Sectional champion Boykin leads Red Raiders into District One South meet

Coatesville will be sending three wrestlers into the fray along with 30 other teams at Spring-Ford  By Dave Conard  Sports Editor, CoatesvilleTimes.com

Matt Brownback battled his way to a fourth place finish for the Red Raiders

ROYERSFORD—The Red Raiders will be sending a three-man contingent to Spring-Ford High School on Friday to compete in the PIAA District One AAA South championships.

More over they will all have their sights set on one target, a PIAA Southeastern Regional berth, of which each weight class has five available for next week’s state final qualifiers at Oxford High School. 

There is good chance that the battle between 220-pounder Steve Annan and Coatesville’s Mike Boykin may be one of the best that will be seen as Boykin pinned Annan from Unionville following a 28 second pin by Boykin in the quarter finals.

Boykin then claimed the championship by scoring a 6-1 decision over Downingtown West’s Matt Bartalotta in the quarter finals champion Mike Boykin of Coatesville, to bring home the gold medal from section four.

“Of course its’ always good to get matches done as quickly as you can,” said Boykin. “If you can get an early pin it helps save energy and strength, especially in a long day like today. It’s great to have team mates here to push each other Noah (Stevens) and Matt (Brownback) have been bringing it all day long.”

Mike Boykin recorder two pins in less than a minute combined to set up a quarter final match en route to the championship in 220 pound bracket

A pair of runner up finishes by Unionville’s John Hartz at 160 pounds and Will Hart at 285 pounds, who both fell to grapplers from Pac-10 power house and back-to-back champions Owen J. Roberts, bodes well for the Ches-Mont League at the district meet this weekend as both men battled through the brackets posting three wins apiece until the finals.

“It’s good to know the guys that are here,” said heavyweight Will Hart. “I would actually almost rather not have wrestled them before, I have two moves I like to use and if they have seen me it takes away my advantage. It’s good having teams like (Downingtown) West, (Downingtown) East and Owen J. (Roberts) here, to be the best you have to beat the best.

Coatesville will be represented at 132 pounds by Noah Stevens, who snagged third place overall by fighting through the consolation bracket with back-to-back wins to work his way into the mix.

At Boyertown on Saturday, 145-pounder Matt Brownback was solid early on as he scored a pin and a decision in the first two rounds before having to settle for a fourth place finish.

The District One South AAA championship action starts Friday evening and carries over with the quarter, semis and finals on Saturday among 30 teams in attendance.

PIAA District One section IIII-Boyertown High School

Championship Finals