Rustin Eliminated from Team Wrestling Competition at Districts

With a berth in the state tournament on the line, the Spring-Ford wrestling team defeated West Chester Rustin High School 33-31 in a District 1 AAA consolation semi-final Saturday afternoon. Spring-Ford will now face a tough Council Rock North High School squad for third place, but has already punched their ticket to the PIAA tournament.

In the gym of host Upper Dublin High School, the two teams would prove to be evenly matched. The teams would trade pins at 113 and 120 pounds, before WC Rustin would take a 13-6 lead courtesy a 12-3 major decision by 126-pounder Evan Harkins and a 6-3 decision by 132-pounder Steve Quinn.

However, Springford would win the next three matches, sandwiching two decisions around a pin by 145-pounder Jon Cooper.

The match would come down to the wire, as Spring-Ford's heavy weight Lamberjack would earn a crucial 5-4 decision over WC Rustin's Shane Boyer to give the Rams a 33-27 lead with only one match remaining. The victor would ultimately seal the match for Spring-Ford, as even with a pin to tie the score at 33, WC Rustin still would have lost based on pin criteria.

106-pounder Tom Hatzipovlidi would only manage an 11-1 win to make the final score 33-31, Spring-Ford.

On Friday, the Rams defeated Pennsbury 36-19 before falling to Norristown 41-31 in the championship semifinals. WC Rustin fell to Marple-Newtown 34-33 before receiving a forfeit to advance to face Spring-Ford.