HERSHEY — The way Bryce Reddington sees it, he’s right on track.
Forget for a moment his season and his initial trip to the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships at Hershey’s Giant Center ended Friday afternoon with a heartbreaking, 3-1, overtime loss to Bethlehem Catholic’s Joey Gould in the 132-pound third round of consolations.
More importantly, Reddington had a blast and joyfully took it all in.
The Methacton High sophomore ignored all that talk about first-time jitters and deer-in-the-headlights nervousness, and throughout his stay, the Warriors 132-pounder wore a perpetual smile.
“I was more excited than anything,’ Reddington said of his first state match Thursday, a tight, 3-2 verdict over Carlisle’s Brady Meals. “To be going up against some of the best wrestlers in the state? It’s a great learning experience.’
That learning curve included getting pinned by Waynesburg’s AC Headlee, one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the country, in the next round.
And while Reddington wasn’t dancing a jig over the result, he wasn’t about to boot his headgear across the arena, either.
“He’s tough customer,’ Reddington said. “He’s real good.
“I can’t get pinned there, but it shows me where I have to go, where I have to get to. It gives me something to shoot for.’
An overtime win over Upper Dublin’s Collin Devlin, who’s become a familiar foe over the past couple of weeks, kept Reddington alive in the chase for state hardware.
“I know he’s going to work hard,’ Reddington said. “He did what his coaches wanted him to do and he wrestled tough.
“And it was fun.’
The medal chase came to an end Friday via a late overtime takedown by Gould.
There would be no medal, but it’s safe to say the fuse has been lit, and is no danger of being extinguished.
“The plan was to get noticed as a freshman, get to states as a sophomore and medal up here as a junior,’ Reddington said of the plan dually devised by Reddington and his dad, former Methacton standout Neil Reddington. “I felt I could place here this year, but I still have to do what I always do, and that’s take one match at a time.’
The sophomore was not fortunate enough to tote home a medal, but the disappointment did little to dim his megawatt smile.
“This is a lot of fun,’ he said. “I used to play a lot of baseball when I was younger, but you can’t beat this up here.
