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On Wednesday 1/3, Downingtown East Wrestling travelled down the Chester County artery known as Route 100 to take on the West Chester East Vikings. Joined by their younger brothers from Lionville Middle School, the Cougars competed in this third annual event that features two duals, DEHS v. WCE, and Lionville v. Fugett MS. The wrestling action took center stage as D-East defeated the Vikings 36-31 in a series of hotly contested battles. Alex Hillestad (106), Lukas Richie (132), and Josh Wileczek (195) recorded falls for their team, while Keanu Manuel (113), Brett Horne (138), Jett Lucas-Murphy (145) and Jack Lawton (160) collected the winning decisions. The win gives the Cougars an opening victory in the Chesmont League and a springboard for this coming weekend’s duals at Garnet Valley. Go EAST!

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With a relentless team effort, the Downingtown East wrestlers took back a familiar championship over the New Year’s weekend! Returning to the 28-team Ralph Wetzel Classic at Hatboro-Horsham HS after falling several spots in the team finish last season had many of the Cougars anxious to get back. The team did not disappoint! After a hard-fought two days of competition, East reclaimed the team title with a haul of 175 points, surging above second place finishers Hatboro-Horsham who settled with 142. Keanu Manuel (106) and Lukas Richie (132) captured individual titles, while Brett Horne (138) finished with silver. Josh Wileczek (195) took home the bronze, Kyle Mittelstadt (126) and Matt Romanelli (170) came in 4^th, Jett Lucas-Murphy (145) captured 5^th, and Spencer Uggla (160) picked up a fall to secure 7^th. In the Junior Varsity competition, Will Vincent (138) charged to his first title, while Billy Dyer (182) and Zach Sharaf (285) wrestled back hard for 3^rd. Congratulations go out to the young Cougars for wrestling for each other, and putting together their best performance yet! ChesMont league competition starts after the holiday, so the celebration must be short-lived and the focus reset. Good luck Couga

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On Saturday 12/16, the Cougar wrestling team travelled to Warminster PA, the heart of Bucks County. There they competed in the Kurt Meister Invitational, a tribute tournament held at Archbishop Wood HS. With the gym walls adorned with football and basketball accolades, it was time for wrestling to take center stage and the action did not disappoint! East finished 2^nd in an 8-team individual tournament with 176 pts, falling to champions Raritan NJ who finished with 226 pts. The Cougars had two champions in Keanu Manuel (106) and Josh Wileczek (195), while Jett Lucas Murphy (145), Matt Romanelli (170), and Zach Aceto (285) took runner-up honors. Collecting bronze finishes were Lukas Richie (132) and Brett Horne (138). The event met the price of admission and the East wrestlers came away with some solid achievement and plenty of lessons learned. As the Christmas holiday approaches, lets remember that our families, friends, and good spirit give us the support we need to participate in the great sport of wrestling!

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Our Downingtown East wrestlers opened their competitive season this past weekend at the Ephrata Duals. Saturday saw the Cougars unveil their young starting line-up for the first time and achieve some positive results. They defeated Biglersville, Columbia, and Hempfield, but lost a tough one to Reading, and learned a tough lesson from Spring Grove. The day’s 3-2 record revealed some definite improvement as well as some clear needs to be addressed in the practice room. Seniors Jack Lawton (152) and Josh Wileczek (195) both went 5-0 on the day, while Keanu Manuel (106), Lukas Richie (132), Brett Horne (138), and Matt Romanelli (170) finished with 4-1 marks. Congrats go out to the Cougar grapplers for opening with a solid effort and setting the stage for next weekend’s first individual tournament at Archbishop Wood. Have a great week Cougars!

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This past weekend, the 17-18 Downingtown East Cougar wrestlers hopped in the wagons and took a trip to Allentown, PA to take in an NCAA dual of heavy proportions. On Sunday 12/4, #1 Penn State wrestled #5 Lehigh at Allentown’s PPL Center, home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey team. The place was packed with wrestling fans, and the Cougars were there to witness the fray. There were pins, takedowns, and back-points flying everywhere in a heated college dual meet for ranking supremacy. In the end, PSU nipped Lehigh 22-19, but the stage has been set for more head-to-head battles down the road at the NCAA tournament. The East wrestlers saw some great action, but more than that, were able to see the discipline, athleticism, and confidence needed to compete at that high level. Their goal now is to emulate as best they can what they’ve seen demonstrated by their NCAA heroes! Good luck at this coming weekend’s duals gentlemen!

After a busy pre-season, it’s time to start the journey for pay-off. Good luck to all of the student-athletes and their coaches!! Go Cougars!

Congratulations to the following Cougar wrestlers for their inclusion in this season’s All-Chesmont selections! 

1^st Team 

Lukas Richie (113)

3^rd Team 

Brett Horne (126)
Brendan McGinley (285)

Honorable Mention 

Connor Birzes (132)
Josh Wileczek (195)