Norristown wins District 1 North title

It's not the way Shane Springer is used to winning matches.

Springer, a Norristown senior and Pennsylvania's all-time record holder for pins, cruised to the 170-pound District 1 Class AAA North championship round with a couple of his signature wins by fall. But in the final against Central Bucks South's Dominic Rigous, there was no quick decking - rather, a frantic fight to the final buzzer.

After trailing by a point for much of the match, Springer swapped the lead with Rigous three times, all on reversals, in the final minute, with Springer eking out two points with nine seconds on the clock for a pulsating victory Saturday night.

Springer struggled to break out of Rigous' cradle for much of the final period.

"I felt how long he was," Springer said of Rigous. ". . . He could probably dunk on me, or something. It was crazy." He added: "That was intense. You could hear the crowd."

Springer's title was one of four for Norristown, which won the team title with 137 points at Quakertown. The Eagles' win broke a five-year streak of District 1 North titles for Council Rock South, which placed second with 121 points. Upper Perkiomen came in third with 93.

The top five finishers from each of the 14 weight classes advanced to next weekend's Southeast Regional Championships at Oxford.

Zach Fuentes (106), Mike Springer (138), and Brett Harner (160) also won gold for the Eagles. The district title was Harner's second consecutive, while Fuentes and Mike Springer won their first each.

"It feels really good," Norristown coach Mark Harner said, cracking a rare smile. "Our goal is to get kids to states. A team title is great, but at this point, it's all about each kid and getting what they can get. The team stuff is nice to have."

Council Rock South's P.J. Steinmetz was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler, claiming the 195-pound championship by allowing just one point through three matches, including a 15-0 technical fall over Upper Dublin's Devon Dhoble in the final.

Adding to Norristown's total were Tyler Letrinko (runner-up at 182 pounds), plus Larry Gordon and Jesse Prante, who took third and fourth at 195 and 220, respectively.

Plymouth Whitemarsh's Justin Staudenmayer won a second straight district title by easing past Perkiomen Valley's Nick Giangiulio, 7-0, in the 145-pound final. The victory was Staudenmayer's 100th career win, pushing his season record to 37-2.

Central Bucks West's Seth Ehlo (36-0 at 152) and Chris Jastrzebski (31-0 at 182) remained undefeated by winning championships - Ehlo by 9-4 over Bensalem's Shane Hughes and Jastrzebski by 6-1 over Letrinko.

Council Rock North's John Dutrow, trailing by a point in the waning moments of the 132 final against Upper Perkiomen's Wolfgang McStravick, scored a dramatic victory of his own by earning three points - with an escape and a reversal - in the final 20 seconds for a 5-3 win. It was Dutrow's first district title.

The results

Championship Finals

Team scoring: Norristown 137, Council Rock South 121, Upper Perkiomen 93, Pennsbury 89, Council Rock North 87.5, Central Bucks South 82.5, Central Bucks West 66, Wissahickon 63, William Tennent 55.5, North Penn 52.5.

106: Zach Fuentes, Norristown, dec. Scott Parker, Pennridge, 3-1. 113: Billy Rappo, Council Rock South, dec. Jason Bing, Pennsbury, 13-3. 120: Anthony DiEmidio, Pennsbury, dec. Tom Stokes, Bensalem, 3-2. 126: Josh DiSanto, Pennsbury, dec. Dylan Steffenino, Upper Perkiomen, 9-0. 132: John Dutrow, Council Rock North, dec. Wolfgang McStravick, Upper Perkiomen, 5-3. 138: Mike Springer, Norristown, dec. Tyler Seislove, Quakertown, 6-0. 145: Justin Staudenmayer, Plymouth Whitemarsh, dec. Nick Giangiulio, Perkiomen Valley, 7-0. 152: Seth Ehlo, Central Bucks West, dec. Shane Hughes, Bensalem, 9-4. 160: Brett Harner, Norristown, dec. Danny Michaels, Pottsgrove, 8-2. 170: Shane Springer, Norristown, dec. Dominic Rigous, Central Bucks South, 6-5. 182: Chris Jastrzebski, Central Bucks West, dec. Tyler Letrinko, Norristown, 6-1. 195: P.J. Steinmetz, Council Rock South, tech. Devon Dhoble, Upper Dublin, 15-0, 5:17. 220: Tyler Callender, Council Rock North, dec. Tim Riley, Council Rock South, 3-2. 285: Tom Trampe, Council Rock South, dec. Angel Carlo, Abington, 2-1.

Third-Place Consolations

106: Dan Martoccio, Council Rock South, dec. Mike Pritchard, Bensalem, 6-4. 113: Ben Ross, Pennridge, dec. Micah Haynes, Council Rock North, 6-4. 120: Kolton Veit, Souderton, dec. Nick Haegele, Central Bucks South, 8-4. 126: Aaron Rodriguez, Wissahickon, dec. Bryan Jastrzebski, Central Bucks West, 3-2. 132: Francesco Fabozzi, Central Bucks East, dec. Mack Moore, Council Rock South, 9-0. 138: Ryan O'Connor, Neshaminy, won by forfeit. 145: Dan Schueren, Wissahickon, pinned Brendon Bonner, Phoenixville, 1:40. 152: Brennan Weiss, Wissahickon, dec. Ryan Eisenhart, Souderton, 9-3. 160: Shane Peltonen, Central Bucks East, dec. Dylan Swan, Central Bucks South, 7-6. 170: Steffen Vestal, Lower Merion, pinned Kody Lupfer, Neshaminy, 2:31. 182: Dalton Fleming, Upper Perkiomen, dec. Ernest Tessein, Pennsbury, 12-5. 195: Larry Gordon, Norristown, dec. George Shipp, North Penn, 5-1. 220: Matt Jorgensen, Quakertown, dec. Jesse Prante, Norristown, 2-1. 285: Andrew VanBuskirk, William Tennent, dec. Tracey Green, Methacton, 3-1.

Fifth Place

106: Collyn Dorney, Quakertown. 113: Joey O'Brien, North Penn. 120: Tim Ambacher, Council Rock North. 126: Harry Wilson, Neshaminy. 132: Nico Demetrio, Pottsgrove. 138: Tyler Kelly, Council Rock North. 145: Jeff Reimel, North Penn. 152: Bob Barone, William Tennent. 160: Paul Scott, Upper Moreland. 170: Artem Imnadze, Upper Moreland. 182: Eli Zimmer, Lower Merion. 195: Greg Frasch, Central Bucks South. 220: Nick Cassalia, Central Bucks South. 285: Nick Gill, North Penn.