Rancocas Valley grinds out a Burlington County Tournament championship

MEDFORD – Hungry, but still humble.

That's how coach Tommy Callahan describes his Rancocas Valley wrestling team, which turned in perhaps its best performance of the year Friday in capturing the Burlington County Wrestling Tournament at Lenape High School.

“Tomorrow, we go right back to work,” Callahan said. “We have a league match to decide the Liberty Division at Northern (Burlington) on Tuesday, and we have a tough team on Thursday – then we start preparing for the postseason. I think it's nice that this team can bring home a team trophy to Mr. Lamb and the rest of the athletic crew.”

RV athletic director Mike Lamb was a four-time district champ and won a pair of region titles at Highland High School before he moved on to Gloucester County College and the University of North Carolina. He knows something about what it takes to bring hardware home from a big event.

He's probably as excited as Callahan about it.

“I think we're getting better each day,” Callahan said. “I think the schedule that we had really tested them – they're battle-tested and I think it brings a lot of confidence. We know what kind of teams we're going to face in this situation. Last time, we lost by a point (to Haddonfield, at the Marinelli Tournament at Egg Harbor Township.) We knew it was going to be close against Cherokee and Seneca, and then we had some tough individual matches.”

In the end, the Red Devils did just enough to bring it home. Rancocas Valley placed six wrestlers in the championship round and broke through with titles from Christofer Peterson at 165 pounds and Connor Bauman at 190.

Rancocas Valley totaled 150 team points – just four more than Cherokee, which also won two weights. Seneca took two weights and finished third, at 125 points. Lenape, with one champ, finished fourth, with 107 points – four more than Northern Burlington, which won two weights.

Drew Roskos, who defeated Austin Craft of Rancocas Valley, 3-1, in sudden victory was Delran's lone champion, and the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Peterson was a fourth seed who pinned three of his four opponents. Only top-seeded Dominic Sawyer of Burlington Township managed to go the full six, and Peterson decisioned him, 9-6.

“It was a rough one. He was really strong. Really aggressive,” Peterson said. “I kind of just tried to slow it down; keep his hands off me and look for open shots when I had the chance. I ended up getting to his legs a few times, and was able to switch him to his hips and get the 2.”

That outcome earned him a final-round meeting with Lenape's Ricky Snyder, who Peterson pinned in 5:11.

“We were just scrambling and I kind of felt him get high on my back,” Peterson said. “I was able to pull him over me. I got him on his back and tried to stick him for the fall, and I eventually got it.”

Peterson said he had something to prove,

“It was weird, coming into this morning,” he said. “I was a little fuzzy. I didn't know how I was going to do. I was told I was the fourth seeded and I felt a little insulted by that. I kind of took that to heart. I expected myself to come out here and win today. It's kind of a mentality that I have.”

Bauman's approach was a little different, but his results were the same. He was a second seed that had to handle Lenape's Kevin Langlois in the final.

“I let them work their stuff, and then I try to work off that,” Bauman said. “If they post on me, I drag. If they push into me, I'll shuck, and if I can, I'll try to flip them for the underhook. I've been working the shuck and the underhook a lot with my coach, TC (Callahan), and it really helped me tonight.”

Bauman's 14-5 major decision in the final was his second in the tournament. The same formula carried him to an 18-7 win over Delran's Joe Vasconcelos in the quarterfinal round. He defeated Burlington Township's Simeon Hunte, 13-7, in the semis.

Callahan said those performances, and the final-round breakthroughs, didn't surprise him.

“Snyder and Peterson have gone back and forth,” Callahan said. “They had a tight battle last year and in the beginning, it looked like this was going to go back and forth, and then he kind of opened it up. Connor Bauman – when he sticks to the game plan and wrestles smart and offensive, opens up the score.

“Austin and Drew are just two tough kids. They're going to be battling for the next couple of years.”

It was clear from the start that Craft and Roskos were on a collision course at 144. Craft was the top seed by virtue of a 20-0 record. He needed just two minutes and 46 seconds to pin his way through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.

Roskos, seeded second and 20-1 coming in, did it in just 2:31.

Aggressive as they are, there were few points to be had when they got on a mat together. Roskos refused to be thrown, but he couldn't get to Craft's legs either.

“I was having trouble. He likes that upper-body stuff, so he's hard to get past,” Roskos said. “His hands will block, before I can get to his legs, so I was trying to incorporate some fakes in there to get him thinking. But I ended up scoring off his offense.”

Craft took a 1-0 lead with an escape in the second period. Roskos got out in the third. That's all the scoring there was in regulation. In the overtime, Craft got in on a low outside single near the line, but Roskos spun through his grip as the two came to the mat. From there he got Craft's head, got a knee, and held them just long enough to get his hip clear and get his opponent covered.

“He tried to get on my leg and I thought I was in a bad position, but turning his offense into my offense is what I like to try to do,” Roskos said. “And it ended up working, right at the end of the match. It was definitely a relief. There was a little bit of stress, coming into that match.

"Before I hurt my elbow, we would wrestle all the time. He was my practice partner. We knew each other's style, and it was just, whoever showed up.”

Young avenges lone loss

Palmyra sophomore Trevor Young improved to 22-1 and avenged his only loss of the season with a 4-2 victory over Burlington Township's Anthony Cook in sudden victory. Cook pinned Young in 57 seconds in their dual-match meeting on Jan. 6.

He had the only takedown in the rematch, and rode Young out in the second period, but Young returned the favor in the third, and it was 2-2 at the end of regulation. Cook nearly had Young covered in overtime, but Young kept a grip on his knee and just outflurried him for the decisive points.

“I blocked his shot and got into mine, and it really was just a good scramble from there,” Young said. “I thought he was going to score, then I thought I was going to score. It was going back and forth, and then I got the two. I was pretty relieved. It was a tough match. I was tired.”

It was the 16th straight win for Young, who said his match preparation is a combination of game-planning and getting himself mentally ready to simply pounce on what presents itself.

“I think it's a little bit of both,” he said. “Some kids I know I've wrestled before, so I know this move will be there, or this won't. It really just depends on the match. I work about the same moves every match, and then every once in a while, I'll try something different. It really just depends on who I'm wrestling.”

Kotch wins out

Top-seeded Sam Kotch of Cinnaminson marched to the 132-pound championship with three pins and raised his record to 22-2. He's won 20 consecutive bouts.

“Once you get to top-level kids, you can't let them get to your legs, but I think I did pretty well, all together,” Kotch said.

Cherokee's Brady Bimmer was his final opponent, and Bimmer did get a leg in the late going, but Kotch was able to turn it to his advantage.

“It was kind of a roll through; he had a single leg and I was able to roll through it, and put him in a position where he was on his back,” Kotch said. “And then once he was on his back, I got my arm under him and was able to finish. It's a weird position, but I work on that at practice and at my club, and I know I can do that sort of thing.”

Back on the map

This was the first Burlington County Tournament since 2014, when the Burlington County Scholastic League ran an event that didn't include the schools in the Lenape District. It was initially intended to be a two-day event, with full wrestlebacks, but was shortened to one day because of the weather.

The important thing is that it was revived, though, and reaction was enthusiastic in every corner.

“I think it's awesome that we have this tournament,” Kotch said. You get a chance to wrestle the best kids in the conference, and see how you stack up against them before districts and regions.”

The re-aligning of the districts and regions makes it an even bigger occasion. It might be your only chance to see a neighboring school before you go off to districts in different counties.

“I think this is great for Burlington County wrestling, getting this all together and having this tournament,” Callahan said. “Shout out to Lenape. They had to change it from a two-day to a one-day, but finding a way to make this work, and letting everybody get some matches – it's a great day.”

John A. Lewis is a sports writer for the Burlington County Times, Courier Post and The Daily Journal. E-mail him at jlewis@thebct.com or follow on Twitter @JohnLewis19. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: RV the big winner as county tournament returns after six-year absense