With a unique swagger, Oxford’s Cannon Hershey seeks elusive state medal

OXFORD >> In a lot of ways, Cannon Hershey looks like a prototypical wrestler.

That compact, fit build boasts a bulging cauliflower ear, scars and scabs on his extremities and a wrestling/American flag combo tattooed on his skin. 

But Hershey often stands out on the wrestling mats, especially around the oft-cushy and conventional Chester County confines. His passion and swagger are rarely tamed or hidden behind his fiery blue eyes.

It’s what makes Hershey, a 120-pound senior at Oxford High, what he is. And while he can be polarizing at times, he’s a show you don’t want to miss.

“I’m my own person,” Hershey said. “I’m not somebody for someone else. You love me or you hate me.”

It didn’t take long for Hershey to make his presence known in the high school ranks. In his second tournament as a freshman, Hershey pinned Downingtown West’s Dom Findora in dramatic fashion, following it with a passionate roar that filled West Chester Rustin’s gym.

A year later, in the finals at the Wetzel Classic, Hershey was headed to a loss against Interboro’s Nate Shippey when some post-whistle antics evoked boos from the crowd.

“Prior to this, I only knew him in passing,” Oxford coach Tony Fabri said. “I’d see him wrestling at events and it wasn’t exactly the best impression. He was a little wild at times.”

Hershey’s production has been worth the hiccups. In his first three seasons, Hershey has gone 67-23, and qualified for states the past two winters. Of those 67 wins, 39 have come by fall, displaying his explosive style. Now, Hershey has his mind set on climbing the podium at states, a feat a Hornet hasn’t done since Nick Ruggear in 2010.

For Fabri, who spent the previous seven seasons as head coach at Ridley before taking over at Oxford in the offseason, it’s not about changing who Hershey is, but channeling all that energy into a winning formula.

“It’s why he’s accomplished what he has,” Fabri said of Hershey’s passion. “I’ve looked at some of the stuff he’s done and I think he’s gotten where he is on sheer heart. Technically, I don’t think he’s picking guys apart, but I think he just wore guys down between his fitness and his style … It’s just getting him in the right mindset. If he has to deal with a little bit of adversity by giving up a takedown or this and that, he can wrestle through it.”

By now, Hershey knows who he is and where he’s from. Following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Hershey is a fourth-generation wrestler in his family. Cannon’s father, Tim Hershey, reached states in 1996 and won 110 career matches at Oxford.

At the same time, everyone else at least knows who Cannon is, and whichever way they perceive him, Cannon is happy to add it as fuel to his fire.

“I’m a bit of a hot head, so that kind of transfers into staying aggressive during matches,” Cannon explained. “I’ve taken the, I don’t want to call them haters, but the ones who are against me and really used it to my advantage to dominate and keep dominating more. And I’ve taken the ones that cheer me on and keep me positive to keep me going and strive for greatness.”

Oxford has been trending upwards the last few years, thanks in part to a strong nucleus. Along with Hershey, Reiland Canaday (126 pounds), Ben Smith (138) and Austin McMillan (132) make for a talented quartet to test each other, daily, while Jeremy McKinney (189) has grown into a threat up top.

The standard has been set by Hershey, and trying to match his frantic pace only elevates those teammates hoping to join him at the PIAA Championships.

“He’s very spirited, to put it nicely, but he’s a great wrestler,” Smith said. “It definitely makes him who he is. He’s either 100 percent confident in what he’s about to do or he’s going to go out there and butt heads with someone. He’s always looking to push the pace on the mat and he always has that drive when he’s out there.”

Due to pandemic, Oxford was unable to compete in the regular season last year, meaning Hershey and company had to hit the ground running at the sectional tournament. 

Hershey won six of his first eight matches before going 0-2 in the super-regional tournament. Another year without a state medal just added to Hershey’s inspiration, and he’s hoping all those sessions with former four-time Pennsylvania state champion, Chance Marstellar, and a full regular season will lead to his career culminating on the podium in a town fittingly called Hershey.

“It really made me determined for my senior year,” Cannon Hershey said. “It made me want more out of myself. Wanting to go into Hershey and place last year and not getting the opportunity, that was kind of my drive and motivation for this year, to get back to Hershey and at least place top eight, hopefully top five.”

Restarting the machine

The past four years have been the most fruitful stretch, from a state medal perspective, ever for the Ches-Mont League. Wrestlers from the league have produced 23 medals since 2018, seven from last year — but Downingtown West’s Dom Findora is the lone returning medalist. That’s the lowest amount since West’s Doug Zapf was the only returning place-winner heading into the 2018 season.

In an area not highly-regarded as a wrestling hotbed, the ebbing process is to be expected, but how far will be determined this winter. 

West Chester Henderson has a pair of returning state qualifiers, Carmen Cortese (120) and Billy Wilson (132); Kennett’s Darrale Barrett and West Chester Rustin’s Marek Seaman are returners at 172 pounds; and Oxford’s Cannon Hershey is a two-time qualifier. Downingtown East’s Bo Horvath also qualified for states last year, but he is not wrestling this season.

Back to reality

While the pandemic just won’t end, the wrestling season appears to be back to normal after an abbreviated run a year ago. Unionville didn’t get cleared to compete until the final week of the regular season and Oxford wrestlers combined for a total of 19 matches. This not only made it hard to prepare for the postseason, but also prevented many wrestlers from the postseason, with a committee selecting who got in.

The lack of competitions a year ago put the onus on the individual wrestlers to get their work in, without the typical structure.

That makes it hard to gauge what truly to expect from these athletes and teams. Many will be motivated to make up for lost time. Unionville’s Topher Tryon (152) or Avon Grove’s Dominic Osborne (189) are two examples of those who weren’t selected to the sectional tournament.

Tryon had his freshman season ended early, due to injury, and last winter he went 4-0, but didn’t have enough of a resume to get picked for the postseason. He could be someone to keep an eye on. So is Osborne, who went 6-0 as a junior and can be a dangerous pinner.

Then there are those like Oxford’s Ben Smith (132), West Chester East’s Rhys Holvey (160) and Rustin’s Anthony Meadows (215), who opted out last year. Each will be welcomed additions to their team’s lineups.

Last year’s freshmen class hardly had a chance to get its feet wet. Kennett’s duo, Joey Wuchter (132) and John Pardo (215) flashed with trips to regionals. West’s Troy Mack (285) only got two matches before his initial campaign was ended by injury, but he has some potential.

Who’s on top?

As stated above, it’s nearly impossible to predict how things will shake out by looking at rosters full of wrestlers at new weights, who barely wrestled a year ago. There is no doubt, however, that Malvern Prep is going to be dominant.

The Friars have eight kids ranked top-25 in the country, according to Matscouts, and are the No. 2 team in the country after finishing No. 1 a year ago. Malvern has a two-time national champ (Cole Deery) who doesn’t have a spot in the starting lineup, thanks to Nick Feldman (285), who’s the No. 1 kid in the country. Many of the Friars’ backups would be amongst the best in the Ches-Mont.

In the public school realm, Henderson appears to be the team to beat in the Ches-Mont National Division. The Warriors have graduated some pretty significant star power the last couple years, with Killian Delaney and Sammy McMonagle gone, but Henderson is sturdy throughout the lineup. Whether or not the Warriors can continue finding the state podium is yet to be determined, but as a dual team, they will be hard to beat in this area. Downingtown West and West Chester East look to duke it out as challengers.

In the American Division, things are much tighter. On paper, it appears Kennett, Oxford, Sun Valley and West Chester Rustin should have some exciting duals against one another. The Vanguards are the reigning champs and have talent sprinkled throughout their lineup. Kennett has some rising stars, but some holes in the lineup could prove costly in a dual. Oxford is top-heavy, with some good skill leading the way. If the inexperienced Hornets can follow suit, Oxford should be tough.

And Rustin is Rustin. The Golden Knights make up another full lineup of solid wrestlers, albeit without a lot of star power. Their consistency always makes them a tough out.