Norristown Wrestling Advances Six to Regional Tournament

To say Norristown entered the PIAA AAA District 1 North Wrestling Championships with high expectations would severely understate the height of their expectations. Likewise, to simply say they met them would do a disservice to Saturday's accomplishment.

Norristown brought 10 of their 14 varsity wrestlers to Council Rock North on Friday and advanced six of them to next weekend's regional tournament.

Brandon Parker (145 pounds), Brett Harner (152 pounds) and Gavin Queenan (285 pounds) won their weight classes for the Eagles, while Zach Fuentes (103 pounds) and Mike Springer (135 pounds) placed second and Larry Gordon (189 pounds) took fifth place.

The Eagles placed second overall to Council Rock South

Norristown head coach Mark Harner, himself a former Eagle grappler, was neither surprised nor impressed by his team's performance. In his mind, they simply took care of business.

"Out of about 70 teams we finished second at District duals, we won our league, we finished first in our sectional," he said, cataloguing his teams accomplishments to explain the Sears Tower-size height of the bar he's set.

Among the most ruthlessly efficient bar clearers was Queenan. The heavyweight made short work of his competition, pinning Neshaminiy's Tyler Stabilito in 46 seconds in the semifinal round, then finishing Phoenixville's Ken Cenci in 21 seconds in the championship.

Harner's son Brett also rolled. The sophomore, not a year removed from an 8th place state finish at 140 pounds, topped Pottsgrove's TJ Demetrio 6-4 to take the 152 pound crown.

Mikey Springer placed second at 135 pounds to earn a regional bid. The freshman has been wrestling for 11 years, which places the beginning of his wrestling career shortly after the completion of his potty training.

"The competition is definitely hard here. Some of the kids in this district are state medalists," Springer said before adding, unsurprisingly, that his own goal for this postseason was a state medal. A lofty goal for a freshman.

"Brett did it last year," he added.

In Norristown, success begets success.

The high expectations though can make the rare failure all the more raw.

When 119 pound Ty Gardner fell 3-1 in the fifth place match to Upper Perkioman's Kyle Fellmen, denying the lightweight a regional berth, he raced off the mat before the post-match handshake, only to be tracked down and literally dragged back by Harner.

The agony and the ecstasy.