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Featured Match, Frankford at Southern

BTSPhilly   |   Jan 15, 2018

The PIAA District 12 is the home for all Philadelphia High School teams including both Catholic and Public schools. Within District 12, the Public League divides it's 15 team into two Divisions; Independence and Liberty. Last month we featured the top performing teams from the Independence Division: a rematch of the 2016-2017 Public League Championship, Central bested Northeast by a score of 52-15. (See the match recap here) This month we directed our attention towards the Liberty Division's two undefeated teams, South Philadelphia and Frankford. With playoff implications on the line, this was sure to be a dual neither teams could afford to lose. Coaches Rob Schloss (Southern) and Joe Farina (Frankford) clearly understood the stakes. Both coaches could be seen carefully reviewing roster strategy as their teams warmed up. When we asked Coach Farina for a prediction he exclaimed "It's going to be close!". He couldn't have been more right! The match started out with a forfeit at the 113 weight class. With South's Thaj Williams getting his hand raised in exchange for 6 team points momentum was already on Southern's side. At 120 Damien Riles recorded a first period fall over Frankford's Iverson Ratchford. Keyauri Pooler from Southern picked up another forfeit win for South at 126 moving his team to a 18-0 lead after three matches. [caption id="attachment_6554" align="alignnone" width="300"] Dawud Faruqi (Southern) with a chin-whip against Tariq Mines (Frankford)[/caption] Frankford's 132 pounder Luck Hives put a stop to the losing streak with a 26 second pin over Aristodue Intwali erasing the team score goose egg. But with the experience of South Philadelphia's next two wrestlers the momentum would swing back in their direction. Dawud Faruqi (Southern) pinning Tariq Mines (Frankford), followed by a fall from Naseen Pennington (Southern) over Camont Mull (Frankford), Southern now had a commanding 30-6 lead nearing the mid point of the dual. [caption id="attachment_6555" align="alignnone" width="300"] Frankford's Christ Adechokan finishing in headlock position for the fall[/caption] Forfeits at 152 and 160 from Southern started to play a role with Frankford's Marcus Logan and Fateen McFadden getting 6 points each after effortless hand-raises. South Philadelphia's Anthony Williamson would offset some of the forfeit sting by pinning Eric Watson (Frankford) in 1 minute and 12 seconds of the first period. Frankford would respond with back-to-back pins at 182 and 195 with Christ Adechokan beating Edgar Caraballo, and Gabriel Perez coming from behind to beat Steve Cacciatore. [caption id="attachment_6552" align="alignnone" width="300"] Kenny Purvis gets some last minute instruction from Coach Farina before his HWT match[/caption] After a forfeit for Southern's Ishmael Kesserly at 220 the team score was 42-30. In anticipation of a forfeit win in favor of Frankford's 106, Jorge Rivera, it was apparent that the match would come down to heavyweight. At 4 minutes and 10 Seconds in the third period it happened; Frankford's Kenneth Purvis collects the fall against Marquise Millen! The final score 42-42!  The winner would be determined by criteria. To the official rule book...
a. The team whose opposing wrestlers or team personnel has been penalized the greater number of team points for flagrant misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct shall be declared the winner. b. The team whose opposing head coach has been penalized the greater number of team points for coach misconduct shall be declared the winner. c. The team whose opposing wrestlers were penalized the greater number of match points for unsportsmanlike conduct during a match shall be declared the winner. d. The team having won the greater number of matches (including forfeits) shall be declared the winner. e. The team having accumulated the greater number of points for falls, defaults, forfeits, or disqualifications shall be declared the winner. f. The team having the greater number of points for technical falls shall be declared the winner. g. The team having the greater number of points for major decisions shall be declared the winner. h. The team having the greater number (total match points) of first point(s) shall be declared the winner. i. The team having the greater number of points for near-falls shall be declared the winner.
After all the criteria was reviewed, Southern was declared the winner based on tie breaker criteria (i) in one of the craziest outcomes from the Public league this year. With playoffs just weeks away Beat the Streets looks forward to providing additional recaps in February. A full gallery of images can be found at: https://goo.gl/TVuojz