Plymouth Whitemarsh takes Suburban One American wrestling title

Eleven years ago, Debbie DiBattista asked her three sons - Gianpiero, 7; Nicolino, 5; and Marco, 4 - if they wanted to try wrestling.

Marco was quick to say no, but his perception of the sport was far from reality.

"At first, I said no because I saw WWE and I thought that was wrestling, so I got freaked out," said Marco, 15, a Plymouth Whitemarsh sophomore. "But then she told me that there's trophies and stuff, so I said yeah and I did it and I kind of liked it."

On Saturday, DiBattista placed first in the 106-pound weight class at the Suburban One American Championships at Norristown, where Plymouth Whitemarsh finished first with 215 points.

DiBattista (25-1) defeated Norristown junior Justin Altrogge (30-2), in a 5-2 decision.

After going down, 2-1, in the first two-minute period, DiBattista rallied with four straight points in the second period to capture his second straight conference title.

"Justin Altrogge is a great wrestler," said Justin Giovinco, Plymouth Whitemarsh's third-year coach. "But Marco went out and wrestled as good as he could have wrestled, and a lot of times he's going to beat good kids when that happens."

Last season, with all three DiBattista brothers on Giovinco's roster for the first time, Marco finished with a 31-7 freshman record, just three wins behind Gianpiero, who went 34-4 as a senior.

In his first postseason, Marco finished first at sectionals and second at districts, but he failed to place at regionals after winning his first regional match and dropping the last two.

"I kind of got out of my head," he said. "I think I got too excited from the first match and maybe went into the next one too confident."

Giovinco, however, couldn't be more confident in the youngest DiBattista.

"I know it's a goal for him to make it to states, but I tend to be a little bit more optimistic," the coach said. "I think he can win up at states."

Championship finals

Team scores: 1. Plymouth Whitemarsh, 215; 2. Norristown 209; 3. Upper Moreland, 177; 4. Wissahickon, 141; 5. Upper Dublin, 116.5; 6. Cheltenham, 114.5; 7. Upper Merion, 93; 8. Springfield (Montco), 67.

106: Marco DiBattista, Plymouth Whitemarsh, dec. Justin Altrogge, Norristown, 5-2; 113: Jason Amy, Upper Moreland, pinned Grant Rubin, Norristown, 3:15; 120: Matt Amy, Upper Moreland, dec. Zachary DeSanto, Upper Merion, 3-1; 126: Zach Fisher, Plymouth Whitemarsh, dec. Talib Davis, Upper Dublin, 11-8 OT; 132: Eric Fuentes, Norristown, pinned Anthony Shockey, Cheltenham, 1:07; 138: Colin Devlin, Upper Dublin, pinned Nick Senderling, Wissahickon, 5:11; 145: August Gershwin, Cheltenham, dec. Ben Billings, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 9-8; 152: Mason Novak, Upper Dublin, dec. Mike Johnson, Norristown, 8-5; 160: Rich Maggio, Norristown, pinned Hunter Williams, Upper Moreland, 0:55; 170: Tommy DiSisto, Plymouth Whitemarsh, maj. dec. Mason Hall, Norristown, 15-7; 182: James Guckin, Springfield Township, pinned Mark Picariello, Upper Merion, 3:13; 195: Patrick Walker, Upper Moreland, pinned Henry Winebrake, Upper Dublin, 2:22; 220: Noah Stribny, Upper Merion, pinned Keegan Hannigan, Upper Moreland, 4:17; 285: Quincy Williams, Plymouth Whitemarsh, pinned Ryan Caral, Upper Moreland, 1:54.

Third-place consolations

106: Amanda Walker, Upper Moreland, pinned Charlie Brammer, Wissahickon, 2:59; 113: Brayden Druger, Wissahickon, pinned Michael Clarkson, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 1:36; 120: Nick Semon, Norristown, dec. Kameron Wyatt, Cheltenham, 7-6; 126: Rick Bregenzer, Norristown, dec. John Richter, Upper Moreland, 8-7; 132: Jake Tassoni, Plymouth Whitemarsh, pinned Nick Prieston, Wissahickon, 3:50; 138: Anthony Yacovetti, Upper Merion, pinned Aqeru Sykes, Cheltenham, 1:31; 145: Josh Kelcy, Upper Dublin, pinned Zaire Tucker, Norristown, 0:56; 152: Zach Wakefield, Plymouth Whitemarsh, pinned Jack Jones, Wissahickon, 3:46; 160: Stephen McNeal-Paige, Cheltenham, dec. Vaughan Hart, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 4-1; 170: Akeem Browne, Cheltenham, dec. Tyler Smith, Upper Moreland, 15-8; 182: Scott Horry, Plymouth Whitemarsh, dec. Lakine Wallace, Norristown, 3-2 UTB; 195: Brian Fennell, Wissahickon, dec. Nick Sudell, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 3-0; 220: Ja Ja Onyejiake, Norristown, dec. Darren Ries, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 3-0; 285: Enrique Escobedo, Norristown, pinned Eddie Goldsmith, Springfield Township, 4:22.