Wrestling: Cronin sparks Upper Darby to Central League team title

Going into the final round of the Central League wrestling tournament Saturday night, Upper Darby had some work to do if it was going to add the tournament team title to the championship it won during the league’s dual-meet season.

The Royals trailed Garnet Valley by 8½ points and if the Jaguars held on, they would win the Central League crown.

Upper Darby dug deep and won five individual titles, one third place, two fourths and four fifth-place finishes to edge Garnet Valley, 210.5-205.5 for the team title.

The turning point was Colin Cronin’s pin of Garnet Valley’s Dave Wood in the 138-pound final. It was his third straight win by fall in less than two minutes and earned Cronin the Outstanding Wrestler award.

Cronin was one of five Royals to win an individual title and is one of 12 Upper Darby wrestlers who advanced to next week’s District One Class AAA West championships at Spring-Ford High School.

The top six wrestlers in each weight class advance to the district tournament.

Jacob Mejias (113), Max Livingston (152), Brian Kennerly (195) and Peter Augustin (285) all won their respective weight classes. The Royals had five wrestlers reach the championship finals and none finished second.

Joseph Brabant (106) took third for Upper Darby, while Nickolas Venuti (126) and Karl Kamanousa (160) both placed fourth. Thomas Reif (120), Joshua Dweh (132), Simranjeet Singh (145) and Dante Daniels 220) all placed fifth for the Royals.

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