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Easton's Fleck and Hartenstine are champions at Manheim
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
By NICK FIERRO
The Express-Times
MANHEIM TWP., Pa. | Easton Area High School's wrestling program has grown accustomed to rocking the Manheim Lions
Holiday Tournament at the start of each wrestling season.
This year, the rebuilding Red Rovers were beaten to the punch by Mother Nature as well as Pennsylvania rivals Reynolds
and Cumberland Valley.
On Tuesday, four days after an earthquake shook this community for a few seconds, the Rovers found themselves in
a very unusual position after taking third in this event. For the first time since the end of 1998, they will head
into the new year without some kind of tournament title to cling to heading into the bulk of their dual-meet season.
Easton (180 points) did send a pair of champions to the medals platform when Mike Fleck won a 6-3 decision over
Lower Dauphin's Blaine Shutt at 112 pounds and Mark Hartenstine followed a few minutes later with a 6-1 decision
over North Allegheny's Andy Candiello at 140.
Other than that, it was a bunch of consolation medals. Mitchell Minotti (119), Richard Drey (125), Patrick Corpora
(135), Storm Kruczek (189), Chris Wilson (215) and Justin Grant (285) were third and Jeff Griffith (171) was fourth.
Reynolds (226) edged Cumberland Valley (223) in what became a thrilling battle for the team title after heavyweight
Will Ringer came back from nearly being decked in the first period to win a 9-7 decision over Spring-Ford's Justin
Franiak.
Fleck's victory in the finals was achieved without a takedown. He tilted Shutt twice with the tight-waist move
made popular in Easton's room a few years earlier by two-time state champion Mike Rogers.
"When I was in midgets, he showed it to me," Fleck said. "So I learned from him. I feel like I can
score from the top if I get the movement and get it set up."
Fleck played it safe and gave up the reversal after getting too high on his ride in the third.
"I could have maybe stuck with it," he said, "but he might have gotten back (points), so I figured,
'all right, finals, might as well let him reverse me and try not to get turned on the bottom.'"
Hartenstine took down Candiello in the first period, reversed him in the second, then took him down after Candiello
picked neutral to start the third.
Like Fleck, he knew nothing of his opponent and liked it that way.
"They don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know what they're going to do, but I just go out there and
work my stuff," he said.
Grant, a senior who never entered a wrestling room until last year, was pinned in his first match before responding
with four straight pins to earn his medal along with the tournament's pinner award for flattening four opponents
in the quickest cumulative time (12:22).
"The coaching staff's amazing," Grant said. "They'll make you good."
But coach Steve Powell knows it's impossible to make chicken salad out of chicken feces.
"He's very athletic and he's got a good, positive attitude," Powell said. "I don't know if he can
be another Desmond Moore, with two or three years (of experience), and then place third in the state, but ... he
works hard and he's very, very good offensively on his feet."
Powell also knew coming into this season that he wouldn't have a typically overstocked Easton powerhouse to work
with against a schedule that is no less demanding. That's why he's just as pleased, if not more, with what this
group has accomplished in December as perhaps he's ever been.
"We've done better here, but I don't know that we've done better with what we have," he said. "And
I still don't know what we have."
Actually, he has a pretty good idea. So do his wrestlers.
Though most are a year or more away from typical Easton superstardom, they figure to be heard from before this
season is over, too.
Nick Fierro can be reached by e-mail at nfierro@express-times.com.
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