Sciarrino looks for hard work to pay off

The rain flowing down on this Tuesday was leaking through the ceiling of a Springfield High School weight room. The lone tenant, Cougars’ wrestler Chris Sciarrino, slumped on a workout bench that was in need of some upholstery.
A quick glance at him dripping with sweat after taking a break from practice next door and you could have assumed the gathering puddle was a product of his perspiration, not pure water from above.
Sciarrino, 18, not only prepares the way all wrestlers must, he never stops working. The senior recently reached two milestones that stamped his place in Springfield wrestling history. He surpassed the 100-win plateau after his fourth consecutive 26-plus win season. In the process, he achieved iron man status, and became just the seventh Cougar to do so, by appearing in every varsity match from his freshman year on.
“It means a lot to me,” Sciarrino said of the two distinctions. “I’ve been wrestling since I was four, so whenever I came up here for SA meets, the youth club, I would always look up at those banners and try to imagine my name on there one day.”
There’s still one banner left that could bear Sciarrino’s name — the list of state medalists.
That pursuit begins Saturday when Upper Darby hosts the Central League Championships.
“I’m trying to get to states this year,” Sciarrino said. “That’s my main goal.”
With an eye toward Hershey, Sciarrino downplayed reaching the century mark. Simple math took away from the suspense. He figured since he won 79 matches his first three years, good health would take him to 100 victories and beyond. Still, the moment itself proved special. Sciarrino’s older brother Joey, who graduated last year, finished with 99 wins after bowing out in the 2015 District One AAA tournament.
Chris’s time to do one-better came against Wissahickon’s Jack Jones at the Central Bucks East Invitational in January. It was nearly an anticlimactic occasion.
“I was a little nervous because the team we were supposed to have first had a forfeit at my weight — at 52 and 60,” Sciarrino said. “We wrestled that team before so they switched up the bracket and it gave us a better match. I went out there, I think I pinned him in a cradle (in 1:35). After the match, my parents were right there with the sign. I got to celebrate with my team, with my coaches. It was pretty exciting.”
Exciting, but secondary to higher aspirations.
“This year, I was more focused on trying to get to states,” Sciarrino said. “I knew the wins would come. So I knew I was going to get it. I’m more focused on working my hardest right now.”
He’s become a better wrestler because of it. First-year Springfield assistant Brian Tanen, a Lehigh grad who qualified for the 2012 NCAA Championships at 157 pounds, noticed a change in Sciarrino.
“He’s definitely gotten more aggressive. I don’t know if it was timid wrestling at the beginning of the year, but he’s trying a lot more things,” Tanen said. “He went from not scoring much to actually getting some turns and takedowns every once in a while. He’s working harder each day.”
In addition to his assistant coaching duties, Tanen quickly became Sciarrino’s go-to sparring partner. The pupil was eager to learn from a wrestler who not only achieved collegiate success, but placed fourth in states as a Souderton senior in 2007.
“He’ll come up to me and ask to drill. He’s always looking to work hard,” Tanen said. “He’s super coachable. If I show something to him, you’ll see him try it that day or at the next match.”
Sciarrino simply wanted to improve on his previous postseason showings. He won the Central League at 145 pounds a season ago but has yet to place at districts despite three consecutive trips.
Last year’s performance was particularly disappointing. Sciarrino lost his first two matches and was quickly out of the running.
“Going in there, my first match (against Pottstown’s Mason Pennypacker), I did a stupid move. I left my hand up. The kid put me on my back, five points at the start,” he recalled. “That kind of messed my head up. From the rest of the day on out, I just didn’t do too good.”
The finish, though, gave him added motivation for his senior season.
“It made me real upset. It made me work harder,” Sciarrino said. “In the offseason, I was going to practices, lifting a lot, trying to get in shape for this year. I think the difference was the past three years I’ve been showing up, but I didn’t really have a purpose. I don’t think I’m going to wrestle in college, so this is kind of like my last hurrah.”
So far, everything has gone to plan. Sciarrino finished the regular season with a superb 28-3 record, including 18 pins without getting pinned himself. Having surpassed his brother on the all-time wins list, another family member sits ahead of him. His uncle Sean Reed amassed 117 victories and earned a state berth during his Cougars career. Reed also influenced Sciarrino’s parents to get the kids — including 13-year-old youngest brother Alex — involved in the sport.
With 107 wins, Sciarrino would need a big postseason to gain full bragging rights in the family.
“It’s all up to him. He can go as far as he wants to go,” Tanen said. “He’s got the technique for it. He’s got the work ethic for it. It’s just in his head when he decides, ‘This is the level I want to get to.’ That’s where he’s going to get.”
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In addition to Sciarrino, there are plenty of other wrestlers to watch at this weekend’s Central, Del Val and Ches-Mont league championship matches:
Eric Thomas, Interboro, 145 >> The lead Buc has much at stake this postseason: a fourth consecutive Del Val title, a second district championship and a return trip to Hershey. Thomas failed to place last year, but that’s provided him with proper motivation in 2016. He sits just five wins short of 130 for his career.
Matt Marino, Garnet Valley, 120 >> The top-ranked wrestler in District One’s 126-pound weight class, Marino sports a terrific 27-4 record with all four losses coming in decisions. It’s no surprise he made it out of the Southeast Region’s deepest division a season ago, when he took third to make it to states. At this point, few would bet against him reaching Hershey again. The trip has become something of a family tradition.
Colin Cronin, Upper Darby, 138 >> The best pound-for-pound wrestler in the county is ranked seventh in that category in the district, according to Pa-Wrestling.com. Cronin walked into Upper Darby as a prodigy. He’s since legitimized that status with a Southeast Region title as a sophomore and a 31-0 start to his junior campaign.
Vince Tavani, Haverford High, 120 >> The Fords’ senior narrowly missed out on a trip to Hershey after finishing sixth in the Southeast AAA Regional in 2015, an effort that landed him on the All-Delco team. Tavani has an added challenge this season, though. He wrestled at 106 pounds a year ago. Can he jump two weight classes and still make noise in the postseason? If he does, Tavani (25-6) should reach 100 wins for his career.
Christian Bateman, Sun Valley, 152 >> Bateman finished third in both the Ches-Mont and the districts in 2015 to join three other Vanguard teammates at the regional. Now a junior, the 152-pounder will look to improve on that impressive postseason debut. He carries a 24-4 record and 77 career victories into the post season.