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SECTION ONE WRESTLING By Tom Waring
LANGHORNE - Two weeks ago, the wrestlers of Neshaminy High School walked out of their gym reeling from a tough loss to archrival Council Rock. Last night, the Redskins made up for that heartbreak. Five Redskins, including Outstanding Wrestler Michael Pirozzola, captured individual championships, leading Neshaminy to the team championship at the Section One Tournament. In all, 10 Neshaminy wrestlers advanced to next weekend's District One North Tournament at Council Rock. "To come back and win sectionals at home, it's great," said Mike O'Neill, the 112-pound champion. Added coach Vic Stanley: "My goal at this time of year is to advance as many as possible. I think anybody would be satisfied to have 10 out of 13." Neshaminy totaled 187 points. Runner-up Rock finished with 168.5. Pennsbury was a distant third, followed by William Tennent, Upper Moreland, Harry S Truman, Bensalem and Abington. The top three finishers in each weight class moved on to districts. Neshaminy led the way with 10. Rock placed eight. Six Pennsbury wrestlers advanced. Truman will send four to districts, while Tennent and Bensalem will have three and two wrestlers, respectively, in the next round. In addition to Pirozzola (140) and O'Neill, Neshaminy's champions were Nic Wagner (125), Dan Winter (145) and Jeff Rotunno (152). Winter was especially impressive, pinning all three of his opponents. Wagner, who's battled injuries most of the year, won his title as the fifth seed. He needed overtime to pull out an exciting 12-10 victory over Pennsbury's Rich Schirner. The weight class was relatively tough, with the other wrestlers having more bouts than Wagner during the regular season to get prepared for the postseason. "I wasn't so sure I was in shape, but I knew I had the skills to beat them," Wagner said. Rock coach C.D. Mock has high expectations in the postseason. Mock is pleased he'll have eight wrestlers on the home mats next weekend. Losing the team title is not as important, he said. "I want to advance guys, that's all I care about," Mock said. There were no real upsets in any of the weight classes. The most anticipated bout lived up to its billing. In the 189-pound final, Truman's Mike Moore edged Neshaminy's Neal Oberto, 9-8, with an escape and a takedown in the final 20 seconds. Moore's only loss this season was by injury default to Oberto a few weeks ago. Oberto reached the PIAA Class AAA tourney a year ago at 171. Moore said he was confident even as the clock was ticking late in the bout, with Oberto in control and owning a two-point lead. "I didn't think about losing. I was just thinking about getting up," Moore said. "I'm happy I won." Tennent improved on its dreadful showing of the last two seasons, when just one Panther reached districts. In fact, Tennent boasted two champs - Jeff Mulherin (119) and Jason Cintron (130). Ray Cummings was the runner-up at 135. "It feels great," said Mulherin, who won by major decision in the final. "We're supporting each other." Rock's champions were Tom Martin (103), Rocky Mantella (135), Gregg Osbeck (160), Brian Wilson (171) and Tony Milone (heavyweight). Four of those winners were virtual shoo-ins. Martin was somewhat of a surprise. In the semifinals, he routed Truman's Jonathan Denny, 9-3. He pinned Pennsbury's Rick Tosti in the first period in the final. During the regular season, he lost to both of them, including a 17-4 setback to Denny. Now, Martin heads to districts, where the competition promises to be tough. "I'm just hoping to place and move on to regionals," he said.
Sunday, February 21, 1999 |