The team’s second trip to the tournament ends with first-, second-, third- and sixth-place finishes.
By: Kyle Moylan
The Allentown High School wrestling team’s second trip to the annual Mercer County Wrestling Tournament ended with an individual first, second, third and sixth place finish this past weekend.
Nick Painchaud placed first at 112 pounds by winning all three of his matches, including a 6-1 decision over Ewing’s Darin Kitashima.
Ed Zawada, unseeded at 140 pounds, placed second. Zawada made his great tournament run possible by pinning the second-seeded Chris Zullo of Hightstown in the quarterfinals. When the two wrestlers met earlier in the season, Zullo pinned Zawada.
Frank Cerankowski (130 pounds) and Brian Simon (125) were the only two other Allentown wrestlers to make it out of Friday’s quarterfinals with a chance to still win a title.
In the opening round, Cerankowski pinned Pennington’s Chip Mapes. He followed this with a 13-10 decision against West Windsor South’s Justin Leibowitz in the quarterfinals.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Cerankowski lost a 12-9 decision to Steinert’s Corey Buchko. Cerankowski rebounded, however, and ended up in third place when he decisioned Nottingham’s Rob Hope, 3-1.
"I was hoping he would do better," Allentown coach Ed Dunckley noted of Cerankowski. "That kid (Buchko) gives him problems because he’s tall. If he had gotten past that kid, he would have done really well."
Cerankowski, in fact, entered this past week with an undefeated record. His first loss was on Jan. 30 when Buchko decisioned him in a regular season match, 14-7.
Brian Simon opened with an injury default win over Pennington’s Larry Schahella. He then edged Ewing’s Rob Kwiatkowski, 5-4, in the quarterfinals. Simon lost by pin to Lawrence’s Mark Savino, the eventual champion, in the semfinals.
Bruce Allen (135) and Kenny Keim (160) were the other two Allentown wrestlers to record a win in the opening round. Everyone else was either defeated in the opening round or received a bye and was beaten in the quarterfinals.
The other Allentown wrestlers to compete in the tournament were Matt Shottlander (103), Nick Pape (119), Chris Crane (152), Evan Teel (171) and Jason Bednar (189).
During regular season action on Jan. 30, Allentown was defeated by Steinert, 46-37. The winners for Allentown were Kenny Keim (160), Jason Bednar (189), Painchaud (112), Simon (125) and Bruce Allen (135).
Allentown enters the week with a 3-7 mark, but it had a winnable match last night against Trenton. Allentown will also be at Hamilton this Saturday for a meet which will also include Pemberton and Bordentown. The highlight of this match could come at 119 pounds if Dunckley elects to bump Painchaud up to face Hamilton’s Frankie Page. Painchaud is a MCT champion and a perfect 16-0. Page is a four-time MCT champion.
Allentown will then conclude the regular season with a pair of matches next week. Allentown will be at Northern Burlington for a 6 p.m. start on Monday. Allentown will be home for a 6:30 p.m. match against McCorristin on Feb. 13.