Published February 15. 2024 08:53AM
by CJ HEMERLY Special to the Press
Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, the Parkland High School boys wrestling team is looking to finish strong and carry some positive momentum into the postseason.
The Trojans shut out Dieruff 70-0 last Wednesday, Jan. 31, for their fourth straight win.
Parkland won all 13 weight classes, nine of which were pins for six points, and another forfeit for six points. There were two decisions and one major decision to round out the scoring.
The match opened with five straight pins by Xander DeSelm (172), Julius Reyes (189), Gavin Edwards (215), Michael Gavrilesku (285) and Matthew Velez (107) to stake the Trojans to a 30-0 lead.
Eli Russ won via forfeit at 114 and then Blake Dergham and Jakob Peterson both earned pins at 121 and 127, respectively, to push the advantage to 48-0 with five bouts to go.
Elias Sallit recorded a 13-4 major decision at 133 and then both Leo Kern and Liam Spang notched pins at 139 and 145, respectively.
The match concluded with back-to-back decisions. Faisal Amodu had a 13-11 decision at 152 and that was followed by a 3-1 decision from Christopher Toth at 160.
Parkland finished its regular season with a dual match on the road against rival Emmaus this past Tuesday night.