Escape The Rock Recap: Developing Rivalries, 152 Insanity & More
Escape The Rock Recap: Developing Rivalries, 152 Insanity & More
The 2020 version of Escape the Rock was a tournament to remember. Here's everything you need to know about what went down.
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Escape The Rock always delivers insane wrestling, with a collection of the top talent in the country battling it out for supremacy, but it also brings everything you could hope for from a January tournament in Pennsylvania. We had PA and Jersey hammers claiming bragging rights along the border, in-state kids that would never hit otherwise clashing up and down the brackets, a top seed literally running out of the gym while winning and abandoning his match, an ice storm sealing us all into the building, and a community sing-a-long.
I knew this was going to be a special tournament when the national anthem failed to cue up on the public address system and the entire crowd decided to just sing it all together. It might have left a little something to be desired when it came to hitting the high notes, but it more than made up for it in heart. It was the perfect beginning and fully summed up how this event is run by kind and knowledgeable people and just so happens to be filled with many of the top stars in the country. Those stars brought substantial heat to the mat, so let’s get you caught up on the twists and turns and who brought home one of those heavy belts.
The Next Chapter in These Rivalries
I love when a tournament works the order to showcase a killer matchup, and the organizers were more than happy to comply, as we finished Sunday with the Ryan Crookham and Eddie Ventresca rubber match. Splitting their prior meetings, Crookham had been active in taking the match this year 5-4 at Beast. He was also still feeling the sting of coming up short in his Ironman final with Nic Bouzakis, so he had two big items to check off his agenda in hopes of adding to his trophy case. Ventresca is cagey and paced back and forth in the arena eager for the final to begin. Once they locked up, the entire place could sense that we were in for a tight one. It ended up being even tighter than expected, but that was thanks to suffocating work from Crookham on top that nullified any hopes Ventresca had of being able to activate his gameplan.
Where do I start to talk about Brandon Green in this recap, as the kid was the buzz of the tournament? While it is tempting to put him down as a breakout star, the final here actually served to remind me that he had been bubbling just below all along. Green and Angel Garcia know each other well, and it was Garcia edging him in sudden victory that redirected his run here last year. While Green had made his way through Lenny Pinto in the semi (keep reading for that one!), he knew a back and forth final was awaiting him. Garcia had just beaten Jaden Bullock 2-1 in his semi, keeping the upper hand in their rivalry as well, so he was prepared for a close contest. In the end, Green was a flash of red in the classic Paulsboro singlet as he had a reversal in the third to seal a 7-6 victory.
Holding off the Future
Possibly the most anticipated final was actually the contest between 3rd ranked Gaige Garcia and seventh-ranked Nick Feldman. Everyone in the country knows that Gaige Garcia is good, the lingering question is, how good? Committed to Michigan for both football and wrestling, his time on the gridiron means that we don’t necessarily see him hit the early majors or many top ten kids throughout the season. Escape The Rock is the one major we can be sure to find him tested, and this year he knew the top sophomore big man, Beast Champion Nick Feldman, would be stalking him from the other side.
Garcia was aware of how dangerous Feldman can be, and both guys looked to have scouted the other pretty well, shutting down their favored attack routes. You could feel the tension rising as each looked to adjust and find a way in. Ultimately, the match was so tight that Garcia had to improvise a finish that no one in the building had ever seen before, essentially just leaping straight up in the air while having a single leg on Feldman to claim the victory. It was a wildly athletic move, as well as one filled with veteran awareness and ingenuity. This weekend was Garcia’s time, but Feldman’s will come calling very shortly.
At the beginning of the season Cole Deery announced to the country that he had jumped into the elite tier of heavyweights via an Ironman title. He followed that up with a third at Beast and a Powerade crown. It looked like there was little here that could stop him. In that same Beast bracket, I had eagerly anticipated watching freshman Jim Mullen to see how the youngster navigated his first major. Heavyweight is a big ask for underclassmen, and while Mullen was showcasing a sterling set of skills, he looked very much his age, and made the mistakes that come with that. Deery, in particular, made that tournament little fun for him with a rough match ending in being pinned. While Mullen impressed in reaching the final here, there was little to think it would go differently from their earlier meeting as Deery stomped through the top side.
Instead, Mullen gave Deery a fantastic battle, making huge adjustments and perfectly executing his gameplan. Stellar defense, along with learning from his time being below Deery at Beast, meant that he didn’t give up many opportunities, and even created one of his own in the closing seconds with hopes of stealing it. Deery used his ability to get out from bottom easily, along with a great deal of composure throughout, to see himself to another major, but by a surprising 1-0 margin. If Mullen’s physical development continues along the lines of his growing wrestling IQ, the clash between these two next year could be incredible.
152 Insanity!
There were a few final groupings that made day two electric (I see you too, 170!) but none were as outright insane as 152. I highly recommend watching all of the quarters and semis in this bracket, as none will disappoint, and all featured interesting style matchups. When the dust had cleared, local superstar Cam Robinson was the one left standing, though this bracket was so wild that he scored with the final tick left on the clock and then was nearly taken down while celebrating a few seconds after the buzzer had sounded in the final by AJ Tamburrino. It was so close that the scorers had already triggered the extra period before Robinson’s hand was finally raised.
I have so many favorite matches from this group that I hardly know where to start. Robinson had used his length and quickness to work his way to the final, despite a game Nick Vafiadis in the semi. Tamburrino had been wrestling like he was on a mission, staying under control in the middle of a Kolby Allred tornado in the quarter and riding out top seed and 5th ranked Dalton Harkins in the ultimate tie-breaker in the semi.
Harkins has been having a stellar season in winning Ironman and Beast, so it surely crushed him to come so close to another final, but he bounced back in the third, displaying incredible work from top and a lot of sheer grit and force of will in claiming the consolation. His opponent, Allred, entertained all weekend with a fast and loose approach that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. It was all Harkins could do to contain it in the third period, which looked more like a freestyle throwfest than a top and bottom ride out challenge at moments.
The Buzzsaws
Once the brackets were set, there were two wrestlers that I mentally placed belts upon before the first whistle had even been blown, in Andrew Cerniglia and Kyonte Hamilton. There is always a danger in a stacked field like this that you can get caught and upset, but both looked to have a clearer path than the other weights. The question for me was how would they perform on their journey to the title. Both wrestlers answered me emphatically with phenomenal weekends.
Cerniglia was voted outstanding wrestler as he absolutely torched the place as a pinning machine, capped with a major decision over a very good Luke Nichter in the final. I had a chance to talk to him about how close he had been with Paddy Gallagher at Ironman, and what he would have done differently, and he was clear that his plan now is to just unleash an avalanche of points and put people away at every juncture, leaving nothing to chance. He certainly put that into motion here.
Kyonte spent the offseason filling in the gaps in his game, creating a shockingly effective top attack, as well as working hard on his technique on bottom. He was happy to spend his matches showcasing both as he continues to improve, including a tech fall in the final. My favorite adjustment though is his new leg defense. Too long to resist, most top guys are going to shoot in, so Hamilton knows he needs to be aware and prepared. Watch him deploy it for a near fall against a tough as nails Logan Flynn in his quarterfinal.
Something to Prove
The early order of Notre Dame Green Pond’s lineup looks more and more impressive each time I see them roll it out. As a whole they all came out here this weekend looking to make a statement, highlighted by the burning desire of Brett Ungar and Brandan Chletsos to make sure they graced the top of the podium at the end of Sunday. Ungar had come up achingly short (not a weight class joke - promise!) in his prior tournaments this year, losing in the finals at Ironman and Beast. He was absolutely determined that his visit to Council Rock South would end differently. In what was a very talented field, he put it on every challenger, including Erik Roggie in the final, racking up points at will and stamping his name in the history books.
Chletsos found himself in a weird bracket that was missing Powerade champ Kyle Hauserman due to illness, and top seed Dustin Norris thanks to general weirdness (keep reading for that one). None of that mattered when he saw himself against 6th ranked Alex Almeyda. Chletsos had beaten Almeyda on the back at Beast, but there were questions as to how engaged Almeyda was after his heartbreak on the front side. Brandan made sure that all of those questions were answered and more, with an emphatic victory in the semifinal. He certainly felt the weight of the moment in the final, gutting it out over Georgio Mazzeo, as he finished the goal he came here to accomplish.
Chletsos defeats Almeyda once again:
Evan Buchanan had an incredible tournament, including a very crafty win over Patrick Noonan where he essentially got three takedowns over the course of the match by perfectly executing the same sequence every time Noonan attempted a specific shot. Had he won the title, there was a good chance he would have also walked away with the OW as well. Could anyone stand in the way of his run of destiny? Joey Olivieri had a hole eating away at his insides following his last-second loss at Beast, and he made sure that the destiny to be fulfilled belonged to him. Making a steady habit of nail-biting 1-0 victories, in the semi and then again here in the final, he put the clamps down in a manner in which you knew he was never letting go and brought home the belt.
Back to back champs were the order of the day for a few schools, and Bethlehem Catholic was happy to provide Kenny Herrmann and Cole Handlovic at 138 and 145. I remain a huge Herrmann fan, as you hear the grumbles about him tying up foes, but the kid just figures out ways to get it done more often than not. In winning his semi 2-1 over Jake Niffenegger in tie-breakers, and a 1-0 final over Gavin Brown, he showed that he will do whatever is necessary to start seeing these big tournaments all the way to the title. Handlovic wanted to remind everyone that regardless of the weight class he is entered in, he is going to be big trouble for anyone standing opposite of him. He established control in his matches early and did the same against Jagger Condomitti in the final, locking down Jagger who had been pretty wide open in his approach up until that moment.
What in the World Just Happened?
There were a few stunners here, and Joey Milano is good, and certainly dangerous, but I didn’t see him beating Sam Fisher in this kind of a contest to take a championship. We had some interesting stall calls, as always. Kyle Waterman had the strangest set of matches in his home gym as he lost 2-1 in UTB to Cole Skinner and then soon after exited thanks to a crazed 19-12 shotfest with Matt Mayer. Blood was spilled and a few tears were shed, and perhaps a challenge to meet up later might have been issued once or twice, but it was pretty much par for the course at a big tournament, at least that is until Dustin Norris exited.
The 8th ranked Norris entered as the top seed of a stacked 120 bracket, and when Kyle Hauserman didn’t compete due to illness, one wondered if he would be able to sidestep the landmines and bring home the title. Before we really even had time to ask that question though he had decided to abandon his first match, technically losing by injury default. I will save you watching the match and walk you through it, as none of us had ever seen it happen before. I had been keeping track of the mat out of the corner of my eye while getting set up and was surprised when the winner seemed to flip on the board, so we were all immediately curious what was going on.
Leading 5-1 and in control, Norris calls for time basically and following brief words with his coach jets off the mat and towards the back hallway out of the arena. The trainers don’t know what to make of it and the official starts injury time. Norris returns just in time to see his opponent, Dylan Knight, having his arm raised, having won technically by default. We have all seen guys heaving in the trash cans matside, so I won’t speculate as to what drove him out of the room, but he did wrestle a little more on the back before not looking much like himself in a final loss. As weird as all of it was, it might have been even stranger that Knight wildly celebrated the victory.
Few things are as entertaining as a Lenny Pinto match. Pinto truly seems to be using his matches in high school to try things out and work to improve, more so than always concentrating on winning. His elite upper body skills makes every tie and exchange wildfire. More often than not, that goes his way, but there are long weekends when you are learning with a wide-open style, and this was one of them. Pinto secured his 100th win (Deery and Olivieri both got their 100 club cards in the finals as well) and also put on a show with his quarter win over Caden Rogers. You could even hear his mom in the background telling him that it was no fun when he didn’t go for a big fall at certain moments.
Then the semifinal with Green provided the most explosive minute of wrestling of the entire weekend:
Somehow, Pinto still had plenty of excitement left to deliver, as he and Jaden Bullock carried out an incredible battle for third, proving that you simply can never miss a Lenny Pinto match:
The Rock Delivers
We were graced with established stars showing us why they remain on the top of the mountain, offensive juggernauts rolling out a few new tricks, while defensive specialists lock down the competition. Intense rivalries that may continue well into college, sky-high bombs and super slick scrambles, a little drama and a little weirdness, with some tantalizing glimpses into the future. Not to mention the crowning of a few new faces on the national stage. Year after year, we have come to depend on Escape The Rock to be the best post-holiday tournament in the country, and year after year The Rock more than delivers.