State berths on line for Delco wrestlers

Fifty-seven Delaware County wrestlers, including a dozen District 1 champions, are scheduled to compete Friday and Saturday at the PIAA Class 3A Southeast Regional at Souderton High.

The list is headed by Delco icon Hunter Catka (34-0) of Sun Valley, among a handful of wrestlers still undefeated this season.

The top five finishers in each weight class qualify for the state tournament in Hershey the following week. The others go home.

Catka, Keito Shaw of Upper Darby and Chase Barlow of Strath Haven are the only returning county wrestlers who reached the states last year. Catka is the only one who won any matches as he finished third at 220 pounds.

Experience is experience, though and that brings us to the Garnet Valley team. All seven wrestlers who made the region, including Desmon Perry, the champion at 160 pounds in the West section, also are state tested. The entire contingent wrestled at the Giant Center in Hershey earlier this month in the PIAA Class 3A duals. The competition has to help.

“That is weird because it’s usually the other way around,” said Jaguars senior Dillon Conlon, who finished third at 170 pounds in the West section. “A lot of teams have good individuals but not really a team they send to the states. That was valuable for us. And I think Delaware County is in a good spot because you know the Catka brothers are good and Sun Valley is a solid program. And Interboro really improved this year.”

Sun Valley is sending seven wrestlers to regions including Catka’s younger brother Ryan, the 195-pound champion in the West section.

Eight Interboro wrestlers are headed to the regions including South champions Victor Quintiliana (106), Dylan Lajuidice (145) and Domenic D’Agostino (152).

Strath Haven is sending six wrestlers, including Barlow, the 132-pound champ.

Ridley has six wrestlers in the region including South section champion Chris Green (120).

South champion Cole Root (195) heads a four-man contingent from Academy Park at the regions.

Senior Matt Kirchgasser (182) and sophomore Nikko Partsanakis (126) of Penncrest are in the regions after third and fifth-place finishes in the West last week.

Senior Matt Richardson (26-4) of Chichester is vying for his first trip to states after finishing second at 220 pounds in the West section last week.

All that said, it’s likely going to be a dynamic tournament where the hottest wrestlers advance. That certainly was the case last week for Perry, who was seeded fifth in his region.

“You don’t need to be better than him overall,” Perry said. “You just need to wrestle better than him on that day. My weekend gives me a lot of confidence that I can qualify and wrestle up there with the best guys at their levels in regions. I just want to go up there and wrestle six hard minutes. If there’s still time on the clock, it doesn’t matter the score, you still have an opportunity.”

The Jaguars played the underdog role to the hilt this season, as Conlon and fellow senior Kevin Puliti, third at 120 pounds in the districts, helped a young squad that will return a dozen wrestlers next season become the first team in the history of Delaware County to reach the state duals in Hershey.

“Our two seniors have helped to lay the foundation and now our strength is with the sophomore class we have,” Jaguars coach Rocco Fantazzi said. “We have a lot of guys that are just talented and love to wrestle, who work hard and buy into our program and our culture. The seniors been with them four years and helped create the culture. They’ve won three Central League championships, the District 1 tournament and took the team to states.”

Once again, there are several compelling story lines awaiting the winners. For Shaw, it would be reaching the states twice in just three years of taking up the sport.

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Upper Darby’s Keito Shaw, left, wrestling against Ridley’s Chris Green, is looking to make a second straight trip to the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships.