Right before the turn of the new year, the Downingtown East wrestlers once again made their way up to Hatboro-Horsham HS to compete at their holiday classic, which celebrates the life-long efforts of local wrestling enthusiast and coach, Ralph Wetzel. The tournament collected 24 teams, from as far as Florida to the South, to Connecticut to the North. The matches were fast and furious, and when the dust had settled, the Cougars finished 5th with 114.5 points over two days of competition. With nine entered participants, they placed six in the medal rounds. East crowned two champions in Lukas Richie (120) and Josh Wileczek (195), while Brendan McGinley (285) placed 4th, Brett Horne (132) placed 5th, Connor Birzes (145) placed 6th, and Jake Neubaum (152) finished in 8th. The team went into the event a few men down, but persevered, and put forth the effort to keep them in the top five. Congratulations go out to all DE competitors, including the JV team who battled in the back gym for two solid days and found one medalist, Praneeth Ramesh (138) who took second after having to leave the tourney early and miss his final. Great job men, and good luck in 2017!
Downingtown East Wrestling 