Pennsbury Wrestling

Bucks County Courier Times By TOM WARING The Delaware Valley Wrestling Officials is sponsoring its 15th annual all-star classic at 7:30 at Harry S Truman. Tonight's match will pit all-stars from Southeastern Pennsylvania against their counterparts from South Jersey. The match will feature an all-senior lineup, with the exception of Cardinal Dougherty underclassman Tom McHale at 103 pounds. All wrestlers will be given a 10-pound allowance. That will be tough for some of the Pennsylvania wrestlers, whose season ended on March 6. New Jersey wrestlers shouldn't have a problem. Their season ended on Sunday. The DVWO will honor CR-South's Brad Silimperi as Coach of the Year, along with Lenape's Russ Minuto. The wrestling officials will also recognize CR-South's Rick Rappo, the 103-pound state champion. Rappo will not wrestle, since he's only a junior. While the Pennsylvania team appears much stronger, Joe Bergen (215 poubds) will have a tough assignment against Eastern's Anthony Orio, a state champion. "It's my last high school match. Hopefully, I'll win it and go out with a bang," he said. Bergen won't have a problem cutting weight. He naturally weighs about 215 and has been running and lifting weights since the end of the season. In fact, he'll wrestle at 197 pounds at Kutztown University. Bergen, who won 121 career matches and finished sixth at states, is part of a star-studded lineup. "It's a great opportunity, and I'm thrilled to have it," he said. "It's pretty much all-stars from District One." Proceeds from the event will benefit academic scholarships for wrestlers. This year's winners are Central Bucks East's Greg Brodzik, who is ranked 23rd in a class of 638, and Lenape's Adam Winegar, who is ranked first in his class.

Results

103: Craig Silverstein (Cherry Hill West) maj Tom McHale (Cardinal Dougherty) 16-4 112: Mike Trznadel (Wissahickon) dec Nick Polino (Riverside) 5-2 119: Tim Harner (Norristown) dec Kyle Milanese (Delran) 9-4 125: Jerry Balasco (Council Rock-South) inj. def. Scott Minuto (Lenape) 3:08 130: Brandon Hill (Willingboro) maj. Eric Anderson (Pennridge) 18-4 135: Darren Kern (Upper Perkiomen) pin Jorge Vasquez (Pennsauken) 1:23 140: Andrew Coles (Eastern) dec Josh Pagano (Norristown) 11-6 145: Eric George (Northern Burlington) pin Ken McLaughlin (Plymouth-Whitemarsh) 5:12 152: Brian Rowan (Neshaminy) tech Justin Pilla (Rancocas Valley) 4:24 (16-1) 160: Dave Schreiner (William Tennent) tech Tyler Orlando (Haddon Heights) 3:10 (16-0) 171: Sal Barbuto (Moorestown) dec Curtis Beardsell (William Tennent) 7-3 189: Zeb Davis (Lenape) dec Nick Shute (Upper Moreland) 7-4 215: Anthony Orio (Eastern) dec Joe Bergen (Pennsbury) 6-4 275: Travis Albanesius (Upper Perkiomen) dec Phil Trautwein (Eastern) 7-2

Bucks County Courier Times By TOM WARING Bill Trimble qualified for the PIAA Class AAA championships as a sophomore, but his stay in Hershey wasn't a long one. Trimble lost his first two matches at 130 pounds and was eliminated. "I was just happy I was there, and that's not the way to be thinking," he said. Trimble, now a junior, has recovered nicely. He's 37-2 this season and has qualified for the state tournament at 140 pounds. The wrestler won the Section One and District One-North championships. His only two setbacks this season have been decision losses to Academy Park's Mustafa Flemming in the Southeast Regional final and to Council Rock-South's Chris Chambers, who was the 145-pound regional runner-up. Trimble has put the loss to Flemming behind him and views the state tournament as a fresh start. "A loss is a loss, you can't get down," he said. The 17-year-old from Levittown has been a three-year star for Pennsbury. He was 25-11 as a freshman and 32-9 last season. He's 94-22 in his career. In 2003, Trimble entered states as the third seed from the Southeast Region. He opened with a 5-2 loss to Whitehall's Jay Morrison, then was eliminated when he was pinned by State College's Matt Lower. Tomorrow, Trimble's first-round opponent will be Reading senior Joe Ortiz, who is 39-2 and the third seed from the South Central Region. If Trimble wins, he could have a rematch with Morrison in the quarterfinals. Trimble will need two wins to finish in the top eight and earn a medal. "My goal is to medal this year," he said. "I've got to stay focused to bring home a medal." Trimble and Joe Bergen will be Pennsbury's representatives at states. Dan Bergen and Matt Cutchineal, who were eliminated at regionals, have been practicing with Trimble this week. The state-bound wrestler also works out with assistant coach Kip Kiefer. Head coach Joe Kiefer said it was a great accomplishment for Trimble to qualify for states as a sophomore. The coach thinks it helps that the wrestler experienced the feel of the Giant Center, which opened last year. Kiefer said the 140-pound bracket is a tough one. The Off the Mat rankings of the 16 participants show just how difficult it will be. The rankings put Trimble 14th, followed by fellow Southeast Regional qualifiers Josh Pagano of Norristown and Bart Powers of West Chester Henderson. Ortiz is seventh, while Morrison is second. "I think Billy is capable of placing, but he'll have to wrestle very, very well," Kiefer said.

Bucks County Courier Times Former Pennsbury star Chuckie Connor will be inducted into the District One Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Feb. 28 at the Class AAA Southeast Regional at Norristown. Connor (class of 1996) won the PIAA championship at 112 pounds as a senior. He was second as a junior and sixth as a sophomore. Connor, who finished with 130 career victories, went on to win three ACC titles at North Carolina.

Bucks County Courier Times By Tom Waring FAIRLESS HILLS - A mere look at the standings would indicate that Pennsbury and Central Bucks West were headed for a classic wrestling showdown. The Falcons had just one fewer loss than the Bucks heading into last night's contest, but it turned out to be no contest. Lee Milas, Pat McDonald, Bill Trimble and Chris Ryan all recorded pins to lead the Falcons to a 49-10 victory at a steaming-hot Pennsbury gym. The win allowed the Falcons to clinch at least a share of the Suburban One League Patriot Division championship. Pennsbury (23-3 overall, 9-1 SOL Patriot) can capture the outright championship with a win tomorrow vs. Abington. "We won't take them too easy. We'll show them our best," Ryan said. Pennsbury tied North Penn for the division title in 2001, then won the crown outright the last two years. "You always like to be the champ, and this would be our fourth," Ryan said. If the Falcons get upset tomorrow, Neshaminy would tie for the division championship with wins over North Penn and Abington. Pennsbury doesn't want to share the title with anyone, especially its chief rival. "You want to prove that you're the best in the division, that the championship is yours and yours alone," coach Joe Kiefer said. CB West (9-3, 6-3) lost any chance it had to win a piece of the championship. The Bucks will close out the season with matches against Central Bucks East and North Penn. "I'm hoping we put everything together for the last two matches," CBW coach Craig Deacon said. West won only two bouts. Peter Ferrara posted an 11-0 major decision victory over Ryan Funk at 130 pounds, while Brandon Sullivan pinned Bill Bramwell in 1:41 at 189 pounds. Otherwise, the Bucks proved to be pretenders, not contenders. At the same time, they did put up a pretty good fight. Besides the four pinners, the only other Falcon to earn bonus points was Kyle Palucis, who captured a major decision at 119 pounds. Pennsbury's seven other winners - Matt Sbarro (112), Matt Cutchineal (135), Ben Rees (145), Dan Bergen (152), Corey Howard (171), Joe Bergen (215) and Ty O'Neill (275) - settled for regular decision wins. Pennsbury had been idle for nine days before the match. The Falcons were still stinging from a loss to Council Rock-South in the first round of the District One Class AAA Dual Meet Tournament. They blasted North Penn two days later, then had several good practices in a row leading up to last night's match. "We messed up in duals. Our coach was pretty mad and we were disappointed, but we've gotten over it," said Ryan, a senior who pinned Mike Cherry in 1:26 at 160 pounds. Pennsbury will get another crack at CR-South on Feb. 14 at the Section One Tournament. Neshaminy will have something to say about who wins the team title, too. "I think we can get it done," Ryan said. Ryan, O'Neill, Palucis, Howard, Bramwell and Joe Bergen will all wrestle their final home matches tomorrow. They're already co-champions and, unless something weird happens, soon to be outright champs. Four years in the program, four championships. "That's something special. It's really big for the seniors," Kiefer said.