Wrestling: Ridley’s Alkins, McCarthy advance to semifinals

POTTSTOWN — Fueled by the disappointment of how Ridley’s team dual season had unfolded, Lawrence Alkins brought resolve and a plan to take his opponent head-on into Pottstown’s Strom Gymnasium Friday night.

The plan worked and the inner strength that Alkins displayed earned the junior a berth in Saturday’s 182-pound semifinals of the Class AAA Southeast Regional wrestling tournament.

The top three finishers at each weight will head to Hershey for next week’s PIAA Tournament.

“I just wanted to come here with a good mindset and go full force for everybody who’s in my way,” Alkins said after dispatching Downingtown East’s Jason Gibson, 5-3, in a grueling quarterfinal.

“You can’t really think of anything else but winning,” he added. “You have to be very, very confident in yourself because anything can happen here. If you have any thoughts of losing, you might as well quit. So I went into my match smart and set up a plan and it worked out.”
Alkins will have company in Saturday’s semifinals, with teammate Donte McCarthy dominating his quarterfinal over West Chester Henderson’s Kyle Medrow, 11-5, at 120 pounds.

“It hasn’t been the best of years for Ridley wrestling, but we’re trying to make the most of this opportunity,” Alkins said. “Hopefully me and Donte to make it happen, because our teammates have been very supportive of us.”

Twenty other athletes from Delaware County were among the 126 wrestlers from 49 schools that filled the gym with non-stop action for more than 3½ hours.

District One-West champion teammates Michael Marino (120) and John Dambro (170) carried the standard for Garnet Valley, with each easily advancing to their respective semifinals — Marino with a 12-1 major decision and Dambro by pin in 1 minute, 56 seconds.

Ryan Dougherty of Penncrest bulled his way to the 152-pound semifinals with a third-period pin, Academy Park’s Samson Akporotu advanced to the semis at 160 with a 10-7 decision, and Karon Lucas-Tillery of Penn Wood punched his ticket to the semis with a 10-3 win at 195.

The night did not begin well for Central League champion Garnet Valley, which saw half of its four wrestlers relegated to the consolation round less than a half hour into the tournament.

The first Jaguar, sophomore Ben Tuohey, opened up the 126-pound bracket with a 4-3 loss to West Chester Henderson’s Joey Wilson. Moments later, 145-pounder Sean Lyons came up on the short end of an excruciatingly tough 1-0 loss to West Chester Rustin’s Thomas Hatzipavlides.

Upper Darby’s Anthony Petril, the first Delco wrestler to take the mat at 106, showed some spunk in a 5-3 opening win over Dylan Nuttall of Harry S. Truman. The Royals’ senior then had the misfortune of running into the top seed in the quarterfinals, where he was pinned in 2:46 by Avon Grove’s Edgar Garcia.

Nate Frantz of Strath Haven also lost his quarterfinal, and will oppose Petril in a second-round consolation Saturday.

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