 13-2 major decision.

Penn Charter reached its final team total thanks to freshman 182-pounder Wayne Derkotch, who pinned Blue Devils sophomore Sean Edling with 1:14 remaining in the second period.

The proceedings officially concluded when Luke Purcell’s brother Jake, an SCH senior, accepted a Penn Charter forfeit in the 195 lb. class.