Welcome to the official website of the Conestoga High School wrestling team.  The website is maintained by the Conestoga Wrestling Booster Club. 

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Conestoga Wrestlers Reach End of Road at Regionals

Published by Main Line Media News -  Monday, March 05, 2012

For the four Conestoga wrestlers that competed at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Tournament at Oxford last weekend, the last stop before the state tournament in Hershey, the season came to an end.

Conestoga 145-pounder and team captain Logan Kerin (43-5), although he did not qualify for the state tournament, managed two wins by decision at Regionals, setting three Conestoga team records: most wins in a season (43), beating Kevin Bacci‘s record of 41 set in 2006; most wins by a junior, beating Jason LaMotta's record of 36-3; and most team points in dual meets (166), breaking the mark of 150 set by Greg Nestel in 2006. Kerin now has 92 career wins, and needs 42 victories next season to break Jack Chidester’s school record of 133.

Conestoga's Big 3, Robbie Campbell, Mark Kaminskas and Grant Garbutt, finished their high school wrestling careers together at Regionals, placing second, third and fourth in team points for dual meets behind Kerin’s 166 - Campbell had 141, Kaminskas 129 and Garbutt 123.

Campbell (34-11), who finished his career with 54 wins, said, “This season was better than great for me because it was about us, the team as a whole, and my two friends Grant and Mark. We did what we set out to do and that was to dominate the upper weights, not only in the Central League but a whole Region of the state. I looked at all the Regional brackets and we were the only school out of 56 to send the three upper weight classes. That’s dominating the whole Southeastern part of Pennsylvania. We're very proud of that." Kaminskas, a 220-pounder, posted a 30-11 record as a senior, with only three years of wrestling experience behind him.

Garbutt (28-16), a 195-pounder, made the deepest post-season run for Conestoga and was the only wrestler to place at Regionals, with a sixth-place finish. Garbutt was just one win away from going to the state tournament. Garbutt had some nice payback at Regionals, by pinning the two opponents he lost to in Districts, including a 30-second fall to revenge his District consolation finals match. Garbutt had a team-leading 22 wins by pin this season, which put him in the top five all-time Conestoga wrestlers for pins in one season.

High School Wrestling Wrap-up: Conestoga Sends Four Matmen to Regionals

Published by Main Line Media News - Monday, February 27, 2012

Conestoga wrestlers (from left) Mark Kaminskas, Grant Garbutt, Logan Kerin and Robbie Campbell were Regional qualifiers.   The Conestoga High School wrestling team, which sent eight matmen to the District One South Class AAA tournament last weekend, had four of them qualify for the Regional Championships in Oxford.

The four wrestlers who made it to Regionals are Conestoga’s Big 3 seniors, Grant Garbutt (195 pounds), Mark Kaminskas (220) and Robbie Campbell (285), as well as junior captain Logan Kerin (145).

Kaminskas, who started wrestling as a sophomore only to stay in shape for football, grabbed a fifth-place spot at Districts. He posted his 30th win of the season with his upset over a former Regional qualifier for the fifth spot.

Garbutt, seeded second at Districts, decided to go against the advice of many, which was to take a defensive approach to Districts. Garbutt came out with his pin-or-be-pinned approach and placed fourth, with two wins by pin, and two losses by fall. He has 20 pins for the season.

Campbell, seeded first at Districts, suffered a injury in his first match that went unnoticed by the referee, resulting in a loss by fall. In wrestlebacks, he fought through injury and beat his next three opponents to secure a spot to advance. Campbell, who now has more than 50 career wins, was advised to take the fourth-place spot by trainers and sit out his consolation finals match to avoid aggravating his injury.

Garbutt, with his head fully bandaged from Sunday's ER visit for wrestlers ear treatment, said, "When we [the senior Big 3] got to football camp this summer we wanted to do four things together as teammates this senior year - one, get to the state [football] playoffs, which we fell short on by a game; two, to beat Ridley at home [in football]; three, to get selected to the Valor Bowl, and four, to get to [wrestling] Regionals together. Now that we are all on are way to Regionals, we're like, 'Guys, the goal has changed to States.' I fully expect the three of us to now advance to States. And once there, I would not count any of us out."

Kerin (41-3) faced the district champion in his first match to pick up only his third loss of the season. He then fought through wrestlebacks for four record-setting wins and a third-place finish. He now holds two school records - most wins in a season for a junior wrestler (set by Conestoga’s only state champion, Jason La Motta, who had 36 wins in 1994) and most wins in a season by any Conestoga wrestler (he shares this mark with Kevin Bacci, who won 41 matches in 2006).

Logan has 90 career wins, which puts him within reach of Jack Chidester’s school record of 133 career wins (set in 2008).

Senior 120-pounder Todd Christy, a four-year varsity starter, ended his impressive career as a two-time District qualifier with 78 career wins, 23rd on Conestoga all time wins list. His older brother Andrew, who posted 67 career wins, is a certified wrestling referee in California.

Christy's father Paul, who is the teams Booster Club President said, “I am very proud of all my sons' wrestling accomplishments, wrestling for our family is a fun sport, Todd did it right, he fought tough while having fun."

Junior 160-pounder Nick Johnson, who moved up two weight classes to help the team, was at Districts because of his fourth-place finish at Sectionals. At Districts, it became obvious that the amount of weight he was giving up was a issue, and he lost to an eventual Regional qualifier his second match of the day in wrestle backs.

Freshman 113-pounder Kevin Zhao beat his first opponent, 7-0, then lost to the No. 2 seed to go into wrestlebacks. He pinned his next opponent, a junior, early in the third period. Zhao made it all the way to the Consolation Quarterfinals, where he lost to a senior.

Senior 132-pounder Jimmy Stowell III is a third-generation Conestoga wrestler that opted to end his season before District competition. His grandfather, Jim Sr., and his father, Jim Jr., both wrestled for Conestoga. Jim Stowell Sr. was a accomplished wrestler in the 1960’s and Jim Stowell Jr. wrestled in the 1980’s at Conestoga and went on to wrestle NCAA Division I and later was invited to Team USA Olympic trials.

Stowell Sr. said, “There comes a point were the risk outweighs the rewards. My grandson has a bright future ahead of him at the college level. It is great that three generations of Stowell men have wrestled for Conestoga High School.”

Lower Merion's Steffen Vestal (third place, 170 pounds) and Eli Zimmer (fifth place, 182) both placed in the top five at Districts and advanced to Regionals.

In the opening round, Vestal defeated Rich Strain of William Tennent, 7-6, then pinned Steve Tilsner of Central Bucks East in 5:24 in the quarterfinals. After a loss in the semfinals, Vestal earned an 11-1 major decision against Artem Imnadze of Upper Moreland in the consolation semifinals, then pinned Kody Lupfer of Neshaminy in 2:30 to place third.

Zimmer defeated Brandon Scheitrum of Abington in the quarterfinals, then lost a 4-3 decision to Chris Jastrzebski of Central Bucks West. In the consolation semifinals, Zimmer lost to Ernie Tessein of Pennsbury, 3-2, then defeated Anthony DiElsi of Perkiomen Valley, 4-1, for fifth place.

Radnor's Matt Pelton finished third at 138 pounds at Districts, advancing to Regionals. He went 1-1 in his Friday matches, then 4-0 in his Saturday bouts.

"It was a very impressive performance," said Radnor head coach Skip Shoemaker.

Haverford School freshman 182-pounder L.J. Barlow bounced back from an opening-round loss to navigate his way through the consolation bracket and beat Alpha Jalloh from Annapolis Area Christian School (Md.), 9-7, in the third- place match at the National Prep Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Lehigh University.

Friday, Barlow got the tournament started off on the wrong foot when he lost to Jalloh, 15-10. Undeterred, the Daily Times’ No. 1-ranked wrestler at 182 pounds ripped off an impressive seven-match winning streak that culminated in his revenge win over Jalloh.

Barlow’s teammate, Ron Tassoni, capped off his senior year with an impressive fifth-place finish in the 170-pound bracket. The Washington & Lee-bound Ford was pinned by eventual national champion Eric Morris from Wyoming Seminary early in the bracket, but bounced back to record a 9-6 victory over Travis Bradford from St. Thomas (Tex.) in the fifth-place match.

Episcopal Academy’s Luke Brooman also garnered All-American honors with his eighth-place finish at 126 pounds. Brooman, a junior, also suffered the misfortune of running into a national champion from Wyoming Seminary in the early rounds, Dominick Malone, and lost by fall in 50 seconds. However, he navigated his way back to the seventh-place match before falling to Nicholas Bennett, also of St. Thomas, 16-1. 

http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2012/02/27/sports/doc4f4bcee0b2fe9872989836.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Conestoga Wrestlers Take Third at Sectionals

Published by Mainline Media News - Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Conestoga High School wrestling team finished third in team points at this years Sectionals, and advanced eight wrestlers to Districts, double last year's total.

Pioneers advancing to the PIAA District One South Class AAA tournament are 113-pound freshman Kevin Zhoa (placed third at Sectionals), 120-pound senior Todd Christy (fourth), 132-pound senior Jimmy Stowell (second), 145-pound junior Logan Kerin (first), 160-pound junior Nick Johnson (fourth), 195-pound senior Grant Garbutt (first), 220-pound senior Mark Kaminskas (fourth) and 285-pound senior Robbie Campbell (first).

Conestoga's scrappy team captain Mike Bodo was eliminated, catching the bracket’s No. 2 seed in 126-pound wrestlebacks.

Zhao said, “Mike is a great captain and showed our team’s younger wrestlers to work hard in the practice room.”

Stowell, a two-time Prep School All-American who has bounced back from a injury that cut out a third of his season short, is now on a mission to add a PIAA state medal to his already impressive collection.

Stowell said prior to the Sectionals, “Over the past couple of years, I hear people say that Prep Nationals are easy compared to Pa. States, so it is certainly a goal for me to medal at States.”

Kerin, Conestoga’s junior captain, piled on takedown after takedown on his way to winning his sectional title. Along with Stowell, he is considered Conestoga’s best bet to take the podium at States.

At 120 pounds, Stoga senior and four-year varsity starter Christy did not disappoint in a weight class debated as one of the toughest of the day with a 11-1 major decision to solidify his return for the second straight year to Districts.

Johnson jumped up two weight classes and created one big upset along the way to earn his fourth-place finish.

At 113, Zhao, with his third-place finish, shocked a tough bracket that included the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler plus a highly-ranked senior who placed second.

The trio known throughout the Central League as Stoga's Big 3 - seniors Garbutt, Kaminskas and Campbell - is approaching a combined total of 100 career pins. Each of them have been selected to play in Chester County's all-star football game, the Valor Bowl.

John Campbell, father of Robbie Campbell, was the President of Conestoga Youth Wrestling while Robbie was in grade school and middle school and has watched just about every one on the team mature over past decade.

“This is a bittersweet post season for me,” said John Campbell. “Seeing our boys grow into young men and watching them become accomplished as wrestlers is such a joy for me. Though knowing this is the last year for a lot of our guys to compete in wrestling, a sport that we love is emotional for me. It is good knowing that our Youth, Middle School and High School programs are in excellent hands moving forward so our wrestling program will continue to develop the finest student-athletes.”

The next stop for the eight Conestoga wrestlers advancing to District One South AAA is Spring- Ford High School, where 12 wrestlers from each weight class will compete for the top five spots and earn a Regional bracket position to then get a shot at the state finals in Hershey. Wrestling at Districts begins Fed. 24 at 5:30 p.m.

http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2012/02/22/sports/doc4f42cc1b2a70c139579303.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Congratulations to the following place winners of Section 6 for the 2011-2012 season:

Kevin Zhao (Frosh)113 – 3rd

Todd Christy (Sr) 120 – 4th

Jimmy Stowell (Sr) 133 – 2nd

Logan Kerin (Jr) 145 – 1st

Nick Johnson (Jr) 160 – 4th

Grant Garbutt (Sr) 195 – 1st

Mark Kaminskas (Sr) 220 – 4th

Rob Campbell (Sr) HVY – 1st


Congratulations also to our varsity wrestlers for the 2011-2012 season:

Michael Sklar (frosh) 105

Michael Bodo (sr) 120

Jason Greenlaw (sr) 132

Joe Scuteri (jr) 138

Kyle Pedraza (Jr) 150

Adam Hoppes (Jr) 170

Kit Schofield (Soph) 180

Paul Christy, President, Conestoga Wrestling Booster Club:  chswrestlingboosterclub@gmail.com   610.647.8444