TOWAMENCIN- Youth Night at North Penn Wrestling brought excitement but did not extend the win column for North Penn. In between junior varsity and varsity matches, three members of the North Penn Wrestling Youth community swept Souderton youth wrestlers 3-0. These matches were all won by pin, and all done in one period. The gymnasium erupted in support for the upcoming athletes as the North Penn Wrestling community cheered them on.
As for the Varsity athletes, North Penn led for the first 8 matches before Souderton tied it up and eventually earned a 23-18 lead. Then, in a back-and-forth battle for the lead, it came down to the final 5 matches.
Despite Souderton’s intimidating 15-7 record, Assistant Coach Rick Smith was not going to be intimidated. “We knew that we were in an uphill battle… our expectations stay the same no matter who we wrestle.”
As Souderton earned points by pin, fall, and major decision, the Knights fell to Souderton 23-47.
Looking past the loss, Smith recognized the chief seniors on the team, praising them for their performance.
“Danny Malitz and Josiah Thomas really stepped up tonight. [We] ask a lot out of seniors and they understand that there only one more home meet for them, and I really felt that they wrestled some quality guys and they came out and wrestled really well tonight,” Smith said.
Smith specifically praised senior Danny Malitz for his win against a familiar face.
“Danny Malitz- the guy that he beat tonight beat him last year in overtime, so you know- Danny beat him tonight, minor decision, beat him by five or six points. That’s really beautiful for Danny, he’s come a long way,” Smith proudly stated.
North Penn junior, Jonny O’Brien, was also familiar with his opponent, Johnny Beckett. O’Brien and Beckett were teammates at Faith Christian Academy, giving O’Brien an advantage that eventually led to a 15-0 win by techfall.
“With him being my old teammate, I used to be in the room with him all the time, I used to wrestle him, so it’s nothing new to me,” O’Brien recalled, “But having to wrestle him? I mean, I got to do what I got to do.”
Looking forward, North Penn realizes what they have to do in order to be successful: get healthy.
“We’re not very healthy right now, [but] we’re just going to continue to prepare the same. We’re just looking to get one percent better every day,” Smith said.
The next home game for the Knights is senior night versus Central Bucks East, so show up and show out on February 5th to support our seniors!
