The Parkland wrestling program was streaking at the right time heading into the District 11 3A Duals.

Coach Jon Trenge’s club shutout two opponents - Pleasant Valley and Dieruff - by 77-0 and 75-0 scores, respectively.

Last Monday night Parkland dismantled the depleted Bears. Blake Dergham showed his versatility and value to the club by pinning Edward Laurtisen at the 4:44 mark in a spirited 121-pound bout. Teammate Phoenix DelVecchio pinned his opponent Emmanuel Rivera at 2:14 in the 127-pound match. Leo Kern continued the pinning ways at the 1:17 mark of his tilt with Aiden McCabe at 133 as did Waris Mughal at 139 in his triumph over John Careccia at 4:38.

Xander DeSelm, wrestling at 145 pounds, continued the Trojans’ winning ways when he earned a 17-1 technical fall win over Jayson Keys at 3:38. Victor Carrasquilla pinned Frederick Merklin in only 20 seconds in the 160-pound match. Adrian Gacek, Julius Reyes and Michael Gavrilesku all won by pins in their matches at 189, 215 and 285, respectively.

It was more of the same two nights later on Senior Night as Parkland pounded the Huskies. Reyes started things with an impressive display of wrestling technique in pinning Kevin Lopez in 1:27 to give Parkland a 6-0 lead in the 215-pound match. Elis Russ then got into the act when he pinned Carlos Recinos in just 58 seconds in the 107-pound battle. The pinning continued when Dergham, Aaron Ciampittello, DelVecchio, Kern and DeSelm all administered wrestling’s most sudden and humiliating defeat in their matches.

Juan Moya had the evening’s most competitive match, but he still came out on top when he registered a 10-7 victory over Joshua Montesino at 152. The last three Parkland winners - Carrasquilla, Emanuel Montalvo and Gacek - all tasted victory via the pin route.

The wins were clearly team efforts and showcase Parkland’s continued improvement. However one wrestler - Gacek - has been more responsible than anyone for the Trojans’ rise this year. Wrestling at 189 and 215 pounds this season, Gacek has been almost perfect in claiming an outstanding 28-2 record and improving his high school career record on North Cedar Crest Boulevard to 75-13.

“Adrian worked very hard all offseason,” Trenge said. “He is learning to keep his composure late in matches so he doesn’t feel tired or stressed no matter what the score is. Adrian used to get a little anxious in the third periods and it would tire him out and slow him down. He has figured out how to overcome that now. The sky is the limit for him now.”