It could be argued there’s little difference between the training programs for the U.S. Army and the Boyertown wrestling team.
Brody O’Connell will be in position to make that comparison later this year.
The Bear senior, a fixture in the team’s upper weight classes for a fourth season, recently revealed his plans to enlist in the Army National Guard following graduation from high school. That ties in with a second plan to attend Kutztown University to continue his academic and athletic careers.
Boyertown’s Brody O’Connell wrestles in the final of the PIAA Class AAA Team Championships at 195 last Sunday at Giant Center in Hershey. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
“I will get 100 percent of my tuition at Kutztown paid for,” he said. “There’s also the satisfaction of serving my country.”
O’Connell will be attending the Army’s basic training course at Fort Benning, Georgia, for 8-9 weeks this summer. He will then stay at Benning another five weeks for AIT (Advanced individual Training) in his MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) of infantry.
He will be returning to the area around mid-October, looking to start at Kutztown for the spring semester, looking to major in business administration. He noted the armory where his guard unit is housed is a short walk from the Kutztown campus.
As for his involvement with the Golden Bears’ wrestling program, that will be limited the first year to training with the team.
“I’ll be deferring my first season at Kutztown,” he explained.
O’Connell will be joining current Boyertown teammate/classmate Lucas Miller at Kutztown. The Golden Bear mat program, whose current senior class includes Methacton alumnus Brandan Clark, has compiled an 11-5 record (3-3 PSAC) heading into Tuesday’s dual-match finale at East Stroudsburg.
Brody O’Connell duels at 195 for Boyertown. #BuxMontWrestling https://t.co/px268e65bG
— Jeff Stover (@MercuryXstover) February 13, 2016
O’Connell noted his father offered considerable insight on what military service entails. Bill O’Connell was a Navy veteran who achieved chief rank during his time, and went through two deployments while serving.
Suffice it to say, the traditional Army vs. Navy rivalry has made for some interesting contacts between father and son.
“We joke about it, particularly with the Army-Navy game,” Brody said. “We go back and forth.”
And in considering this unique decision on his future, O’Connell noted getting a “very encouraging” response from teammates and coaches, among others.
“We’re a family as we are now,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for better team. With these guys, I can get through a match with their support.”
Before that all happens, O’Connell is focused on his involvement with the Boyertown wrestling team … writing a memorable final chapter to his scholastic career.
Brody goes into the Bears’ post-season individual tournament phase with a 23-13 record primarily at the 195-pound weight class. He has scored 13 pins for a Bear lineup coming off a runner-up finish in the PIAA Team Championships this past weekend.
In his first three years as a varsity performer, O’Connell (77-51) has placed fourth in the league tournament each year and at districts as a junior. Hid junior year saw him wrestle at 220 until teammate Jordan Wood returned to action after healing a shoulder injury, then move down to 195.
“I’d do anything for these guys,” he said. “If I have to cut weight, I’m proud to do it.”
Credit for his development as a winning wrestler went to Miller and Gregg Harvey, Boyertown’s 182-pound performer and O’Connell’s practice-room partner.
“He’s helped me immensely on my feet,” Brody said of Harvey, a three-time District 1-AAA West champion and two-time state-tournament qualifier. “He gives me different looks. Lucas Miller helped me, too, even though he’s at a different weight. I look up to him.”
(POST) SEASON’S GREETINGS
The dual matches are done. Now, high-school wrestling moves into the stretch run where individual performances take center stage.
Tournament time for the Pioneer Athletic Conference starts this weekend at Boyertown. It then moves on to Spring-Ford for the District 1-AAA West competition the following week (Feb. 27), then to Souderton for the Southeast AAA Regional tourney (March 4-5) … and back to Hershey for the PIAA Championships March 11-13.
Spring-Ford will be looking to defend its 2015 PAC tourney title. It rode the championship showings of six wrestlers past Boyertown, but only Steven Rice (170) returns from that senior-laden title lineup.
Boyertown, by comparison, has four PAC champions back looking to reclaim the tourney title they won during the 2014-15 season. Defending 220-pound state champion Jordan Wood is joined by fellow Bear state medalists Jakob Campbell (113), Lucas Miller (126), Gregg Harvey (182) and Tommy Killoran (285), who was runner-up to the Rams’ Zachary Dorsey at the PAC tourney.
Boyertown’s Gregg Harvey collects near-fall points to help him to a technical fall over Levi Wisor of Clearfield at 182 pounds on Feb. 11. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
Methacton’s Bryce Reddington (132) rounds out the list of defending PAC-10 individual champions.
Daniel Boone will get its post-season started this weekend in the District 3 AAA Section 4 tournament at Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School. The qualifiers from that level will head to Hersheypark Arena the weekend of Feb. 26-27 for the South Central AAA Regional in hopes of qualifying for states.
The Blazers’ highest-placing returnees from last year are Brenden Valverde (182) and Jesse Enck (220), who scored bronze medals in their respective brackets.
The Hill School’s post-season also kicks off this coming weekend at Malvern Prep, site of the Pa. Independent School Wrestling Tournament (PAISWT).
Dymir Davis-Carruth, a 220-pound finalist at the 2015 tourney, is the Blues’ highest-finishing returnee.
Those Blues advancing through states will then focus on the National Prep tournament the following weekend (Feb. 27-28), again at Lehigh University.
MILESTONES
Three and nine.
Those are the numbers associated with Mason Pennypacker’s recent career achievement. Hitting the 100-win mark for his scholastic mat career, Pottstown’s senior 152-pounder became the team’s third wrestler to do so this year — preceded by brother Logan Pennypacker and Bryant Wise — and the ninth in program history.
Next in position to join the area’s burgeoning (127 to date) career-win fraternity is Spring-Ford senior Matt Krieble, who goes into the post-season grind with 92 victories. Look for Krieble to get to triple digits around regional weekend if he wins through the league and district tournaments.
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Harvey made a bit of Boyertown program history during the district duals, reaching and surpassing the 150-win mark for his scholastic career.
Now, two other Bears are in position to make the same bit of history.
Boyertown’s Jordan Wood cheers on teammate Tommy Killoran during the final of the PIAA Class AAA Team Championships Saturday at Giant Center in Hershey. (Austin Hertzog – Digital First Media)
Miller (144) and Wood (143) have been making runs at that victory plateau, and they both figure to reach it during the post-season. They’re currently in a footrace to see who gets there first, though Wood (36-1) has been more unstoppable this winter than Miller (29-12).
When they do so, the Bear seniors will become their program’s third and fourth wrestlers to achieve that milestone. They will join Harvey (156) and 2010 alumnus Alex Pellicciotti (170), with shots at being in the area’s Top 10 by the time the season is over.
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A unique milestone is within Wood’s grasp.
Boyertown’s state-champion 220 pounder ran his career pin total to 97 through the Bears’ participation in the PIAA Team Championships, putting him three away from triple-digit stardom.
With a current career record of 143-5, Wood has averaged just above two falls for every three bouts wrestled. He has compiled 29 this year to date, out of 36 bouts.
