9 Ridley Wrestlers Qualify for District Competition

This past weekend, Ridley finished a solid 3^rd in the Section V team competition held at Haverford High School.  Upper Darby returned to its form of prior years in completely swamping the other teams while amassing 294 points.  Glen Mills finished in 2^nd position with 199 just ahead of Ridley’s 196.  Much further down the ladder were Springfield with 165 ½, Chichester at 126, Academy Park 121, Interboro with 110 and Haverford High scoring 104.  The remaining teams, Sun Valley and Penn Wood, failed to score 100.

In most respects, the final results were in line with the pre-match seedings but in this type of do-or-die, potential season finale, there are always upsets and disappointments.  Many of the wrestlers were seniors facing the prospects of their wrestling careers coming to an end if they didn’t place in the top 4 of their weight category.  Since there were up to 10 wrestlers in each weight bracket, the double elimination tournament provided little room for error.  Happily, several Ridley Green Raider senior wrestlers competed well and were able to extend their seasons at least another week when the action moves to Spring-Ford for the District 1 South meet.  The competition will move up a notch but some of the seasoned Ridley grapplers have a good opportunity to qualify for the Regional Meet.  Last year, Corey Brown (3^rd at 145-pounds), Ed Hall (4^th at 103 pounds) and Michael Steven (5^th at 275 pounds) were able to punch their tickets to the regions by finishing within the top 5 in their respective weight classes at Districts.  

At 103 pounds, Nick Pisani struggled through a tough collection of experienced wrestlers to finish in the 4^th position.  Co-captain Ed Hall captured 2^nd place as expected but had to beat a strong competitor, Kyle Ramplin from Haverford, to get there.  Co-captain Matt Ziegler, seeded #2 entering the competition, fared better than the #1 seed who was eliminated but could only manage a 4^th place result.  At 140 pounds, sophomore Carl Schaaf stayed true to seeding form in capturing 2^nd place after a 3-0 loss in the final to the #1 seed from Glen Mills who is also ranked #1 by the Delaware County Daily Times.  At 152 pounds, Ridley junior Phil Rayer had to wrestle back with a vengeance after being upset in an early match.  He was beaten in the bout for 3^rd and 4^th place but secured his trip next week to Districts.  Dan McAndrew continued his impressive run at 160-pounds when he surpassed his #3 seeding position to finish 2^nd after beating the 2^nd seeded wrestler.  Senior John Colberg finished a solid 3^rd after having to face his nemesis and 1^st Place finisher, John Rush of Upper Darby, in an early round.  Fellow senior Mark Fritz positioned himself well for next week’s meet with a 2^nd place finish losing only to his frequent opponent Bill Kent also from Upper Darby.  Finally, sophomore Nick Jenkins improved upon his #6 seeding with a 3^rd place finish and his 2^nd consecutive pin of Haverford’s highly regarded Brian Ellixson who entered the tournament seeded 3^rd. 

So, the ante gets raised next week when wrestlers from powerhouses Avon Grove, Garnet Valley, Conestoga, Oxford, Boyertown, Downingtown West, Spring-Ford and others join the fray at the District 1 South Tournament at Spring-Ford.  Each weight bracket will host 12 wrestlers in this double elimination tournament with the top 5 finishers moving on to the Region meet at Norristown.  Those who place in the top 4 there reach their dream of a date at the State Championships in Hershey.