Upper Perk spoils Warriors' PAC-10 debut

by Dennis Weller, Special to The Pottstown Mercury

Posted on December 24, 2008

FAIRVIEW VILLAGE — The Upper Perkiomen wrestling team had arrived home from a long and arduous road trip less than 48 hours before it took the mat Tuesday night at Methacton. But the Indians certainly did not seem to show any ill effects from the rough five day journey to and from the Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nevada.

Upper Perk won 11 of the 14 bouts, including six pins in a row at one point, and rolled to a 58-9 Pioneer Athletic Conference win.

The Indians' trip to Reno was lengthened considerably due to the storm that dumped the most snow on Las Vegas in nearly 30 years. It took them from noon last Wednesday until midnight on Thursday because they had to go through several southern cities instead of just being able to fly into Vegas.

"The kids did a good job of staying focused and keeping their weight under control," said Upper Perk coach Tom Hontz. "It's not an easy thing. We got into the airport Sunday night at 10:00 and had a quick turnaround. It was pretty grueling. We had to be back at school the next morning."

But the Indians (2-0 PAC-10, 5-2 overall) got off to a good start with a couple of big early wins against the Warriors (0-1, 2-4).

They received a forfeit at 189 pounds to start the night and then Nick Hale defeated Brandan Clark (7-2) in the closest bout of the match to give the Indians a 9-0 lead.

In that one, the two wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods, wrestled to a draw in the first overtime, and traded escapes again in the two 30-second segments of the second overtime. Finally, Hale – who was on the bottom in the rideout – was awarded a penalty point for a 3-2 win.

Then Jared Bennett (12-2), who had earned a seventh-place medal in Reno, pinned Dan Cox in 3:19 in the heavyweight match to make it 15-0.

"Coming into this gym, it's not an easy thing at all," said Hontz. "I was worried. Fortunately, we came out strong. We had some breaks and there were some tough losses. There were big wins at 215 and heavyweight."

The next bout at 103 pounds was quite a battle, too. Methacton's Rob D'Annunzio took a 5-0 lead in the first period, but Upper Perk's Dan Rodenberger pulled off a reversal and a near fall to close to within 5-4 before D'Annunzio wrapped it up with a takedown in the second period on the way to an eventual 9-5 decision.

But Alex Mackenzie got the visitors going again with a 13-4 win and Marty McStravick won by a fall for the Indians at 119 pounds in 2:35 after falling behind early by a 5-2 score to Justin Andrews.

That made it 25-3 and Upper Perk blew the match open with consecutive pins by Garrett Fellman, David Cannon, Dalton Fleming, Mike McStravock (11-3), and Cody Ambrose.

The night ended with an 8-6 win for the Indians' Joe Houck and close wins by Methacton's Kyle Kovalsky (8-2) and Elliott Reisz.

"Rodenberger wrestled tough," said Hontz. "The matches at 160 and 171 were tough matches. We did what we wanted to do – wrestle aggressively and wrestle physically, and see what happens."

Upper Perk will take advantage of a few well-earned days off before getting ready for the Battlefield Duals on January 2nd and 3rd.

"We'll relax for a few days and enjoy the holidays," said Hontz.

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