Wrestling Update: DiMuzio takes 4th, advances to regionals.

Update: Upon conclusion of the District 1 AAA North wrestling tournament, only Upper Dublin's Nick DiMuzio will continue on with his season, after a pair of Cardinal wrestlers lost in the consolation rounds.

Entering the second day, the 130-pound DiMuzio and 215-pound Ryan Hopkins were both in the semifinals of their respective weightclasses, needing only one win in three bouts to qualify for next week's regional tournament.

DiMuzio dropped his semifinal bout to eventual runner-up Tyler Romano of North Penn, 10-8, placing him in the consolation semifinals. There, DiMuzio picked up the all important qualifying win by defeating Adam Slezak of Council Rock North by a score of 8-6.

DiMuzio almost had a trip to the finals locked up when he led Romano with 13 seconds remaining, but was hit in the closing moments with a multi-point move. However, DiMuzio's ability to bounce back from such a tough loss was something his coaches lauded.

"If what happened in the semifinals happened to another wrestler besides Nick, they would have lost their next match," said assistant coach Joseph Stabilito. "But Nick had the desire to continue and wrestled a great next match to advance [to regionals]."

In the consolation finals, DiMuzio was edged by Bensalem's Anthony Prisco by a score of 7-2, giving the Cardinal grappler a fourth place finish. DiMuzio will now advance to next weekend's regional tournament, where the top four finishers earn a trip to states.

Hopkins also entered the day in the semifinals, but lost three straight matches and failed to qualify for regionals. His first defeat came to eventual champion Joe Stolfi of Souderton, who pinned the Cardinal 1:28 into the bout. Hopkins then dropped a pair of close bouts, 7-4 to Bryan Osei of Abington and 5-2 to Tom Dingui of Council Rock South. The loss to Dingui was especially souring, as Hopkins had defeated him 6-4 in the quarterfinal round on Friday night. Hopkins, a senior, finished in sixth place, and will walk away with that award as the final piece of his Upper Dublin wrestling career.

At the start of the day, Upper Dublin's 160 pound Sam Jacobson was still in the consolation rounds after going 1-1 on the opening night. However, he was elimated from the tournament in his first match on Saturday when he was defeated by Alex Price of North Penn, 9-0. Jacobson, only a sophomore, will look to advance further into the postseason in his two remaining years.

***

The District 1 North AAA Wrestling Tournament kicked off at Council Rock North on Friday, with Upper Dublin wrestling represented by a trio of grapplers. After competition was done for the night, all three remained, with two still in the hunt for a championship.

Nick DiMuzio started things off at 130, where he used a 12-0 major decision over Gio Mannino of Central Bucks East to advance to the semifinals. There he will face Tyler Romano of North Penn in Saturday's action.

Next, Sam Jacobson wrestled at 160, going 1-1 on the day. He opened up his tournament with a 5-3 decision over Paul Scott of Upper Moreland in the preliminary round, before running into trouble against Rich Jasinski of Pennridge, who defeated the Cardinal 21-8.

Ryan Hopkins rounded out the day with a close 6-4 decision over Tom Dingui of Council Rock South. The win advances him to the semifinals, where he will take on Joe Stolfi of Souderton on Saturday.

The top five wrestlers in each weight class will advance to next week's regional tournament, which will give them a chance to qualify for the state tournament. DiMuzio and Hopkins will have three chances to earn one more win to qualify for regionals, while Jacobson will have to pick up a number of wins in the consolation bracket.

Information for this article was obtained from the NHSCA Network.