The District 1 Regional tournament plays host to wrestlers from 63 of the represented schools in the four-county area, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, and Montgomery. Some consider it a “meat grinder,” where the best of SEPA come to fulfill their destiny, or meet their fate. Downingtown East wrestling attended with 10 charged hearts, but only 3 remain. The team finished in 6th place with 51pts, and placed 3 athletes in the top five of their respective weight classes to qualify for the PIAA State tournament this coming week at Hershey. Wade Cummings won the 126 lb. class with a 3-2 victory over highly-ranked Zach Trampe from CR South. Their match was held till last as the premier event of the night. James Meyer took 2nd at 152 falling in the 2nd tie-breaker with a score of 2-1 to another CR South foe, Dylan Schwartz. Lastly, Billy McGinley took 4th place at 220 losing to Pennridge’s Ezra Outlaw 3-1. Congratulations must also go out to the other regional qualifiers who put forth hard efforts, but came up short: Nik Zimmerman (120, 0-2), Jude McDowell (132, 0-2), Austin Lillis (138, 0-2), Alec Horne (170, 0-2), Jason Gibson (182, 2-2), Brent Czajkowski (195, 0-2), and James Strommer (113, injury withdrawal). The weekend definitely drew some tears, but also shed light on future possibilities for the DE wrestling program, especially for those who have gotten a taste of the regional. Good luck to the state qualifiers as they brave the toughest high school championship in the nation! Bring home some hardware gentlemen!!!
Tag: PIAA
D-East battles at District 1 Duals
Over the weekend, Upper Dublin High School hosted the final 8 teams in the annual District 1 Dual championships to determine qualifying teams for the PIAA State Duals. The house was packed and tensions were high! Friday night, the Cougars fell to 3rd seed Springford 43-18, but bounced back to defeat Council Rock North 45-21. The next and final day of this heated competition, East put forth a strong effort but eventually fell to Pennridge 36-28. Despite the results, the final standings show Downingtown East as one of the top 6 teams in the region and true contenders in that company. As the event concluded, James Strommer (113), Wade Cummings (126), and Austin Lillis (145) emerged 3-0, while Nik Zimmerman (120), Jude McDowell (138), James Meyer (160), and Billy McGinley (220) finished 2-1. Down in Delaware County, the Cougar JV squad competed at Penncrest’s annual “King of the Jungle” tournament. East finished with Jarrett Hansen (113) and Phips Jules (182) as champions while Connor Birzes (120) and Josh Wileczek (195) picked up silver medals. Congratulations go out to all of the Cougar wrestlers for delivering one action-packed weekend and making the most out of their hard work. Wrestling continues this week with remaining league competition and preparation for the individual championships. Let’s go East!
King of the Mountain Photos
Please click on the photo to access more action shots from the King of the Mountain tournament.
King of the Mountain Action
Downingtown East participates in the King of the Mountain tournament held at Central Mountain High School.
PIAA Wrestling Scrimmages Week Two
This last weekend of November boasted the second window for PIAA wrestling scrimmages across the commonwealth. Our Downingtown East wrestlers travelled to PAC-10 powerhouse Springford, to take on the hosts, Quakertown, and Haverford Township. Once again, the gym was filled with talent and the wrestling was high-octane. After losing to Springford in last season’s District Dual semifinal, the Cougars found themselves in many familiar match-ups as James Meyer (160) battled Frankie Krauss and Alec Horne (170) went some tough rounds with Steve Rice. On the lower end, Wade Cummings (126) forced some highlight action with Springford’s PIAA medalist, Ryan Hayes. In the middle, senior Austin Lillis (145) did some terrific work against Springford’s Matt Krieble and Quakertown’s Tanner Seislove. Over in the “big boy room,” junior Brent Czajkowski (182) looked sharp against a room full of heavy bulldogs trying to sharpen their teeth. At the scrimmage’s conclusion, the team reviewed their day’s work and saw that much improvement had been made to go along with the bumps and bruises. Next weekend, the Cougars open up at the Ephrata Duals and the official whistles start to sound. Good luck Cougars!
PIAA Wrestling Scrimmages Week One
The first weekend of official PIAA wrestling scrimmages filled the gym at Downingtown East with numbers of anxious grapplers ready to turn on the heat. DE wrestled Norristown, Father Judge, Springfield (D), Octorara, and Lower Merion during a high intensity Saturday morning of drilling and live wrestling. Highlights included a heated battle between senior captain James Meyer (160) and PIAA place-winner from Judge, Idris White. A little further down the mat, junior Owen Morris (220) took on regional place-winner Shaheed White of Norristown while teammate James Strommer (113) banged heads with Shaheed’s favorite lightweight, Eric Fuentes. Nik Zimmerman (120), Wade Cummings (126), and Jude McDowell (138) also helped set the tone with lots of action in the neutral position and some grinding rides on top. Look out for Freshman Brett Horne (106); his development jumped a level as he put on a notable display against an array of lightweight opponents. Great job by all DE wrestlers today, including our returning football players, and good luck with practice week 2! Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, but not too much!!!
Downingtown East Wrestling 