Perk Valley can't crack powerful Spring-Ford

by Dennis C. Way, Times Herald

Posted on February 4, 2010

LIMERICK — Wrestling against the Spring-Ford High lineup is kind of like attempting to split a concrete block.

You'd like to chip away at the weakest points, but the darn thing is solid everywhere.

Perkiomen Valley found out just how solid Wednesday night when it attempted to topple the arch-rival Rams for the third straight season. Riddled with injury and illness, all the Vikings could do was get the best matchups they could and take their chances.

But they found it as productive as, well, banging your head against a concrete block.

The host Rams ran off five straight wins, two by fall, to break open a one-point match and pull away to a 44-18 win.

Chase Brown, bumped up to 119 pounds, got the roll rolling with a hard-earned, 6-5 win over PV's Wyatt Gehman. And by the time Ryan Sellman notched a 33-second fall at 140, the Rams had turned a 16-15 match into a 40-15 lead.

"We have 14 kids who work hard," said Rams head coach Tim Seislove. "We don't have anybody that's ranking in the state or anything.

"PV, traditionally, wrestles tough. And that's what they did tonight. But they're kind of young through the middle and we have some experience there, and we felt we could do something in there."

Which is precisely what the Rams did, to the delight of a Senior Night crowd, that also watched three-time state qualifier Bob Kershner placed onto the Spring-Ford Wrestling Wall of Fame.

"I think we were a little overmatched," said PV head coach Tim Walsh. "All we ask of our kids is to compete and wrestle tough — and they did.

"You don't see any Ingrams or Moleys in the lineup, but Spring-Ford has tough kids in every weight class, and that's the sign of a quality team."

"Spring-Ford is a hard team," agreed PV middleweight Vaughn Gehman, who collected one of five Vikings victories. "We always try and do our best against our rival, but you have to be careful when you wrestle them.

"If you try and go for something big, it's very easy to get caught."

The visitors were in good shape through the early going. Spring-Ford took the lead behind Dennis McDevitt's fall at 171 and Matt Krueger's major decision at 189. But Walsh's strategy of flipping Lou Fioravanti and David Robinson at 215 and 285, respectively, paid off with wins in both weight classes.

But with the Rams holding a 16-15 advantage, the home team made its move when Brown used a takedown with 1:17 left to top Gehman and Jesse Quaves outlasted Richie Tevlin at 125.

Back-to-back falls by Ricky Gorrell and Sellman blew it open.

"We were able to win five matches," Walsh said. "We've been battling illness and injury, and all we wanted was for our kids to compete, and that's what they did.

"We have to get back to work, and maybe we can bring this program to the level of a Spring-Ford."

"All we're looking to do is wrestle tough competition and get better each time we wrestle," Gehman said. "Spring-Ford is a big school, they get a lot of kids out for their team, which means they're always battling and competing to make the lineup.

"You can see that when you wrestle them. They never give up."

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