SECTION ONE WRESTLING Neshaminy claims team title By TOM WARING Courier Times E-mail LANGHORNE - Things were looking pretty good for the Council Rock Indians last night as the Section One Wrestling Tournament neared conclusion. Rock was a half-point ahead of Neshaminy heading into the final two weight classes. The Indians needed championship round victories by Harry S Truman's Matt Wallick and Joe Champey over their Neshaminy opponents to hold off the Redskins. Considering Wallick and Champey were a combined 49-3, it looked as if Council Rock would bring the team trophy back to Newtown. Jack Fleming had other ideas. Fleming, a junior at Neshaminy, faced Wallick in the 189-pound final. Wallick held just a 2-1 lead entering the third period, though he rode Fleming for most of the first four minutes. Wallick started the third period from the bottom position. "Generally, I'm not the best top wrestler," Fleming acknowledged, "until (my opponents) get tired and I'm able to put them on their back. Our conditioning is so good." Fleming used a headlock to pin Wallick in 4:49. The upset made Fleming a sectional champion, clinched the team title for Neshaminy and disappointed Council Rock. Though his victory set off a wild celebration, Fleming was unaware of the team consequences. He had his hands full with Wallick. "I was so happy to beat him," he said. Fleming was one of three Neshaminy champions. The others were Jon Denny (103 pounds) and Michael Pirozzola (145). Pirozzola, a defending PIAA champion, advanced with a bye and two pins in a combined 1:30. He won his fourth sectional crown in his final appearance at Neshaminy. He was also named Outstanding Wrestler. Denny got revenge on Pennsbury's Rick Tosti in the final. Tosti beat him in a dual meet, but last night belonged to Denny. He used two takedowns and two back points to top Tosti, 8-5. Denny wrestled most of the season at 112. He lost 13 pounds in the six days leading up to sectionals and beat teammate Dan Stewart in a wrestleoff to earn the 103-pound nod. "I went out there and had fun," said Denny, the aggressor against Tosti. "I wanted to give my all. Last time, I held back." Neshaminy won the eight-team event with 170.5 points, sending seven wrestlers to next week's District One North meet at Wissahickon. Council Rock finished second with 165 points, followed by Pennsbury, Harry S Truman, Upper Moreland, Bensalem, Abington and William Tennent. It was not a good day for Tennent. Its 10 wrestlers went a combined 1-20. Rock had four champions - Tom Martin (112), Zach Harr (125), Joe Ziemba (130) and unbeaten junior Rocky Mantella (140), a three-time sectional champ - among eight wrestlers advancing. Ziemba routed Neshaminy's Rich Palmer, 10-3, in the final. He had a tougher time beating Palmer in a dual meet. "I just cut loose and did my moves," said Ziemba, who had three takedowns and two reverses. "I'm feeling pretty strong right now, but I'm taking it one tournament at a time." Pennsbury had two champs - freshman Joe Bowman (119) and Keith Jones (135) - and eight district qualifiers. Bowman upset Neshaminy senior and defending sectional champ Mike O'Neill, 7-4, in the final. He scored a takedown and two back points and rode O'Neill all third period. It was Bowman's debut at 119. "I felt pretty good after my first match, then I felt better and better," Bowman said. Champey was Truman's only champ. In all, five Tigers advanced. Champey needed overtime to beat Neshaminy's Joe Mitskas, 7-2. Mitskas handed Champey his only defeat in overtime in a dual meet. Last night, Champey held a 2-0 lead in the final 10 seconds. "I was controlling the whole match. I didn't want it to go into overtime," Champey said. Mitskas tied it with a late reversal, but Champey used injury time to regroup and take a couple deep breaths. He took down Mitskas in overtime and picked up three back points to win. Dylon Williams, the 152-pound champ, will lead four Bensalem wrestlers to districts. Williams decisioned Rock's Jason Incudine, 8-3, in the final. Incudine had beaten him earlier in the year. "I worked so hard since then. I took the loss kind of hard. I knew what it took," Williams said. Sunday, February 20, 2000