There’s a saying about toughness that contends it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, it’s all about the size of the fight in the dog.
Salisbury doesn’t have a large wrestling team. But the four Falcon grapplers that make up this year’s varsity unit sure have a lot of fight.
All four competed in the District 11 Class 2A Championships last weekend. All four made it through the first day and two brought home hardware.
“Half our team placed in districts,” said junior Ben Krauss, who took fourth place at 189. “That’s pretty cool to say. We got four kids working with each other in the same room every day. To see it turn out pretty well for them is pretty great.”
Falcon sophomore John Samy took second place at the tournament, while Krauss battled his way back for a medal after losing his second bout. Teammate Braedon Alder won a pair of matches in the tournament while Toby Linn went 1-2, winning a consolation bout on Saturday to reach Sunday’s session.
Krauss, the No. 4 seed in his weight class, pinned Mahanoy Area’s Cael Quick in 3:21 in his opening bout, then lost to Jared Blobe (Notre Dame GP) in the quarterfinals.
Krauss pinned his next two opponents in the consolation bracket to earn a spot in the consolation semifinals, where he beat Palisades’ Daniel Haubert 8-2 to advance to the third-place match.
He met Blobe again in the third-place match and lost 3-1 this time.
“I had a rocky start to the season, a lot of losses I feel like shouldn’t have happened,” said Krauss. “I feel like I wrestled my best here. There are a couple things that could have gone other ways, but I felt that I did what I could to get where I am.”
Krauss admitted that in his first two trips to districts he felt a bit intimidated by the environment.
“Last year and the year before wrestling at districts I was scared of the postseason tournaments like it’s a big thing,” he said. “This year I came in like it was time to go and I’m ready.”
It’s precisely that attitude that his coach believes will make Krauss the best wrestler he can be.
“Ben’s right there,” said Salisbury head coach Eric Snyder. “He has a lot of capability and he’s got to believe in himself a little more and I think he did this weekend. You could tell by the way he wrestled. He made very few mistakes.
“He wrestled a tough Notre Dame kid twice and lost by a combined three points. If we wrestle the kid again I think we have a chance at beating him.”
While having just four wrestlers can be a challenge for any team, Krauss sees a lot of positives in it.
“We need more kids coming out and that’s definitely a weak point that most would see,” said Krauss. “But I see it as a strength because we build a great relationship with our coaches and we’re all closer as a whole.”
“We have four or five coaches and four guys in the room,” said Samy. “We get a lot of one on one. Coach Snyder is a great coach, phenomenal. We have Alex [Nicholas], he used to be a Penn State wrestler. He shows us some stuff. We’re doing good things.”
With one junior and three sophomores on the team, the Falcons have a bright future.
Alder, a sophomore, wrestled well in his four bouts and was just a couple wins from placing. The No. 7 seed at 138, he opened with a tech fall over Eli Dellicker of Northwestern then fell to eventual champ Josh Bauman (Notre Dame GP) in the quarterfinals, 14-4.
Alder bounced back for consolation win, showing Tamaqua’s Michael Shlanta the lights in 3:06, before falling to Palmerton’s Dennis Lombardi in the consolation semifinals.
Linn, a sophomore, was the No. 7 seed at 152. He was pinned by Lehighton’s Jon Ahner in the first round but came back to beat Palmerton’s Daniel Lucykanish, 8-2, in a consolation bout before falling to Tamaqua’s Randy Steigerwalt in his second consolation match.
All four wrestlers are expected to be back and better next year.
In most seasons, Krauss would be advancing to regionals as fourth-place finisher. But the postseason tournaments were reduced in size as a COIVD-19 precaution.
Only Samy will advance, but that doesn’t take away from the success the Falcons had last weekend.
“As far as I’m concerned we have two regional qualifiers,” said Snyder. “The last time we had two guys place at districts has been a really long time.
“It’s huge for us and it’s huge for the kids. It can only help their confidence to show they can wrestle with these guys.”
District 11 Wrestling Championships
Salisbury Results
John Samy (So.)
No. 3 at 132
Samy pinned Katie Brensinger (Northwestern) in :11
Samy pinned Andrew Zimmerman (Schuylkill Haven) in 3:13
Samy major dec. Travis Riefenstahl (Saucon Valley), 11-2
Championship final
Brandon Chletsos (Notre Dame GP) pinned Samy in 2:22
Braedon Alder (So.) No. 7 at 138
Alder tech. fall Elijah Dellicker (Northwestern), 17-1 in 4:36
Josh Bauman (Notre Dame GP) major dec. Alder, 14-4
Alder pinned Michael Shlanta (Tamqua) in 3:06
Dennis Lombardi (Palmerton) major dec. Alder, 9-1
Toby Linn (So.)
No. 7 at 152
Jon Ahner (Lehighton) pinned Pinn in 2:40
Linn dec. Daniel Lucykanish (Palmerton), 8-2
Randy Steigerwalt (Tamaqua) dec. Linn, 12-5
Ben Krauss (Jr.)
No. 4 at 189
Krauss pinned Cael Quick (Mahanoy Area) in 3:21
Jared Blobe (Notre Dame GP) dec. Krauss, 6-5
Krauss pinned Ricky Halford (No. Schuylkill) in 2:03
Krauss pinned George Parson (Central Catholic) in 2:04
Krauss dec. Daniel Haubert (Palisades), 8-2
Third-place match
Blobe dec. Krauss, 3-1