MERCURY SPORTS: WEDNESDAY RECAP

Spring-Ford pitcher Tyler Eckman (Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

Spring-Ford's David O'Such wins the 100 meters Wednesday. 

 

Wednesday featured a full slate of local sports including coverage of rematches of last season's Pioneer Athletic Conference championship between Spring-Ford and Boyertown in baseball and Spring-Ford and Owen J. Roberts in boys lacrosse. Also Wednesday, the Mercury covered the track and field double dual meet between Boyertown, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen and girls lacrosse action between Methacton and Perkiomen Valley.

BASEBALL: Clutch Klemann, Eckman carry Spring-Ford over Boyertown, 3-2 in 8 innings

BOYS LACROSSE: Owen J. Roberts rallies past Spring-Ford

 TRACK AND FIELD: Spring-Ford boys and girls sweep Boyertown, Upper Perkiomen

GIRLS LACROSSE: Fast-starting Methacton tops Perkiomen Valley, 10-5

WEDNESDAY’S ROUNDUP: Perkiomen Valley softball freshman duo one-hits Boyertown

Inside pitch: Owen J. Roberts' Shannon Clemens

Darryl Grumling gets the inside pitch on Owen J. Roberts senior Shannon Clemens.

BOYS TENNIS: Doubles teams key as Perkiomen Valley tops Owen J. Roberts

John Strickler/The Mercury Perkiomen Valley’s Vash Singh follows through during Tuesday’s No. 1 singles match against Owen J. Roberts’ Utkarsh Pandey. Singh won, 6-2, 6-4.

By Dennis Weller
sports@pottsmerc.com

GRATERFORD — Some good young players have jumped into the Perkiomen Valley singles spots, leaving the veterans at doubles. And that has been a winning combination for the Vikings so far in the early stages of the Pioneer Athletic Conference boys tennis schedule. The Vikings won their second straight match Tuesday afternoon, 5-2, over visiting Owen J. Roberts.
Yash Singh won at No. 1 singles for PV (2-0, 2-0) and Evan Newbill was victorious in the No. 3 spot. The second, third and fourth doubles teams also came out on top for Perk Valley, just as they had in a surprising 4-3 win over defending champion Phoenixville last week. Ethan Gelting won at second singles and Drew Brown and Tim Craybill at No. 2 doubles for the Wildcats (1-1, 1-2).

(For complete story, click here ... )

COLLEGE SIGNING: OJR’s Dempsey to play soccer at Iona

Owen J. Roberts senior Taylor Dempsey, center, recently signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Division I Iona College. Dempsey is pictured with his parents Mike Dempsey, left, and Susan Marks, right, and OJR head coach Eric Wentzel. (Photo submitted)

By Steven Moore
smoore@pottsmerc.com

Taylor Dempsey had his mind made up last fall. He was ready to enjoy the rest of his senior year at Owen J. Roberts without the pressure of a college decision hanging over his head.
Then Mount St. Mary’s University (Md.) decided to cut three varsity sports programs – including men’s soccer.
Dempsey was back to square one.
Then he got a call from Iona College – a school he admits he “had never heard of” before.
“Around Thanksgiving, I had two tournaments and they saw me play and I had numerous calls,” said Dempsey, who signed a letter of intent to play at Iona, a school just north of Manhattan in New Rochelle, N.Y. “They seemed to be one of the more interested schools.
“The past four years, they’ve been ranked in the top 25 many times, and the school doesn’t have a football team, so soccer is one of the bigger sports there,” Dempsey said.” The coaches are really nice and they made me feel like they wanted me a lot.”

(For complete story, click here ... )

WRESTLING NOTEBOOK: Owen J. Roberts trio makes medal sweep at states

Owen J. Roberts’ Gordon Bolig helped the Wildcats go 3-for-3 in state medalists when he finished eighth at the PIAA Championships over the weekend. Bolig joined teammates Derek Gulotta and Cloby Frank on the medal stand. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

Owen J. Roberts had a season of seconds and thirds – good seconds and thirds, that is – as in a second straight District 1-Class AAA Team Duals title and a third straight Pioneer Athletic Conference championship.
And if that wasn’t enough, the program came up with yet another first – three state medalists. And that was also another first for the PAC-10 being that no team had ever taken three or more qualifiers to the PIAA Championships and had each and every one of them return home with a medal.
It was indeed an up-and-down three days, or more like a follow-the-leader type three days, for Derek Gulotta (113 pounds), Colby Frank (126) and Gordon Bolig (182). All three won their openers, then dropped their quarterfinals, came back with wins in the second round of consolations, fell in the third round of consolations, and closed with losses in their seventh-place finals.

(For complete story, click here ... )

WRESTLING: OJR’s Gulotta leads five locals into quarterfinals at PIAA Championships

Owen J. Roberts' Derek Gulotta celebrates after his first-period pin of Pleasant Valley's Kenny Yanovich at 113 in the first round of the PIAA Championships Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Derek Gulotta was about uncharacteristically relaxed prior to Thursday afternoon’s opening round of the PIAA-Class AAA Wrestling Championships.
Once he got onto the mat, he was anything but.
Owen J. Roberts’ 113-pound sophomore needed less than a half-minute to take down Pleasant Valley’s Kenny Yanovich and only 96 seconds overall to lock in a cradle and pin him to debut with an impressive win and underline a perfect three-for-three showing by the Wildcats’ state qualifiers.
Gulotta, along with teammates Colby Frank (126) and Gordon Bolig (182), advanced into today’s (1:30 p.m.) quarterfinals, where they’ll be joined by Boyertown’s Jordan Wood (220) and Methacton’s Tracey Green (285) ... all needing one more win to guarantee themselves a spot in the medal rounds.

(For complete story, click here ... )

SEELEY ON WRESTLING: OJR’s Bolig not one to shy away from a challenge

Owen J. Roberts' Gordon Bolig

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

POTTSTOWN — No one was surprised to see Norristown’s Brett Harner and Owen J. Roberts’ Gordon Bolig advance through their 182-pound bracket and meet in Saturday night’s final of the AAA Southeast Regional.

No one was happier, either, than Bolig.

“It was good to wrestle him,” said Bolig, never one to turn down an opportunity to wrestle a good opponent.

Well, Harner is about as good as it gets. Pound for pound, he’s arguably the best in District 1. He has 187 career wins, a total that could easily be higher if not for Norristown’s demanding schedule. He’s a three-time district champion, three-time regional champion, and three-time state medalist. He’s also nationally ranked.

“I wanted to see what he was like,” Bolig said. “I wanted to see what makes him so good. I sure found out.” 

( To read the complete story, click here )

SWIMMING: State qualifiers finalized

By Steve Moore
smoore@pottsmerc.com

The PIAA unveiled the state swimming psych sheets today. Some area swimmers already knew they were Bucknell-bound by finishing in the top 5 (AAA) or first place (AA) in their event at the District 1 Championships. Others had to wait for today to see if they earned a wild card berth.

Full entries can be seen on the PIAA website by clicking here.

See below for a rundown all the local qualifiers.

BOYS SWIMMING: OJR's Feiser, Upper Perk's Himmelwright win 50 free at districts

Swimmers, fans and officials stand for the national anthem before Thursday's boys session at the District 1 Swim Championships at La Salle University. (Photo by Steven Moore)

By Steven Moore
smoore@pottsmerc.com

PHILADELPHIA — Big swim meets can often seem like never-ending affairs that require a detailed program and a GPS to navigate.

But no matter what colors you’re wearing, everyone pays attention to the 50 freestyle — the fastest event in the pool.

By those standards, two Pioneer Athletic Conference swimmers stole the show on Day 1 of the District 1 Boys Swimming Championships at La Salle University’s Kirk Pool.

Owen J. Roberts junior Sam Feiser and Upper Perkiomen senior Kyle Himmelwright both brought home gold medals Thursday, as Feiser won the Class AAA 50 free (20.97) and Himmelwright finished first in Class AA (22.21).

“I felt like with my taper I was ready to swim fast,” Feiser sad. “My teammates always help me with practice and my coaches are really supportive of my swims. My best time was a 21-high this year, and that was a (20.97) so I was happy about that.”

(For the complete story, click here...)

WRESTLING NOTEBOOK: OJR’s Moser: Black and blue and gold

Owen J. Roberts’ Adam Moser won the 145-pound title at the
District 1-AAA West Tournament over the weekend. (Photo by Tom Kelly III)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

ROYERSFORD — Adam Moser looked as if he had just survived a backyard brawl, not a wrestling match.

The Owen J. Roberts senior’s nose, which had just stopped bleeding, was black-and-blue, his eyes were watering … all the result of a very physical encounter with Garnet Valley’s John Dambro. But Moser, with a gold medal draped around his neck for winning the 145-pound final with Dambro during last weekend’s District 1-Class AAA Tournament, said all was well.

Actually real well considering what he endured earlier this winter.

Moser suffered a throat injury that got to be a bit too much for him during the Beast of the East Classic in Delaware. That is if not being able to eat or drink anything without pain qualifies as a bit too much. And when it worsened right before the Buckskin Classic out in Lancaster during the holidays, he found himself in the hospital for six hours, undergoing a series of tests that included a scope of his esophagus.

“(The doctors) tried a lot of different drugs, then one seemed to work and I felt better,” Moser explained. “I was on liquid meals, and taking a pill before and after I ate.

“When I got back to wrestling I had a hard time breathing at first. I also lost 10 pounds, which is one of the big reasons why I’m down at 145 now.” 

( To read the complete story, click here) 

WRESTLING: Bolig, Frank help OJR return to summit at District 1-AAA West Tournament

Owen J. Roberts’ Derek Gulotta pins Spring-Ford’s Ryan Hayes in the second period of the 113-pound final at the District 1-AAA West Tournament Saturday at Spring-Ford. (Photo by Tom Kelly III)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

ROYERSFORD — Gordon Bolig said neither he nor any of his Owen J. Roberts teammates were thinking about the team title during last week’s inaugural Pioneer Athletic Conference Championships. At least not until the public address announcer uttered the team standings going into the final round … standings that revealed Boyertown, not Owen J. Roberts, had already clinched the team title.
“I don’t think any of us were aware (of the points standings) until that last round,” Bolig recalled. “So we knew coming into this week, with all of the individuals we had, we wanted to do our thing … get as many as we could to regionals and also win the team race.”
Well, the Wildcats sure did do their thing throughout Saturday’s District 1-Class AAA West Tournament at Spring-Ford High School, going a perfect 5-for-5 in the finals and adding in four other medalists to capture the team title.

(For complete story, click here ... )

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Owen J. Roberts’ Colby Frank and Spring-Ford’s Sarah Payonk

Colby Frank

Sarah Payonk

BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Colby Frank
Owen J. Roberts
Wrestling

What he has done
Frank outdid everyone in the 126-pound weight class during the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s inaugural championship tournament. The Wildcat junior (21-4) opened with a pin of Pottsgrove’s Tyler Van Horn, blanked Spring-Ford’s Sean Hennessey (3-0), then beat Boyertown’s Eddie Kriczky (5-2) for the gold medal and the tourney’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.

What he says
“I take every match and wrestle everyone like it’s my last match. You can’t go out there and over-think. It’s the postseason now, and I know what my goals are. I know what I want to get done.”

 (For complete story, click here ... )

SEELEY ON WRESTLING: Disappointment aside, Top 8 is great for Owen J. Roberts

Owen J. Roberts’ Kyle Shronk, left, showed some serious grit through the PIAA team duals tournament, wrestling through a shoulder injury to help the Wildcats become one of the top eight teams in th state. (File photo by Tom Kelly III)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

Central Dauphin, Canon-McMillan, Franklin Regional, Easton and, take your pick, either McDowell, Parkland, Owen J. Roberts or Delaware Valley.
Wherever your allegiance may lie, whatever wrestling intelligence you may be blessed to have, there’s absolutely no debating they’re the top eight teams in Pennsylvania this year.
Hats off to each and every one of them.
And that includes Owen J. Roberts.

(For complete story, click here ... )

WRESTLING: Owen J. Roberts misses medal stand at state duals

Owen J. Roberts' Gordon Bolig grapples with Nezar Haddad of Parkland in the 182-pound match in Saturday morning's consolation match at the PIAA Class AAA Team Duals Tournament at Giant Center in Hershey. Bolig won 3-1 in overtime. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Neither Colby Frank nor Dominick Petrucelli, nor any of their Owen J. Roberts teammates for that matter, cared to do the math.

The Wildcats split Saturday morning’s consolation quarterfinal encounter with Parkland right smack down the middle, both teams winning seven individual bouts each. But two pins and five decisions, opposed to one major and six decisions, just didn’t add up.

Not for Owen J. Roberts.
Parkland’s two pins were just enough, or the difference, in a 27-22 win that cut short the Wildcats’ bid for a state medal for the second straight year and, ironically, ended their regular-season run at 20-2 overall for the second straight year.

“We’re disappointed,” said the 126-pound Frank. “We thought we had a good chance of placing.”

“We’re upset,” added the 132-pound Petrucelli. “We thought we’d go home with some hardware.”

 (For the complete story, click here...)

WRESTLING: Resilient Owen J. rallies to stay alive at PIAA duals

Owen J. Roberts' Dominick Petrucelli, top, tries to turn Franklin Regional's Dom Giannangeli during their bout at 132 in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class AAA Team Duals Tournament Friday at Giant Center in Hershey. Petrucelli won 8-5 in the final bout of the match but it wasn't enough as OJR fell 29-28. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Owen J. Roberts has sure gotten its share of applause and praise this winter. All well-earned, of course, after winning another Pioneer Athletic Conference championship and another district team duals title.

But Friday night, the team may have picked up some additional props for its resiliency.

Losing for the first time in a long, long season is one thing, Bouncing back from that first setback within a few hours is another. And having to do it in the PIAA-Class Team Duals – where too often just a move or two defines who’s better than who, and no one, absolutely no one rolls over – presents quite a challenge.

But the Wildcats proved they were up for it here at the Giant Center, recovering from a disheartening 29-28 loss to Franklin Regional in the afternoon with an equally thrilling but considerably more satisfying 34-28 win over DuBois in the evening.

“Losses don’t come any tougher than they did for us (against Franklin Regional),” head coach Steve DeRafelo said after the grueling day. “To wrestle that well, to go toe-to-toe, to get that close... Yes, I was concerned when we came back (against DuBois).” 

( To read the complete story, click here )

WRESTLING: Owen J. Roberts surives scare in Team Duals opener

Owen J. Roberts' Peter Fratantonti, top, works a cradle on Delaware Valley's William Pearn early in their bout at 145 Thursday night at the PIAA Class AAA Team Duals Tournament at Giant Center in Hershey. Frantantoni got the fall at 3:43 to clinch the match for the Wildcats and secure a 33-26 victory. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Owen J. Roberts was trailing Delaware Valley halfway through its PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals opener Thursday night.
Talk about feeling a little uncomfortable ... and concerned.
“Actually I was scared at that point,” said senior Pete Fratantoni.
Owen J. Roberts hasn’t had to wrestle from behind too often this year — or for that matter, too often the past three years — en route to a Pioneer Athletic Conference championship hat trick and back-to-back District 1-AAA Team Duals titles. So Fratantoni wasn’t likely the only one fear-struck.
But the fears subsided a bit moments after the turn when Aston White’s decision at 106 pounds and Derek Gulotta’s 36-second pin at 113 gave the Wildcats the lead back and Colby Frank’s first-period pin at 126 cushioned the advantage to seven. Then the fears disappeared for good when Fratantoni capped the otherwise entertaining affair of twists and turns with a pin in the final bout to give OJR a 33-26 win here at The Giant Center.

(For complete story, click here ... )

WRESTLING: Owen J. Roberts, Upper Perkiomen set for 2nd round of PIAA-AAA Duals

Mercury file photo Owen J. Roberts coach Steve DeRafelo will guide the Wildcats into tonight’s second round of the PIAA-AAA Team Duals at Hershey.

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Owen J. Roberts is right smack where everyone always thought they’d be this week, even the Wildcats themselves.
Upper Perkiomen isn’t exactly where anyone thought they’d be this week, perhaps even the Indians themselves.
Quite a diverse, if not unusual, assessment … but so true as both teams prepare for tonight’s second round of the PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals at the Giant Center.
The Wildcats have ruled the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 wrestling roost for two years now. Whether they’re better than last season’s team that rolled over everyone and brought an unbeaten record here is absolutely argumentative. The numbers sure don’t like, though. They’ve been as authoritative a team as a year ago, and they’ve been unchallenged much like the team of a year ago as their identical 18-0 record reveals.
Now, whether they’re capable of equaling or even bettering last year’s showing — a 2-2 split — will be determined by the end of the weekend.
The OJR test begins this evening (6:00) against District 2 champion Delaware Valley High School.

(For complete story, click here ... )

COLLEGE SIGNING: Owen J. Roberts star Heather Morris to Duke

Photo courtesy of Owen J. Roberts Heather Morris signs her letter of intent to play field hockey at Duke. She is joined by her parents Patti and Jack Morris.

By Darryl Grumling
dgrumling@pottsmerc.com

BUCKTOWN — The scholastic field hockey career of Heather Morris may have ended on an unfortunate note when she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a midseason Pioneer Athletic Conference game against Upper Perkiomen.
But the beginning of her college career appears to be filled with positives and promise.
The decorated Owen J. Roberts senior made her future plans official Wednesday, signing a national letter of intent to accept a scholarship to attend the University of Duke and play for the Blue Devils.

(For complete story, click here ... )

WRESTLING: District duals provided a lot of drama

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

FORT WASHINGTON — Unless you’re a fan of wrestling, or at least understand a little bit about the sport, you wouldn’t have been able to appreciate just how good last weekend’s District 1-Class AAA Team Duals were.
Sadly, a whole lot of fans (including many of the high-and-mighty, nameless website critics) weren’t around. The support simply wasn’t there … much like it hasn’t been nearly everywhere this season.
Maybe it was because of the wonderful winter weather we were enjoying, perhaps it was too long of a drive to Upper Dublin High School. Or maybe, just maybe, getting live updates and recaps on Twitter and Facebook (or from someone texting his or her army of friends) was good enough.
But it really wasn’t.
Unfortunately, those who opted not to be there missed what is so great about the sport … the unpredictability, and the excitement as well as drama it so often creates. You get that live, not electronically. And Memorex sure as heck can’t duplicate it, either.
The Pioneer Athletic Conference, unquestionably at its collective best in its 27-year history of wrestling, accounted for a quarter of the original 24 teams in the tournament and half of the eight teams who took center stage Friday night. Three were still around for the curtain call Saturday afternoon.
That alone was impressive.
And all three sure had a lot to do with most of that unpredictability.
Starting with the quarterfinals — Boyertown avenged a 36-33 loss to Upper Perkiomen earlier in the season with a 40-24 romp, and Spring-Ford lost on criteria to Council Rock South.
Next up, the consolations — Upper Perkiomen barely got by Downingtown West (38-30, compared to an earlier-in-the-season 38-28 win), then put a no-doubt-about-it hurtin’ on Council Rock South (42-21). Interesting, considering Upper Perkiomen couldn’t match up earlier this season against Spring-Ford but sure did against the team that beat Spring-Ford just 24 hours earlier. And speaking of Spring-Ford, the Rams regrouped to humble Pennsbury, but then lost by a jaw-dropping 35 points to Boyertown, the same team they beat by four points three days earlier.
Then the consolation final. Yet another Boyertown-Upper Perkiomen go-round.
Remember now, Upper Perkiomen won by three back in early January, and Boyertown won by 16 on Friday night. The third time was indeed the charm – for the fans, that is — as the Bears came up with one big individual upset and held on for a 35-31 win.
That sure was enough excitement and drama for a couple of days.
But Owen J. Roberts, which provided little of either in Friday night romps over Downingtown West and Boyertown, finally managed to contribute a lot of both in Saturday afternoon’s championship final with its 32-24 thriller over Downingtown East.
Yes, as they say, wrestling is all about match-ups. How often have we heard that if Team A beats Team B, and Team B beats Team C, it doesn’t necessarily mean Team A beats Team C.
But last weekend’s district team duals was also about countless wrestlers stepping up to countless challenges, countering the often boring predictability (or defying the odds), creating a lot of excitement, and providing a whole heck of a lot of suspense, or drama.
And for those in the stands, regardless of who they were hooting and hollering for, were fortunate to witness it all.
*
Quote of the Week came from Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca, whose Bears wrestled all four of their weekend matches against rivals Owen J. Roberts, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen (twice): “I don’t want to see anyone from the PAC-10 the rest of the season,” Ventresca said before breaking into a laugh. … Not so quick, though, because the Bears have Pope John Paul II this Wednesday, then get together with everyone for one day — Saturday, Feb. 16 – for the inaugural PAC-10 Championships (in the Boyertown gym, no less).
*
Owen J. Roberts, which extended its PAC-10 winning streak to 34 in a row with the win over Pottstown last Wednesday, will attempt to make it 35 straight and pin down its third consecutive unbeaten title run this Wednesday at home against Phoenixville. … The two-time district duals champions — who also own a 39-match winning streak against District 1 opponents — head out to Hershey on Thursday for the Class AAA state duals. The unbeaten Wildcats (17-0) open against District 2 champion Delaware Valley (16-2) at 6 p.m. in the Giant Center.
*
Don Seeley is the sports editor of The Mercury. His wrestling column appears Tuesdays through the PIAA championships. He can be reached at dseeley@pottsmerc.com.

Wrestlng: State Duals matchups

Compiled by Don Seeley


PIAA Team Duals
Class AAA
Monday, Feb. 4
First Round
(District - Place in parenthesis)
Taylor Allerdice (8-1) vs. North Allegheny (7-3) at Carrick High School, 6 p.m.
Wilson (3-4) vs. Parkland (11-2) at Whitehall, 7:30 p.m.
Upper Perkiomen (1-4) at Chambersburg, 7 p.m.
Boyertown (1-3) at Spring Grove (3-3), 7 p.m.
---
Thursday, Feb. 7
At Giant Arena, Hershey
Second Round
Central Dauphin (3-1) vs. Taylor Allerdice-North Allegheny Winner, 6 p.m.
Mifflin County (6-1) vs. Wilson-Parkland Winner, 6 p.m.
Jersey Shore (4-1) vs. Franklin Regional, 6 p.m.
Owen J. Roberts (1-1) vs. Delaware Valley (2-1), 6 p.m.
Easton (11-1) vs. DuBois (9-1), 8 p.m.
La Salle (12-1) vs. Upper Perkiomen-Chambersburg Winner, 8 p.m.
Erie McDowell (10-1) vs. Downingtown East (1-2), 8 p.m.
Canon McMillan (7-1) vs. Boyertown-Spring Grove Winner, 8 p.m.
---
Friday, Feb. 8
Consolations
First Round, 10 a.m.
Second Round, 6 p.m.
Championship Rounds


Quarterfinals, 2 p.m.
Semifinals, 8 p.m.
---
Saturday, Feb. 9
Consolations
Semifinals, 11 a.m.
Third-Place Final, 1 p.m.
Championship Round
Final, 1 p.m.