Wrestling: Marinos, Tuohey help Garnet Valley advance at District One Duals

Despite a bizarre start, Garnet Valley’s quest to become the first Delaware County wrestling program to qualify for the PIAA Class AAA state tournament remained on track Thursday night, while Penncrest, Upper Darby and Chichester were ousted from the District One Duals.

After falling behind 6 to minus-3 when Sal Pizzuto was disqualified in the opening bout at 113 pounds, fourth-seeded Garnet Valley dominated the rest of the way in dispatching No. 20 seed Harry S Truman, 50-9, in a second-round match held at West Chester Rustin.

The Jaguars received a first-round bye and Truman had also advanced without breaking a sweat — courtesy of a forfeit by No. 13 seed West Chester Henderson.

The Marino brothers, Matthew (120) and Mike (126), and Ben Tuohey (132) righted the ship with consecutive pins that put Garnet Valley ahead to stay.

Gary Pizzuto added a tough 2-0 win over third-ranked Dustin Stone at 138, and second-ranked John Dambro battled past fourth-ranked Jesse Huber, 8-3, at 170.

Next up for Garnet Valley is No. 5 seed Council Rock South in a quarterfinal next Friday at Upper Dublin.

Upper Darby, the 17th seed, opened its tournament appearance with a 35-24 win over No. 16 Upper Perkiomen thanks in large part to a second-period pin by Mike Simmons at 220.

Pat Kane (145) and freshman Colin Cronin (120) helped out with major decisions, while Josh Yeboah-Gyasi defeated Casey Cook, 7-2, in a clash of ranked wrestlers at 195, and Austin Petril edged Dustin Steffenino, 1-0, in another key matchup at 113.

The Royals’ road ended in the nightcap at Methacton, with top-seeded Boyertown collecting nine pins en route to a 63-7 romp. Yeboah-Gyasi provided Upper Darby’s first points with an 8-3 win at 195 and Austin Petril added a major decision at 113.

“Our kids wrestled hard against what I consider to be the second-best team in the state,’ Upper Darby coach Bob Martin said. “Hopefully we gain some experience from this.’

Eleventh-seeded Penncrest also came away with a split in its two matches at Interboro, with Joe Pyfer (170) recording the quickest of the Lions’ five pins in a 42-22 triumph over 22nd-seeded Downingtown West.

In the second round, Penncrest ran out to a 23-4 lead behind decisions by Matt Young (145) and Liam Frank (182), a technical fall from Ryan Dougherty (152), a pin by James Morris (160) and Austin Jacque’s forfeit win at 195, before sixth-seeded Pennridge closed out by capturing seven of the last eight weights to win, 40-29.

Downingtown West's Gabe Hale, bottom, grapples with Penncrest's Liam Frank in their 182-pound bout Thursday during the District One Duals. (Robert J. Gurecki)