The Abington Heights wrestling team won the season-opening Battle of Bethlehem Duals.
Submitted photo
Austin Smith, Luke Evans and Brian Heard pinned every opponent in each of five matches when Abington Heights opened the wrestling season Dec. 3 and, in most cases, they did it in a hurry.
With Smith, Evans and Heard leading the way, the Comets took the team title of the Battle of Bethlehem Duals.
Abington Heights downed Bethlehem Freedom, 65-12, completing a day in which the Comets went 5-0, winning by an average of 50 points and not allowing any opponent to come closer than 30 points.
Smith, a junior, posted his wins at 145 pounds.
Evans won at 133. Heard wrestled at both 160 and 172. Both are sophomores.
They had plenty of help.
Sam Stevens (152), Caleb Marzolino (189, 215) and Luke Sirianni (121) also did not allow an opponent to finish a bout while each won on the mat four times. Stevens and Marzolino also added a fifth win by forfeit. Two of Marzolino’s victories came by technical fall.
John Gorrick went 5-0 at 285 with three pins and two decisions, one of which was a one-pointer.
Abington Heights 65, Bethlehem Freedom 12
The championship match started at 139 and Abington Heights immediately opened the maximum 24-0 lead in the first four bouts.
Aidan Ryan won with a second-period pin, then each wrestler who followed won in less time. Smith had the first of three first-period pins, Stevens won in 37 seconds and Heard finished his bout in 26.
Zachary Meckwood (215), Brady Kareha (114), Sirianni and Evans also had first-period pins while Marzolino had a first-period technical fall.
Pool matches
Abington Heights won its pool by defeating Pleasant Valley (62-9), Bangor (57-15), Lansdale North Penn (51-21) and Mariana Bracetti Academy (72-0).
The Comets had nine pins, eight of them in the first period, against Pleasant Valley. Connor Beck got it started with the fastest, in 20 seconds, at 107 pounds and Damian Warrick won in 21 seconds in the next-to-last bout at 215.
Abington Heights trailed three times early against Bangor, then won the last eight bouts.
The Comets forfeited the first and last bouts against North Penn, but followed the first forfeit by winning six straight for a 33-6 lead.
Abington Heights needed just 9:31 of wrestling time to end the nine bouts that were contested against Mariana Bracetti Academy, all in pins. Sirianni started it early in the second period, then eight teammates finished in the first period.
Season outlook
The Comets return the majority of the lineup from a team two won Lackawanna League Division 1 and both District 2 Class 3A championships – dual meet and team scoring at the individual tournament. They finished seventh in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Dual Meet Wrestling Championships in Class 3A.
Sirianni announced his commitment to the wrestle for Army West Point in October. He is a two-time District 2 champion and state place-winner who went 40-3 last season.
Heard won 35 bouts and a district title while finishing second in the region and qualifying for the state tournament as a freshman.
Smith, Marzolino and Stevens all won at least 28 times. Smith and Marzolino won district titles, an achievement Stevens reached two years ago.
