The second day of the District 26 Tournament hosted by Holy Cross was quite a successful one for the Pirates. Cinnaminson, which had nine wrestlers take part in various bouts on Saturday, will send all nine of those wrestlers to the Region Tournament.
Districts resumed Saturday morning with the semi-final matches after quarterfinals took place on Friday night.
Complete District 26 Cinnaminson Match Results
The day began with TJ Emanuel, Isaiah Elias and Kevin Schoch all dropping their semi-final bouts. Ryan Teague became the first Pirate wrestler to advance to the finals with a 10-1 major decision over Beau Bruneau of Holy Cross at 138 pounds.
Mike Dunleavy followed with a 5-1 win and then Shaun Davilla picked up a major decision as both advanced to the finals.
Andrew Halecki lost a hard-fought bout in overtime and Joe Cody fell to Devin Rolon of Delran 7-3 before Keith Swartley pinned Eric Saunders of Burlington Township in 2:29 to end the semi-finals.
The consolation round was quite impressive for the Pirates as all five wrestlers (Emanuel, Elias, Schoch, Halecki and Cody) picked up victories in their bouts to finish Districts in third place for their weight classes. All five will participate in Regions next week.
Emanuel and Schoch picked up pins in their consolation bouts as Halecki won a close one, 5-4, and Cody won in overtime 3-2 in an ultimate tie breaker.
Elias won by forfeit to advance to Regions.
“It was a great consolation round,” head coach Mike McConnell said. “We were happy with the number of guys we had last year that didn’t wrestle varsity that placed this year in TJ, Halecki and Cody. They came off of JV wrestling last year and placed in Districts this year. Everybody’s wrestling well. They’ve improved throughout the season. That’s what it takes when your team’s young.”
The finals saw the Pirates come away with two District champions, the first at 170 pounds as Shaun Davilla picked up a 7-2 decision over Nate Dalmass of Moorestown.
“It’s been a fun weekend. It’s been competitive,” Davilla said. “I got to see a lot of great wrestlers wrestle today. I saw my friends go to the top of the podium last year and freshman year. I am blessed to be up there.”
“Definitely setting up my shots,” Davilla said when asked about improvements for the Regions. “I got a little lucky today. I need to setup better during the Regions.”
Mike Dunleavy dropped a 4-0 decision to Cam Wasson of Holy Cross in his 160-pound bout.
Keith Swartley won his second straight District 26 heavyweight title with a 15-6 major decision over Delran’s Anthony Grozozski at 285 pounds.
“The way I see it, this is a tuneup, getting ready for the higher levels,” Swartley said. “This whole season I’ve been stressing working on my feet and applying my offense. I wanted to show everybody how hard I’ve been working. I wanted to prove I’m an athletic heavyweight.”
“I am going to treat every match the same, never change my style, and not look past anybody,” Swartley said when asked about Regions. “Wrestle hard, wrestle smart.”
McConnell talked about how much work the Pirates two District 26 champions have put in this season.
“They’re both (Davilla and Swartley) really good athletes. It’s not just in the wrestling room. They’re working hard, lifting weights. They both do track and field. His (Davilla) athleticism is the reason he finished those shots.”
In the final bout of the day for the Pirates, sophomore Ryan Teague showed why he was the District 26 champion at 126 pounds last season as a freshman.
Teague wrestled at 138 pounds and went toe-to-toe with Amir Harper from BCIT-Westampton. Harper came into the bout with a season record of 30-0.
Teague took Harper to the final seconds of the bout before Harper picked up three points as time expired on a near fall to win 7-4. Harper was eventually named the District 26 Outstanding Wrestler.
“Teague did a good job too. He wrestled well,” McConnell said. “He encountered a lot of really tough opponents early in the season. After a good 10 matches in the season he was .500.”
“He took that as an eye-opener and focused on some details. He did a good job with it in this match. He was wrestling a good wrestler. I think that this is the last district final he loses.”
All four wrestlers who took part in the finals will also advance to Regions, a total of nine for the Pirates. Cinnaminson finished second as a team behind Holy Cross with 156 points.
The Regions begin Wednesday, February 24 at 5pm when the Pirates travel to Robbinsville High School.
