Next stop: Hershey.
That’s the week’s itinerary for the approximately two dozen area wrestlers whose 2014-15 seasons are still alive. They’ve worked their ways through three weekends of individual tournament action to reach this point: A trip to Chocolatetown USA … one they hope will end with state-level medals lifted over their heads and on their shoulders during the medal rounds of the PIAA Championships at the Giant Center.
That venue is a place eliciting mixed emotions from Jordan Wood. The Boyertown junior made two previous visits to the Center for the state tourney, coming away with 220-pound silver medals both times.
“The atmosphere there is great,’ Wood said, “but I didn’t get to the level I wanted.’
Wood’s gold-medal designs are shared by Owen J. Roberts’ Derek Gulotta, who is making his fourth trip to Hershey for an individual tourney. He placed eighth there his freshman and sophomore seasons, then stepped up higher last year by finishing fourth at 113.
Gulotta has moved up a step to the 120-pound weight class this season, compiling a 33-8 record highlighted by his championship outing at the Southeast AAA Regional this past weekend. Suffice it to say the Wildcat senior wants to make his Hershey swan song memorable.
“This is the one last step to get my last state medal,’ he said. “I want to finish off right.’
A total of 22 wrestlers from area schools will be competing at the Center this week. Pope John Paul II senior Michael Collins will be the lone representative in the Class AA bracket, joining a field that includes seven qualifiers from Spring-Ford, five apiece from Boyertown and Owen J, two from Upper Perkiomen and one apiece from Pottstown and Methacton.
The Bears are riding the wave of yet another post-season tourney outing. They repeated as Southeast team champions even while mustering only two individual titlists in Wood and Tommy Killoran (285).
Gregg Harvey (42-7) and Lucas Miller (39-10) were a respective second and third in the 182- and 126-pound divisions, with Jakob Campbell (38-10) adding a third at 106. And while they didn’t qualify for the next post-season step, David Campbell (113), Hunter Vogels (145) and Brody O’Connell (195) contributed to Boyertown’s team points — Campbell and Vogels with sixth-place finishes that garnered them medals.
“Everyone contributed,’ Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca said. “They all stepped up this weekend.’
Jakob Campbell and Harvey both made states in 2014, though both came up short of medal finishes. Miller saw his sophomore season end in the regional, making this trip to Hershey his first as an individual competitor.
“It’s going to be fun, but it’s also going to be stressful,’ Ventresca said.
Owen J. came out of the regional with three champions: Gulotta, Demetri D’Orsaneo (138) and Xavier Ferrizzi (195). Dominick Petrucelli was runner-up at 145, and Ryan Resnick placed fifth at 113.
It represents the Wildcat program’s biggest contingent at states, and leaves head coach Steve DeRafelo working to insure a big-enough bus is contracted to run the group to Hershey.
“We brought five here (to Oxford), and got five through,’ he said. “That’s the best I could have hoped for.’
D’Orsaneo (37-5) successfully defended his 138-pound regional title with a 7-2 decision of Interboro’s Eric Thomas. He will be looking to improve on last year’s eighth-place state finish.
“I feel good about it,’ the OJR senior said about his next trip to Hershey. “The bracket is going to be tougher, but getting to the finals … that’s my goal. I’m hoping for the best.’
Petrucelli (40-7) joined Gulotta and D’Orsaneo at states in 2014, though he wasn’t able to come home with a medal. Ferrizzi (37-5) and Resnick (40-11) are both first-time individual competitors at Hershey.
Spring-Ford’s seven-man contingent to states is the largest of the PAC-10 schools. Ryan Hayes’ runner-up finish at 120 was complemented by two third-placers, three fourths and a fifth … all of which helped the Rams finish a close third behind Pennridge (103-101) in the regional team standings.
Hayes (40-4) placed seventh at states his junior year. Regional bronze medalists Frankie Krauss (160, 41-3) and Zachary Dorsey (285, 40-4) are first-time Hershey qualifiers alongside teammates Jon Cooper (152, 27-19), Steve Rice (170, 34-13), Brendan Zimmie (195, 36-10) and Matt Krieble (138, 32-12).
Upper Perk senior Dustin Steffenino is the lone holdover from a PAC-10 trio that made states at 113, Gulotta and Hayes both moving up to 120. He takes a 35-1 record to Hershey in a bid to improve on last year’s eighth-place finish … one that came about off a loss to Hayes in the seventh-place bout.
“I hope to get a state title this time,’ Steffenino said. “It takes a lot of work to get to the top of the podium.’
Steffenino will be joined at Hershey by UP classmate Eric Miller, one of four PAC-10 grapplers to make states out of the regional’s 138-pound weight class. Miller (37-8) goes in as the Southeast fourth seed, edged by Pottstown junior Bryant Wise in the third-place bout, 3-1.
Wise (28-8) and Methacton’s Bryce Reddington (31-6), who claimed regional bronze at 132, round out the PAC’s field in Class AAA, which swings into action at the Giant Center Thursday with preliminary and first-round championship matches at 4 p.m. First-round consolations are on tap for 7:30 p.m.
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He’s already cemented his legacy in the annals of the Pope John Paul II wrestling program.
At the Giant Center this week, Michael Collins stands to raise the bar even further for Golden Panthers current and future.
With his third-place finish at the Southeast AA Regional tournament last weekend, Collins became the first PJP grappler to qualify for the PIAA Championships. His bronze-medal finish also made Collins the program’s highest-placing finish at the regional level, surpassing the sixth-place showing turned in by Conor Myers at the 2011 tourney.
“It’s such an honor to represent my school at such a huge event,’ PJP’s senior 182-pounder said during his weekend action at Wilson-West Lawn. “I mean, wrestling might not be the biggest sport in the country, but it certainly is one of the biggest in my mind. Just to be a part of that in one of the best wrestling states in the country, it’s truly an honor.’
Collins (30-2) breezed through his first two bouts at the regional, scoring a technical fall and major decision. His path to a gold medal was rerouted by a 2-1 overtime loss to Lehighton’s Connor Frey in the semifinals, but he got back on the winning track with a pin of Palmerton’s Jared Mooney and major decision of Hamburg’s Igancion Reynoso in the third-place bout.
“We were pretty pumped coming (into regionals),’ PJP head coach Jared Every said. “We knew Mike had the chance to get it done, and it’s really what he works for. He set a lot of lofty goals this season, and so far so good.
“We are not done yet. (This) week will be the big test, but we are really excited, and we know he is, too.’
Class AA will open the tournament Thursday with preliminary and first-round championship matches at 9 a.m. First-round consolations will follow at 12:30 p.m.
QUICK STUDY
In contrast to the familiarity Boyertown teammate Jordan Wood has with state-level competition, Tommy Killoran will be making his first trip to Hershey for an individual tournament.
Making that even more unique is the fact Killoran has accomplished that feat in his first year of varsity competition.
Killoran wrestled junior-varsity for the 2013-34 Bear program, which had Jordan Wertz, Jordan Wood and Brody O’Connell man the upper end of the varsity lineup. With Wertz graduating and Wood recovering from an off-season injury, the junior 285-pounder saw an opportunity for elevation to the varsity ranks this year.
His 40-11 record and tournament successes — first at the District 1-AAA West tournament, second at PAC-10s, top-sixes at King of the Mountain, Beast of the East, Escape the Rock — tells only part of the story behind Killoran’s fantastic first year of varsity wrestling.
“He’s deceptive, athletic, quick and has great balance,’ head coach Pete Ventresca said. “I think he’s going to place at states.’
Wood, himself having a memorable season in his own right, particularly enjoyed seeing his classmate’s tourney-capping victories at districts and regionals.
“The success Tom’s having … he deserves it,’ Boyertown’s junior captain said. “I’m happy for him.’
PERFECTION
He’s going to a PIAA individual tournament with an unbeaten record for the first time in his scholastic career.
But Jordan Wood will be one of several participants boasting that distinction. And some of the local qualifiers may cross paths with these “perfect specimens’ of max prowess sooner in the championship brackets rather than later.
At 120, Franklin Regional sophomore comes to Hershey with a 44-0 mark. The Southwest Regional champ and Spring-Ford’s Ryan Hayes could meet as early as the bracket’s quarterfinal round.
Hempfield Area senior Sam Krivus is at the top end of the 138-pound bracket sporting a 39-0 record. Pottstown’s Bryant Wise will be in line to wrestle Krivus in the first championship round, but Wise must first prevail over Father Judge’s Kyle Mallon in the preliminaries for that pairing to be set.
Penn Hills senior Te’Shan Campbell brings a 32-0 mark into the fray at 170. He will be a first-round opponent for Spring-Ford’s Steve Rice (34-13), who must first get past Penn Manor’s Jack Zimmerman in their prelim.
Wood isn’t the only unbeaten at 220, either. Kiski Area junior Tyler Worthing, the Southwest champ, is at the upper part of the bracket sporting a 17-0 mark.
Another Franklin Regional star, senior Mike Kemerer (37-0), comes in as a Southwest regional champ in the top part of the 145-pound bracket. That weight class boasts a second unbeaten in Central Bucks West’s Riley Barth (34-0), fresh from a title run in the Southeast regional.
At 152, Punxsutawney junior and Northwest champ Kaleb Young comes to Hershey with a Wood-like 16-0 record. Yet another Franklin Regional grappler with a perfect record is senior Josh Shields (37-0), the Southwest champ at 160. At 182, Mount Lebanon senior Kellan Stout comes in at 34-0.
In the bottom half of the 170 chart is Southern Lehigh’s Matt Mirth (29-0), a senior and Northeast Regional titlist. Finally at 285, Bo Spiller comes in with a 37-0 record and South Central regional title to his credit. The Solanco senior was a fourth-place finisher at states in 2014.
Mercury sports correspondent Tim Raub contributed to this article.
