A better pairing of practice-room partners might not be found outside Boyertown Wrestling Nation.
Jordan Wood and Tommy Killoran spent a good part of the past two high-school seasons going at — and working with — each other during the team’s practice sessions. That interface was key in the development of both wrestlers and the success of the program, and it figured prominently in them being named The Mercury’s Co-Wrestlers of the Year for the 2015-16 season.
Killoran capped his season with a silver medal at the PIAA Class AAA tournament, emerging as the highest-finishing area wrestler. And while a chest injury prevented him from competing at the regional and state level a fourth time, Wood had a senior season marked by records and a slew of gold medals earned at regular-season and post-season tournaments.
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Jordan Wood remembers the first time he and Tommy Killoran crossed paths on a wrestling mat.
“We were in first grade, and it was the Pottsgrove Holiday Classic,” Wood recalled. “Tommy was a returning Eastern National finalist. We were wrestling in the semis, and he was winning with about 10 seconds left.
“I got a lucky takedown at the end to pull it out.”
Wood and Killoran made each other’s acquaintance more over the years: Together with the Boyertown Youth Wrestling Club (2007-12), as teammates at Boyertown Junior High-East (2011-12) and most recently with the Boyertown High program (2013-16). They became practice partners during the 2014-15 season, after Jordan made his recovery from a shoulder injury the previous summer, and remained so up to the rib-and-cartilage injury that curtailed Wood’s scholastic career following the District 1-AAA West Tournament.
Wood wrestled Killoran a couple times before that — he partnered with Jordan Wertz his sophomore season — but saw enough to be convinced of his classmate’s abilities.
“He showed freaky potential,” Wood noted, “but he didn’t realize he could take it places.”
Killoran, at the same time, developed his own impressions of Wood over the course of their interactions.
“His strength, speed and style. Being able to move with him … he showed me a lot,” Killoran said.
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“Steel on steel” is the analogy assigned to the Wood/Killoran collaboration … the idea they made each other better by going at each other full tilt in the practice room.
“Right away, I could see the potential in Tommy, and I knew about Jordan,” head coach Pete Ventresca said. “Having guys like that in the room was a dream.”
Boyertown’s Jordan wood, top, was named The Mercury’s All-Area Co-Wrestler of the Year along with teammate Tommy Killoran. (Nate Heckenberger – Digital First Media)
And their individual results spoke volumes about the connection.
Coming off a sixth place state-medal finish to a junior year that was his first as a varsity wrestler, Killoran (42-8) put together an even more-lustrous senior season.
He rolled through the post-season tournaments, winning gold at the PAC-10, District 1-AAA West and Southeast AAA Region competitions. At the regional, Killoran was named Outstanding Wrestler … becoming the first Boyertown wrestler accorded that honor at that level since current assistant coach Mike Spaid did so during his 2004 state-title run at 285.
Going into states off his OW showing at the regional, Killoran scored a first-period pin and two close decisions to reach the title round. In that bout, a late stalling call against him proved the difference in a 2-1 loss to Bethlehem Liberty’s Andrew Gunning.
“My ultimate goal was to be a state champ,” Killoran said. “It didn’t go the way I wanted, but it was still a big step up from last year.”
“I give all the credit to Tommy for putting the work in,” Ventresca added. “He’s intrinsically motivated. He improved his technique, learned how to wrestle and develop certain attacks.”
In addition to getting to the 285-pound state finals, Killoran improved his standing at the high-profile regular-season tournaments Boyertown attended. He placed third at the King of the Mountain and Escape the Rock competitions, and fifth at Beast of the East.
Boyertown’s Tommy Killoran closes in on a pin against Exeter’s Oscar Daniels in the 285-pound quarterfinal at the PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey.(Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
“Those were the best moments … getting to the finals, coming back and placing better in each tournament,” he said.
Along the way, Killoran had a number of other practice partners: Teammates Brody O’Connell and Gregg Harvey — the latter a state medalist at 182, the former a 195-pound medalist at the regional level — and coach Spaid. But the workouts he got from Wood were beyond compare.
“He got different feels in the room,” Ventresca noted, “but Jordan pushes Tommy more. Both guys pushed each other.”
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Before his senior campaign was abruptly halted by injury — but not before he won a fourth straight District 1-AAA West gold medal — Wood was cruising toward a fantastic finish to his career at Boyertown.
He had compiled a 39-1 record through the PAC-10 tournament — he claimed a fourth gold medal at that level — and emerged as a champion at the King of the Mountain and Escape the Rock tournaments. Wood also topped the 100-pin mark for his scholastic career, and he was on track to reach the 150-win plateau, ultimately ending his career with a 149-5 record.
The lone blemish on Wood’s season was a loss in the Beast of the East tournament’s championship bout. A 6-5 loss to Matt Corenti of Holy Cross (N.J.) denied a second straight perfect season; ironically, it served him well in one respect.
“It was an important part of the season … not the best part, but I was happy it happened,” he said. “I felt I had to wrestle perfectly in order to keep wrestling. But after that, the only thing that changed was (national ranking) going from 2 to 3.”
Boyertown’s Tommy Killoran, right, was named The Mercury’s All-Area Co-Wrestler of the Year along with teammate Jordan Wood. (DFM file photo)
Conversely, Wood was particularly cheered by his championship showing in the Escape the Rock Tournament, where he faced a rematch with the opponent he bested for gold at the 2015 PIAA Class AAA Tournament. He handled Malvern Prep’s Seth Janney — formerly of South Western — in a 5-1 decision.
“That was the biggest, individually,” he said. “It took the pressure off my shoulders. Two pins, a major decision, a rematch of the state final … it was a good mental achievement.”
Though the rib injury deprived him of being a four-time regional champ and state-tournament medalist, Wood chose to not obsess over the unexpectedly premature end to his scholastic career. Like the first two months of the 2014-15 campaign, when he was recovering from an off-season shoulder injury, Wood impacted Boyertown’s success in a different fashion.
“Once I was sidelined, I was still the team captain,” Wood said. “I was there for all the guys.”
Especially Killoran … though to a certain extent.
“I tried to give him as much advice as I could, from my own experience and impressions,” Wood said. “But he made it to the (state) finals on his own path.”
For all his successes during his three-year high school career, Wood came into the season looking to improve his standing in the sport.
“I wanted to work mentally … I wanted to improve in all aspects and become a more dominant wrestler,” he said.
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Boyertown’s Jordan Wood cheers on teammate Tommy Killoran during the final of the PIAA Class AAA Team Championships at Giant Center in Hershey. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
With their scholastic wrestling careers come to an end, Wood and Killoran will be heading in different directions following their graduation from Boyertown in two months.
Wood will be moving on to Lehigh University, where he plans to major in bioengineering and wrestle for the Mountain Hawks’ Division I program. Prior to heading up the road to Bethlehem, he plans to compete in Junior World freestyle competition.
Killoran, at present, hasn’t committed to any specific college. But he plans a return visit to Fargo, N.D. for the 2016 Asics/Vaughan Cadet/Junior National Championships, one of a number of freestyle and Greco-Roman tournaments at which he is looking to compete in the coming months.
They leave a wrestling program which they helped achieve considerable success this winter: A third straight unbeaten PAC-10 regular season, other three-peat championships at the District 1-AAA West and Southeast AAA Region tournaments and the District 1-AAA Duals, runner-up in the PIAA Class AAA Duals, King of the Mountain and Escape the Rock tournaments; a 22-1 dual-match record, and a whopping 13 district/regional qualifiers and unprecedented nine PIAA Class AAA advancers.
“It was an unbelievable year,” Ventresca said. “We saw good things happen to the kids. We had very good depth and balance.
“The guys were a special group. I’m going to miss all the seniors.”
