On to Hershey … the “final frontier” for Pennsylvania high-school wrestlers.
“Notorious Nine,” anyone?
How about “Nasty Nine?”
Or even, as suggested by this newspaper in Sunday’s headline, “Fine Nine?”
Whatever catchy nickname is attached to Boyertown’s hefty contingent that qualified for the 2016 PIAA Championships, there’s no denying it has been — and undoubtedly will be — a team for the ages.
The nine Bears who qualified for the PIAA Class AAA Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey were termed records for both the Boyertown program and District 1. They include four members of the storied “Fab Five” from one year ago, who all brought home medals — headed by Jordan Wood’s gold at 220 and Jakob Campbell’s bronze at 106 — and the distinction of fourth place in the team standings.
To complete a three-peat of the past weekend’s Southeast AAA Regional, the nine were joined by three other teammates in collecting 151.5 points … almost 30 points more than second-place Council Rock South (122). It was speculated the total could have been a district record if Wood, who sustained a season-ending rib and cartilage injury at the district tournament, would have been in action pursuing a fourth 220-pound region medal.
“Our team as a whole is so great,” Tommy Killoran, the tournament’s 285-pound champion and Boyertown’s lone gold medalist, said afterward. Killoran was one of the “Fab Five” from the 2014-15 season, whose ranks included classmates Wood, Gregg Harvey (182), Lucas Miller (126) and Jakob Campbell (106).
Joining them in first-ever trips to Hershey for the individual tournament are Matt Wilde (106), David Campbell (120), Garrett Mauger (132), J.T. Cooley (138) and Elijah Jones (170). Wilde, Mauger and Jones were third in their brackets, with David Campbell and Cooley scoring fourths.
Harvey has been a two-time visitor to states, finishing sixth last year. Killoran also came away with a sixth-place medal while Miller was fifth.
As has been the case at each of the previous post-season levels, the Boyertown coaching staff permitted its athletes to celebrate their accomplishments just the same day they were achieved. Then it was back to work the next day,
“We’ll enjoy it tonight,” head coach Pete Ventresca, who was named the region’s Outstanding Coach last weekend, said. “Then we start work (Sunday) for states. We don’t have a whole lot of time.”
The work will undoubtably include the creation of T-shirts similar to the “Fab Five” apparel of one year ago, which showed a Hershey bar emblazoned with “Boyertown” and the names of the five state qualifiers.
TOP FLIGHT
Along with Boyertown and Spring-Ford, four other Pioneer Athletic Conference schools will send representatives to the state championships this week.
Going for Pottstown will be senior Bryant Wise, who finished second at 145 in the regional. Wise (28-4) will be making his third visit to Hershey, and looking to reach the medal stand after missing out the first two times.
Methacton’s Bryce Reddington, who topped Wise for the Southeast AAA 145-pound title, will also be in attendance. The Warrior junior (31-4) qualified for states his sophomore year.
Xavier Ferrizzi will be representing Owen J. Roberts after placing third at 195. The Wildcat senior (13-3) is making a second trip to Hershey for the individual tournament.
Upper Perkiomen junior Michael Modugno (32-12), who scored a bronze medal at regionals, qualified for his first state tourney in the process.
TOM TERRIFIC
He proved some of the predictors wrong, and validated the beliefs of others.
In speculation about which individual would be named the Southeast AAA Regional’s Outstanding Wrestler, there was considerable sentiment for the winner of the marquee matchup of Council Rock South’s Riley Palmer and Upper Darby’s Colin Cronin in the 138-pound final. Their combined 77-3 record — and Cronin’s 38-0 mark coming into the final — supported much of that argument.
That match ended up going in Palmer’s favor by the eyelash of a 1-0 decision. By that time, Boyertown heavyweight Tommy Killoran had capped a pin-filled weekend by dropping Neshaminy’s Bruce Graeber in the third period of the 285-pound final.
And when the OW selection by the competing teams’ coaches was announced at the end of the tournament, it was Killoran’s name being called.
“It’s awesome … absolutely,” he said.
Killoran’s victory over Graeber made him 2-for-3 against the Neshaminy gladiator in a year’s span of pairings. Graeber, who put a 34-1 season record against the Bear senior’s 38-7 mark, had topped Killoran by an 8-2 count when they wrestled for fifth place at Hershey in 2015; that was on the heels of Killoran’s narrow 4-3 victory in the 2015 tourney’s gold-medal bout.
Killoran became Boyertown’s first OW selection at the regional level since 2004, when current assistant coach Mike Spaid did so en route to a 285-pound state championship finish.
Spaid noted Killoran won’t be able to match his stellar post-season performance in 2004, which saw him pin his way through the tournaments all the way to state gold at 285. Killoran’s otherwise pin-fueled run this past month was interrupted in the semifinal round of the PAC-10 tourney, with a major decision of Owen J. Roberts’ William Scherfel in their semifinal-round matchup.
Ironically, Killoran got a drop of Scherfel the following week, in the District 1-AAA West competition’s quarterfinal round.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
As if wrestling an opponent wasn’t enough…
Like so many of his peers in the sport, Hunter Mitch has done that more than a hundred times at the high-school level. But it’s a safe bet there aren’t a lot of them who have dealt with the challenges the Spring-Ford senior has faced.
Talking after he won the 120-pound gold medal at the Southeast AAA Regional, Mitch noted he has been contending with asthma and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) while engaged in his wrestling pursuits. Both conditions require treatment with medications: An inhaler for the asthma, a controller pill for the ADHD.
“It’s an awful thing to deal with,” he said.
Happily, neither condition has impacted Mitch in his run through the postseason. After losing to Boyertown’s David Campbell in their championship match at the PAC-10 Championships, he edged Campbell at the District 1-AAA West tournament — the Outstanding Wrestler award was presented to him in the process — before he rolled through the regional bracket this past weekend, edging Garnet Valley’s Matt Marino in the final, 3-2.
“I felt really great,” Mitch said. “I went out in the right frame of mind. Winning last week set me up perfectly.”
Mitch will join Brandon Meredith (106) and Steve Rice (170) in Hershey later this week. While Mitch (35-7) and Meredith (34-7) are making their first visits to state-level competition, Rice (35-4) was part of the Rams’ seven-man crew performing at the Giant Center last winter.
“Hunter’s on a roll, wrestling with a lot of confidence,” head coach Tim Seislove said.
BY THE NUMBERS
On the career-win front, several area grapplers improved their positions during the regional-tourney week.
Boyertown’s Gregg Harvey is sixth all-time with 164. He trails the program’s win leader, Alex Pellicciotti (Class of 2010), who’s fifth with 170.
Lucas Miller came out of the weekend with 151, highlighted by a milestone 150th in Friday’s quarterfinal-round win against West Chester East’s Noah Hankin. Currently 12th all-time,
Miller is in position to overtake three Upper Perkiomen alumni — Darren Kern (154), Ryan Kemmerer and Wolfgang McStravick (both 152) with another productive showing at states.
Pottstown’s Bryant Wise upped his career total to 120 through the regional, tied for 60th place. Boyertown’s Garrett Mauger (116) is part of a six-way tie for 68th place, and junior teammate Jakob Campbell is tied with four others for 75th place at 114.
While those three will look to add to their career totals in Hershey, Spring-Ford senior Matt Krieble finished with 101 after placing fifth at 138 this past weekend.
