Nazareth still in the running at wrestling duals

by By Beth Hudson | Of The Morning Call

Posted on February 6, 2008

Nazareth wrestling coach Dave Crowell found the perfect analogy when he jokingly said he'd never plan how to run the last 200 meters of a marathon.

Similarly, he will not be looking ahead, trying to figure out what could transpire for his Blue Eagles at this weekend's PIAA Team Wrestling Championships. There are just too many miles -- and too many possibilities -- between the start and the finish.

But this much is certain: After a 45-12 victory over Quakertown on Tuesday night at Freedom High School, District 11 runner-up Nazareth (14-6) is one of only 12 Class 3A teams still competing in the state duals. The Blue Eagles will wrestle District 9 champion St. Mary's (16-2) in the second round of states at 10 a.m. Friday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

''It's kind of fun watching these guys,'' Crowell said. ''They've come a long way -- they really have.''

The coach started the season with relatively modest goals for his young team. He wanted his kids to work hard, learn and, hopefully, be very competitive by the time the postseason arrived.

Still, he never expected so much so quickly.

Nazareth won 11 of 14 bouts against Quakertown, the third-place team from District One. D.J. King (285 pounds) and Zach Horan (103) supplied first-period pins (King in just 48 seconds over Bubba Smith), and Tyler Torcivia (140) won by fall as well. In fact, after losing the opening bout at 189, Nazareth rolled off six consecutive victories.

Tim Murphy (215), Greg Flamisch (112) and Ken Maciborski (145) earned major decisions, while Dave Dotter (119), Ryan Krecker (125), Colin Fischl (135), Hugh Harris (160) and Eric Sergent (171) also picked up wins. Dotter used a third-period escape to defeat Colin Bynum, 1-0, and Harris took down Ian Weaver with four seconds remaining to win, 11-9.

Despite the loss, Quakertown coach Kurt Handel took away positives. For one, it was the first time his team qualified for the state duals.

''If someone had told me [at the beginning of the year] that we'd be here, I would have said, 'Yeah, right,''' Handel said. ''We have a young team. The guys matured a lot faster than expected.''

Two of Quakertown's best won decisively: Matt Rust won a major over Ian Stout at 130, and Weibel earned a technical fall over Ben Bradley in just over three minutes at 152. In addition, Handel was impressed with the effort of his 189-pounder, Randy Jorgenson, who used a takedown with nine seconds left in the third to beat Steve Searfass, 7-5.

''Randy's a sophomore,'' Handel said. ''He went 0-4 at district duals. He ran into some really tough guys. To come in here and stay in the match … he set a really good tone for us.''

Now Quakertown will get ready for the individual postseason. Nazareth, meanwhile, will see how far it can go in the state duals. If the Blue Eagles beat St. Mary's, they'll face District 3 champ Central Dauphin -- one of the most talented teams in the state -- in Friday's quarterfinals.

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