 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Welcome to the official website of the Conestoga High School wrestling team. The website is maintained by the Conestoga Wrestling Booster Club.
Stoga Places Fifth in Sectionals, Sends Four to Districts
Of the eleven teams competing in last Saturday's District 1 Section 6 sectionals, the Pioneers took fifth place as a team and sends four wrestlers to Districts. Ben Hartshorn took second place at 125, Greg Bacci took first place at 135, Nick Beccatini took first place at 171 and Gregg Gruschow took second place at 215. Click here for pictures from the day, courtesy of Phil Neafsey.
Upper Darby Closes Out Stoga's Dual Match Season
Despite a tough start, the Pioneers kept in the running with the Royals of Upper Darby and led for a short time, but ended shy of victory, losing 35-31 on Tuesday night. The action included several nail-biter matches highlighted by Greg Bacci's last-second victory.
Pinning for Stoga were John Scuteri, Gregg Gruschow and Kyle Pedraza, while Todd Christy, Ben Hartshorn, Logan Kerin and Greg Bacci also won their matches. Pictures from the evening can be found here.
... And The End of a Bad Weekend
Saturday night started out on a fine note, with the Hall of Fame induction award ceremony honoring Tino DiMarco, class of 1975, followed by recognition of Conestoga's graduating seniors - manager Mia Fudesco and wrestlers Gregg Gruschow, Dylan Irving, Kyle Ryan and John Scuteri.
Wrestling ensued after the presentations and Ben Hartshorn put the initial points on Stoga's side, pinning his opponent. Unfortunately, only three other Stoga wrestlers won their matches - John Scuteri, Gregg Gruschow and Todd Christy. The Pioneers ended the night with a 48-19 loss to the Fords. Click here for pictures, including pictures of the Hall of Fame and Senior Night ceremonies.
The Start of a Bad Weekend...
The Pioneers got hit by a blizzard in Ridley on Friday night, losing to the Green Raiders 40-30, dropping Stoga out of contention for the Central League title.
With his 28th win, Greg Bacci sets the Stoga wins record for a freshman, eclipsing Stoga standout Andrew Tilles. Dylan Irving came up big with a pin, and Gregg Gruschow, Nick Becattini, Todd Christy and Ben Hartshorn won as well. Click here for pictures.
Stoga Tops Strath Haven
The Conestoga Pioneers took it to the Strath Haven Panthers last Wednesday evening in typical fashion, winning 64-9. Not much drama here, as Strath Haven continues to struggle on the mat, despite the gym draped in State Champ banners from many other sports.
Billy Murphy won by decision in his first varsity match. Click here for pictures.
Pioneers Keep Tigers In Check
The Conestoga Pioneers are giving their fans their money's worth lately. In dramatic fashion, Stoga prevailed over a vitalized Marple Newtown with a final score of 32-28.
It wasn't until after the Tigers jumped out to a 16-0 lead did Ben Hartshorn stop the bleeding, and it wasn't till five matches later that Stoga took the lead on a nailbiter win from Dylan Irving at 152.
After falling behind once again, Nick Becattini, with a :28 pin, put Stoga in the lead for good. Logan Kerin, Greg Bacci & James Statts also prevailed. Click here for pictures from the evening.
The team travels to Strath Haven next Wednesday, Febuary 3, but then returns home on Saturday, February 6, for SENIOR NIGHT.
See you around the mat.
Stoga Captain Gregg Gruschow Joins Century Club
Last Friday, on the first day of the Five Star tournament, Gregg Gruschow became just the twelfth Conestoga Pioneer to earn 100 or more varsity wins. He wound up going undefeated through the tournament. Congratulations on a great achievement, Gregg!
Pictures from the Five Star can be found here.
Stoga Wins at Radnor
The Pioneers ventured a few stops east on the R5 for the annual showdown with Radnor on Thursday...and what a show it was. The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead with pins by soph Grant Garbutt (215) in his 2010 debut, and the always dangerous Gregg Gruschow (285), as well as a pin by the frosh Kyle Pedraza. However, the Raiders rallied to take the lead with 2 matches to go.
Senior Kyle Ryan kept Stoga in the game with a 6-2 dec at 160, which left the match up to Nick Becattini, wrestling up at 171. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Nick took an immediate takedown, but things got tight for some time. Early in the 2nd period, Nick countered a nice double leg takedown with a dramatic cement mixer, taking Kim to his back for the pin. Click here for pictures.
Stoga continues its dominance over Radnor, but, for the 3rd straight year, by the slimmest of margins.
See you all at the Five Star.
Pioneers Make Finals in Red Storm Duals, Lose to St. Christopher's
Stoga headed to Richmond, VA to participate in the Red Storm Duals on January 16. The team went 4-1, losing in the finals to the host team.
The Pioneers defeated Liberty Christian 42-30, Fork Union Military Academy 60-9, Cape Henry Collegiate 59-11 and Dinwiddie 56-18. They lost to St. Christopher's in the finals, 51-21.
Three of Stoga's wrestlers went undefeated for the day - freshman Greg Bacci, junior Ben Hartshorn and senior Gregg Gruschow. Four more Pioneers went 4 and 1 on the day, including freshmen Kyle Pedraza and Logan Kerin, sophomore Mike Bodo and junior Nick Becattini.
Garnet Valley Edges Out Stoga
The Pioneers took a tough defeat at the hands of the Jags from Garnet Valley, 34-32, on Friday afternoon. Before a surprisingly large crowd for an afternoon match, the score see-sawed back and forth, but GV came out on top...with about 4 seconds to spare.
In the 130 lb bout, with GV leading 31-26 in the second to last bout, freshman Logan Kerin held off junior Sam Tustin and had a 5-3 lead going into the 3rd period. Tustin escaped, making it 5-4 for most of the 3rd. After 1:56 of intense wrestling, Tustin managed the barest of takedowns to win 6-5 at the buzzer.
Even though freshman Greg Bacci would go on to pin in the last bout at 135 lbs, the Jags were just out of reach at 34-32.
Junior Ben Hartshorn won his match with virtual pins at least twice, but not in the eyes of the ref. Nick Becattini continued his run, with a quick pin at 160, and Gregg Gruschow wrestled up to 285 to win 5-3. During his initial takedown, Gregg lifted the much heavier opponent off the mat and took him down for 2. Pictures from the afternoon can be found here.
Stoga is in Richmond, VA today, January 16, for five dual meets, and travels on Thursday, January 21, to square off against Radnor.
They are then home on Friday, January 22, at 3 pm and Saturday, January 23, at 2 pm for the Five Star Duals.
Pioneers Put It To The Rams
The Conestoga Pioneers continued their winning ways with a dominating victory at Harriton, 61-3. The Rams could not field a wrestler at 4 weight classes and spotted Stoga 24 points.
Senior Gregg Gruschow and freshman Greg Bacci provided the only 2 pins of the night, but the Pioneers overwhelmed the Rams. Junior Nick Becattini came in with a solid performance in his 11-7 win over the District 1 # 5 ranked wrestler at 171 lbs. Click here for pictures.
Next up...the very tough Jags from Garnet Valley, at home, this Friday...with varsity going off first at 3:30, followed by JV. The earlier start time will allow the varsity to get on the bus as they take a long ride to Richmond , VA for a tourney.
Stoga Wins Home Opener
Your Pioneers rallied late and took a major win from Springfield on Friday night. The freshman crew look fabulous in their home debut, led by Kyle Pedraza's pin in the final bout with the match on the line. Pedraza threw a brilliant move and took the kid to his back to start the celebration.
Freshman Logan Kerin also won decisively, 13-0, as did Greg Bacci, in total command, who pinned his opponent.
Junior Nick Becattini continued his winning ways with a 15 second pin, and senior Kyle Ryan got into the groove, pinning his opponent as well. Click here for pictures.
Stoga's next match is at Harriton on Wednesday, January 13, and the next home match is Friday, January 15, vs. Garnet Valley at a NEW START TIME OF 3:30 pm.
Thanks to the snackbar volunteers, to Cathleen Statts for printing the program, and to Maureen Solomon for producing the lobby posters.
Pioneers Defeat Aces, Hands Down
The boys took it to Lower Merion in the throwback gym, and throw them back they did....defeating the Aces 48-22.
The Pioneers were led with pins by Junior Nick Becattini, Senior Captain Gregg Gruschow, Soph Todd Christy and rookie T-Ben Donnie.
The match of the night was the final match, long after the team score had been decided in Stoga's favor, as Senior Captain John Scuteri lost a heartbreaker in triple overtime. It was a see-saw battle, with both wrestlers coming oh so close several times. Tough one to lose John, but it was an epic battle.
Pictures of the night's action can be found here.
Stoga Places Seventh at AI DuPont Tiger Classic
The seventh annual Tiger Classic was held on December 27 and 28 at Alexis I. DuPont High School in Greenville, DE. Of the 23 schools participating in the tournament, the Pioneers came away with seventh place and had seven medal-winners:
1st place - Gregg Gruschow at 215
3rd place - Greg Bacci at 135
3rd place - Todd Christy at 103
6th place - T-Ben Donnie at 119
6th place - Logan Kerin at 130
7th place - Nick Beccatini at 160
8th place - Ben Hartshorn at 125
Final result brackets for the tournament can be found here.
Dual Season Opens at Penncrest
The Conestoga Pioneers unveiled its youthfull lineup on December 16th versus Central League foe Penncrest and the kids were alright.
Leading with dominating performances by captains Gregg Gruschow & John Scuteri, Stoga rolled 46-22. Junior standouts Ben Hartshorn & Nick Becattini both had pins, but the night belonged to the freshmen, as Kyle Pedrazza pinned at 112, Logan Kerin won by dec 6-2, Greg Bacci won by tech fall and Evan Pentz won by dec 3-2. Pictures of the action can be found here.
Pleasant Valley Tournament
Stoga headed to the Poconos for their second annual appearance at the Pleasant Valley Tournment. Of eight teams in the tournment, the Pioneers finished in 4th place. Ben Hartshorn and Greg Bacci won their brackets, Dylan Irving and Gregg Gruschow took second place in their brackets and Todd Christy took third in his weight bracket. Click here for pictures of the tournament.
Pumpkin Classic
The 2009-2010 wrestling season kicks off at Conestoga High School with the Pumpkin Classic on Sunday, November 1, 2009. All wrestlers are guaranteed two bouts and three divisions are available: middle school (6th through 8th grade), high school JV and high school varsity. Click here for a copy of the registration form. We're still looking for volunteers to help with the snack bar and timing/scoring on the mats. Please contact Mike Roe at mikejroe@comcast.net if you can help for a couple of hours.
Contacts
Mike Roe, President, Conestoga Wrestling Booster Club: mikejroe@comcast.net
Nick Gruschow, webmaster: pioneerwrestlingwebsite@yahoo.com
