by Tom Utescher

With junior Chris Kim winning the 120-pound title and sophomore Christian Colman (126 lbs.) and junior Wyatt Hare (182 lbs.) also reaching the finals last weekend, Germantown Academy repeated as the third-place team at the Pa. Independent Schools wrestling tournament at Malvern Prep.

Defending champion Wyoming Seminary (Wilkes Barre, Pa.) had its grapplers win 11 of the 14 weight classes and topped the team standings with 371.5 points, while host Malvern was second with 250.5 and GA was third with 180.5.

In fourth, with 126.5 points, was Penn Charter, bumping up one spot from its finish in 2018. Jess Anderson, a 120 lb. junior, placed third in his class, and fourth-place finishes were recorded by senior Wayne Derkotch (195) and juniors John Giuffrida (160) and Matt McGlinchey (220).

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, troubled by injuries throughout the season, slipped from fourth place last year to sixth in 2019. Scoring 95.5 points to come in 10 points behind number five Episcopal Academy, the Blue Devils had junior Will Neverosky place third at 182, while seniors Simon Kioko (126) and Luke Purcell (132) each came in fourth.

Winding up in a tie for 15th place a year ago, Germantown Friends climbed to 13th this time with 51.0 team points. Junior Javier Carmona finished fifth in the 126 lb. category, and sixth-place outcomes were earned by junior Jake Moss (132) and freshman Will Jigetts (113).

Aside from producing three finalists, Germantown Academy demonstrated depth by putting five other athletes into the semifinals of the main draw. Placing third were the team’s lone senior, Mark Fasciocco (132) and sophomores Jamie McGrath (113), Luke Duthie (138) and Harrison Levans (195). Freshman Brian Allen finished fourth at 145 lbs.

As usual, official places were awarded to the top eight finishers in each weight category, and at 106 lbs., SCH freshman Aden Goldberg and PC eighth-grader George Glomb earned that distinction.

Both worked their way through the wrestle-backs after losing to the class runner-up from Wyoming Seminary in the main draw. Glomb recorded three pins on the way to a sixth-place showing, and Goldberg got pins in his main draw opener and in the feed-ins to place seventh.

At 113, GA’s McGrath, Jigetts of GFS and SCH freshman Jack Sanderson each earned byes to begin with, then the later two lost and went into wrestle-backs. After they each won a match in the consolation bracket, Jigetts pinned Sanderson in a head-to-head meeting.

McGrath, who had won his main-draw quarterfinal before losing in the semi’s, then fed into consolations and pinned Jigetts in the semifinals. He claimed third place overall with a third-period pin of Westtown School’s Mohammad Mustafa. Jigetts placed sixth in the class, and Sanderson was eighth.

GA’s Kim, the 2018 champion at 106 lbs., was seeded first last weekend at 120, and he rolled through to the finals with a bye, a 31-second pin and a 12-2 major decision over Malvern’s Jake Kroger. He did not get to wrestle in the finals, winning through a medical default by Wyoming Seminary’s Lachlan McNeil.

Meanwhile, PC’s Anderson and GFS sophomore Max Orenstein met in the second round, with Anderson registering a pin. Losing to McNeil after that, the Charter junior won with a pin in the feed-in semifinals and captured third place with a 13-0 major decision over Malvern’s Kroger. Orenstein ended his weekend with a win by pin to wind up seventh, the same place he attained last year in the 106 lb. class.

Germantown Academy’s Colman started out at 126 lbs. with a bye, then advanced with a first-period pin and then a third period pin over Malvern’s James Toal. In the championship match, Colman succumbed by technical fall (18-2) to Seminary’s Drew Munch.

Also in the main draw, SCH’s Kioko won two bouts before losing to Munch, and Carmona of GFS won one match before falling to Toal. Later, the two would meet in the wrestle-back semifinals, where Kioko won with a third-period pin. The Blue Devils senior ended up fourth, losing in the third/fourth bout as the Friars’ Toal won by decision. Carmona won the contest for fifth-place in an 11-4 decision.

The 132 lb. class featured one of the top wrestlers in the country in this category, “Sem” junior Beau Bartlett. He knocked SCH’s Purcell out of the main draw after the Blue Devils senior won his first two bouts. The eventual class runner-up, Malvern’s Jack Wehmeyer, defeated Moss of the GFS Tigers in the second round of the main draw, then topped GA’s Fasciocco in the semifinals.

Moss won two matches in wrestle-backs, then lost when Purcell fed in and pinned him in a head-to-head meeting. Moss would come in sixth overall, while in the contest for third place, the Patriots’ Fasciocco prevailed over Purcell in a 3-0 decision.

Receiving a bye for the opening round at 138 lbs., GA’s Duthie then recorded a major decision (11-1) over SCH junior Marco Goldberg, who had pinned his first-round rival. GFS junior Josh Zeelander started out by winning a decision, then left the main draw courtesy of the class runner-up from Wyoming Seminary. In the semifinals, Duthie was on the short end of a 9-0 decision favoring eventual champ Dalton Harkins, of Malvern.

Zeelander went 1-2 in the wrestle-backs, still good enough to earn eighth place. Goldberg, who had recently come off of concussion protocol, won two decisions in the feed-in draw, then defaulted and finished sixth, a spot which would still qualify him for the Prep School Nationals.

Duthie entered the feed-in draw at the semifinal stage, first winning by technical fall and then prevailing in the third/fourth match, 2-1, over Hill School’s Sam Beckett.

Penn Charter senior T.J. Henry and Germantown Friends sophomore Noah Rudick each opened up with a pin at 145 lbs., then Henry pinned Rudick in the quarterfinals. Henry lost in the same manner to the title-winner from Sem, while in the other semifinal match, GA’s Allen suffered a setback after starting out with a bye and a win by decision.

A pin in his first wrestle-back bout helped Rudick to an eighth-place finish overall. Allen and Henry each fed into the semifinals of the wrestle-backs, then a loss by decision and a win by pin settled Henry into fifth-place. Allen chalked up a pin to reach the third-place match, then withdrew due to injury and finished fourth.

In the first round in the 152 lb. class, there were wins for PC senior Sam Shemtov (9-6) and GA junior Deon Savage (pin), and losses for GFS junior Liem Kleitz and SCH freshman R.J. Moore. The latter two received byes in the first round of wrestle-backs, then Moore was eliminated by Savage and Kleitz was eliminated by Shemtov, each by pin.

Next, Savage registered a second-period pin against Shemtov, who would then win his last match to place seventh. Savage became the victim in a pair of close decisions, ending up sixth overall.

SCH sophomore Tyler Guzik and GA freshman Brendan Donnelly each won by pin as they went into action in the 160 lb. bracket. Both lost in the quarterfinals, with Guzik dropping a 7-2 decision to Penn Charter’s Giuffrida, a winner by forfeit in his previous match-up.

Guzik and Donnelly each went 1-1 in their first two feed-in bouts, and in the match for seventh and eighth place Guzik pinned Donnelly in the middle of the first period. Guiffrida, falling in the main semifinals to the champ from Wyoming Seminary, won with a second-period pin in the wrestle-back semifinals, then succumbed by technical fall to Malvern’s Nick Feldman in the third/fourth match.

GA’s 170-pounder, sophomore Brian Kelley, had to withdraw before the start of the tourney due to illness, while SCH senior Joe McDermott lost by pin in the main draw and then won by pin in his first wrestle-back contest. The sophomore 170 from PC, Antonio DeMarco, nailed a 12-second pin at the outset, then lost in the quarterfinals to the Mercersburg Academy entry.

Meeting and pinning the Blue Devils’ McDermott in the feed-in bracket, DeMarco then won by technical fall (19-4) against an Episcopal Academy opponent. Even though his last two matches didn’t go his way, he finished sixth in the class.

Receiving a first-round bye at 182, GA’s Hare then dispatched his next two opponents with pins in the opening period to reach the finals. He then was pinned by Wyoming Seminary’s Darrien Roberts, emerging as the runner-up.

SCH’s Neverosky and Charter sophomore Danny Bach also got byes to begin with, and each lost in the quarterfinals. Bach won and lost by pin in the feed-ins, and then he ended up in fifth place when his opponent withdrew. Meanwhile, Neverosky went all the way through to win third place. A pin, a decision and a forfeit got him into the third/fourth match, where he ground out a 4-3 decision over Max Rosenberger of Haverford School.

Up at 195 lbs., a second-period pin and a 7-3 decision got Charter’s Derkotch into the semifinals. In the other half of the bracket, GA’s Levans and SCH sophomore Pat Ferns received byes, and then Levans pinned Ferns in the second round. Ferns would go 1-2 in the wrestle-backs to come away with eighth place.

Derkotch and Levans each left the main draw when they were pinned by the two class finalists. In the feed-in bracket, they advanced to meet one another after Derkotch picked up a pin and Levans won by forfeit. Levans then captured third place by pinning his PC rival in the second period of the third/fourth bout.

The Quakers’ McGlinchey and Springside Chestnut Hill freshman Mac Levin were the only area entries at 220 lbs. Levin opened with a pin, then was pinned himself by the class champ from Wyoming Seminary. The Sem wrestler, Jake Kaminski, then knocked McGlinchey out of the main draw in the semifinals, also by pin.

McGlinchey, who’d begun with a bye and an overtime win, then finished his run with a pair of two-point decisions, a victory in the feed-in semifinals, and a loss in the third/fourth match against Roman LeBrosse of Western Reserve Academy. Levin received a bye as he started the wrestle-backs, which helped him finish eighth overall.

That was it for the four area teams, as none of them entered a wrestler in the 285 lb. weight class.