East Xtra: Freshmen shine at Powerade Tournament
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Central Catholic freshman Vincenzo Joseph, top, records a victory in the semifinals of the Powerade Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School against Ariel Dominguez of Kissimmee Osceola, Fla. in the 106-pound match. He went on to win the tournament championship.
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It was quite a performance for the Franklin Regional High School wrestling team at the Powerade Christmas Tournament.
The Panthers had five wrestlers earn place-winner status in the 44-team tournament by placing among the top eight in their weight classes. Three of those five were freshmen.
"We actually had four freshmen starting for us at 106, 113, 126 and 132," Franklin Regional coach Eric Mausser said. "Three of the four were place-winners. This is clearly the strongest freshman class we've ever had."
Franklin Regional's most impressive freshman performance was turned in by Michael Kemerer, who dominated the 113-pound weight class. Despite being unseeded, Kemerer recorded five victories in the 30-man bracket, including wins against the No. 5 seed, No. 4 seed and No. 1 seed.
"I thought I would do well, but didn't expect to win, especially since I couldn't wrestle at 106," said Kemerer, who started the season at 106. "I went through a bit of a growth spurt, so I had to move up to 113."
Kemerer opened the tournament with a pair of first-period pins. He needed only 1:01 to dispose of Brian Raley of Forest Park, Va., in the first round, then pinned No. 5 seed Ronnie Perry of Solanco at 1:05 in the second round. Kemerer's dominance continued in the semifinals, as he posted a 13-0 shutout against No. 4 seed Jacob Michael of Turner Ashby, Va., in the quarterfinals.
"I was reading some of the tournament previews and most people felt Michael was too small to win 113," Mausser said. "His only close match was in the semifinals."
Kemerer posted a 7-4 victory in the semifinals against top seed Brandon Thompson of Solon, Ohio.
"Beating the top seed gave Michael a lot of confidence," Mausser said.
Kemerer resumed his domination of the 113-pound weight class in the title match, as he defeated Canon-McMillan's Dalton Macri, 11-5.
Kemerer was joined on the place-winner platform by freshman teammates Josh Maruca and Josh Shields. Maruca placed fourth at 126, and Shields was fourth at 132. Both were unseeded.
"Josh Maruca lost to a pair of state champions," said Mausser, referring to his semifinal loss to Derry Area's Jimmy Gulibon and a loss to Blue Mountain's Corey Keener in the consolation final.
First Published January 5, 2012 12:00 am
