Think of it as a family within a family.
The Campbell clan is a very extensive presence within the Boyertown High School wrestling program. Brothers Brian and David Campbell, their spouses and their three sons have been fixtures on the community’s wrestling scene from the youth level, through middle school and up to the high school ranks.
Boyertown twins Jakob, left, and David Campbell, along with the entire Campbell family, have been a key part to the Bears’ success this season. (Photo courtesy BASHWrestling.com)
David’s twin sons, Jakob and David, are in their third years of active membership on the high school varsity team. The juniors have a combined 191 wins and 13 medals in individual league, district, regional and state tournaments … and that’s with one more year of competition still ahead of them.
Brian’s son, Evan, is in his third year with the high-school program. He’s among the eight members of the Class of 2016, who’ve been instrumental in the team’s achievement of numerous three-peats the past three seasons.
Brian, a standout wrestler with Pottstown in the late 1980s, is an assistant to head coach Pete Ventresca. He’s been tracking the progression of the second generation up the ranks of Boyertown wrestling. Brian’s wife, Jessica, is currently treasurer of the Boyertown Area Wrestling Association, a booster organization for all levels of the Boyertown wrestling program from youth to high school. She also served as a member of the BAWA board of directors during the 2014-15 season.
And the elder David, though never having participated in the sport as a competitor, has been active in several capacities. He served as president of the Boyertown Youth Wrestling Club (BYWC), and now he and his wife Chris cheer on the boys at the various dual matches and tournaments in which they’re participating.
“The whole family is on board,” Brian said.
* * *
At this point in his junior season, Jakob Campbell has already put together a mat career the envy of wrestlers who’ve logged more time.
He’s 32-4 heading to the PIAA Championships this week, 114-24 for his career. He’s been a PAC-10 and District 1-AAA West champion at 106 his first two years — and at 113 this season — finished second (twice) and third in Southeast AAA Regional tournaments and placed third at states last year.
While compiling all those lofty credentials, he’s dispelled any notions of sibling rivalry with Dave on or off the mats. Quite the contrary: They share an even tighter bond than other Boyertown wrestlers may have with their practice partners.
“It’s awesome. He’s my best friend,” Jakob said. “We help each other. We’ve been through the highest of highs and lowest of lows … we pick each other up.”
David, in turn, has a 38-11 season record and is 86-47 for his scholastic career to date. He had a breakout sophomore campaign of sorts, placing second at 120 in the PAC and district tournaments and sixth at regionals.
And he credits a measure of his success to his twin’s influence.
Boyertown’s Jakob Campbell is congratulated by coach Pete Ventresca after winning his 100th career match against Unionville during the District 1-AAA Duals Tournament at West Chester Rustin. (Nate Heckenberger – For Digital First Media)
“I always have a great practice partner,” David said. “I get a better workout every day. Jake does everything he can to help me get to where I want to be.”
“I love it,” Ventresca added. “You have two kids who are hard workers, who help the team out on the mat and in the room.”
The twins have been at it through the BYWC and junior-high school … and not just in organized competition, either.
“We’d wrestle in the living room, break furniture and get yelled at,” David recalled.
To eliminate that problem, the family got a wrestling mat one Christmas season and put in the basement of their home. That became the site of somewhat-organized practice sessions between the brothers, overseen by their uncle.
“When we were little, he’d come over Sunday afternoons,” Jakob noted. “We had a wood stove in the basement which we’d light to get the heat up, and we’d work out.”
A Greco-Roman dummy was a gift another Christmas season.
“The presents were more of a wrestling nature over the years,” Chris recalled.
The brothers are equally as effusive about the influence their Uncle Brian has had on their progression through youth and middle-school wrestling to the high-school level.
“He’s been my idol. I look up to him,” Jakob said. “He’s been there before. I wish I could go back in time to see how he wrestled.”
“He’s a mentor,” David added. “I look up to him a lot for what he achieved in high school, and his career.”
Off the mats, the near-identical twins — Jakob has a small patch of white hair on the left side of his head as the main feature differentiating him from David — have been known to prank classmates and teachers by switching identities. On occasion, they have taken each other’s place in classes — their math teacher one of the good-natured victims of their switcheroos.
“He has a good sense of humor,” David said. “He’ll ask which one of us he has. If we wear the same style clothes, no one can tell us apart.”
* * *
Long before they started battling opponents on the wrestling mat, the Campbell twins were in a much more serious fight: The fight to have a normal childhood.
Jakob and David were born prematurely, 11 weeks ahead of the normal 40-week pregnancy cycle. Their father remembered how trying a time he and Chris had in the first year of the twins’ lives.
“I’m ecstatic they have a normal life,” David said. “They had a rough start.”
The twins eventually participated in a number of sports during their early years. Ultimately, however, they gravitated toward grappling.
“David and Jacob also ran track, played lacrosse and football,” their father noted. “But wrestling was more suited for them.”
Jakob compiled a 106-12 record in four years of BYWC action, 23-0 in two years at junior-high level. David was 93-11 in his four seasons of youth wrestling, and 24-2 in the junior-high program.
“They educate themselves. If they’re not in the (wrestling) room, they’re looking at films,” David said.
“They outwork everybody,” Brian added. “They surprise me. They know more about the sport than I do.”
For all their years of competition at the various levels, the Campbell twins were never about going head-to-head. Their father related how, in instances where they were paired against each other in youth tournaments, they would take turns forfeiting so as to not have to take sibling rivalry to a whole other level.
That course of action set well with their parents, who admitted it would have been difficult for them to root for one over the other.
“We wanted both to do the same, not have one do better than the other,” Chris said. “That’s the hard part about being a mom.”
“We never wanted it to be about who was better,” David added.
While the boys were developing their wrestling skills, their parents were becoming involved in the sport in different ways.
David was nominated to be the youth-club president. “Somebody had to do it. It grew from there. With my getting involved, I got other people involved.”
Chris’ role was described as that of a “team mom” and nutritionist for her sons. When they got into the high-school program, she would volunteer to bring in food for the tournaments the program hosted.
“I’m the one who feeds them and keeps fluids in them,” she said.
* * *
Brian Campbell’s resume’ as a wrestler is considerable in its own right.
The 1989 Pottstown graduate won 100 matches, one silver medal from two trips to the state tournament, and two regional championships. He was a three-time sectional titlist, a district silver medalist his senior season, and twice placed third at that level in previous years.
Brian went on to wrestle at both Lock Haven and Millersville University, one year at each college.
“For me, I went for the education,” he said.
Brian served as assistant coach at Boyertown Junior High-West during the time his son, Evan, was in the program, He moved up to the high-school program when Evan did, serving as an assistant to Ventresca.
“As a coach, I try to be like (Pottstown assistant) John Armato,” Brian said. “He made everyone feel like they were part of the team.”
“I’ve known Brian for years,” Ventresca recalled. “He was an incredible wrestler at Pottstown and in college.”
* * *
Evan Campbell was a three-year participant with the high-school wrestling team. His junior season of 2015 was the most productive: A 7-7 record at 160, with six of his wins coming off pins.
Evan was unable to crack the varsity lineup his senior season, however, due in part to concussion issues with which he dealt early in the year. But he remained a member of the team throughout the season.
“He’s been part of the program, from youth wrestling on up,” Brian said of his son. “For him to stick it out the whole time … he can be proud of himself. He’s developed a work ethic from wrestling.”
He said the same thing about Jakob and David, whose development in the sport has snowballed from their debuts with the BYWC a decade ago.
“I can’t say enough about the twins. They’re going to be successful in life. They put a lot of pressure on each other.”
Earlier this season, Jakob did more than just reach triple digits in victories … he bypassed Brian. Jakob is currently tied for 75th place with four other wrestlers … among them Boyertown alumnus Tony Malfaro (Class of 2004).
“It’s always a thrill. The kid deserves everything he’s gotten,” Brian said.
David, with 86 career wins to date, is on track to join Jakob on the area’s career-win chart their senior season. He will become the program’s 26th grappler to hit triple digits in victories.
* * *
Jessica Campbell is also an active member of the Boyertown wrestling community — in a supporting role.
Brian’s wife/Evan’s mother is involved with the Boyertown Area Wrestling Association as a board member. The organization supports all levels of Boyertown wrestling, conducting fundraisers to help cover expenses associated with tournaments and maintaining the practice room at the Hollenbach YMCA — a room that has been used extensively by the high-school team during the ongoing construction project at the senior high.
“I wanted to get more involved,” the Pottstown graduate, whose extracurricular credits included participation on the high-school band and the middle-school wrestling cheerleader squad, said. “I was happy to help.”
Jessica was part of BAWA’s growth to 13 board members. They oversee such fundraising activities as a good fortune lottery, which ties in with the Pennsylvania Lottery’s daily drawings, and a golf outing in September.
“We’re looking at new fundraisers to bring more money in,” she said.
* * *
This year’s Boyertown lineup showed very little variation from the 2014-15 crew that won repeat district and regional team championships while finishing fourth at the PIAA tournament.
Seniors like Jordan Wood, Gregg Harvey, Tommy Killoran, Lucas Miller, Brody O’Connell and Garrett Mauger meshed with the Campbell twins and other underclassmen like J.T. Cooley, Chris Berry, Hunter Vogels, Elijah Jones and Matt Wilde to maintain that level of continuity throughout the current season.
That won’t be the case next year, though, with the program’s stellar seniors moving on after graduation. It will fall to the various members of the Class of 2017 to exhibit a higher level of leadership with four-fifths of last year’s “Fab Five” state medalists (Wood, Harvey, Miller, Killoran) gone.
It’s a role Jakob — the fifth member of those five and a co-captain this year — has assumed.
“I feel the responsibility, and I love it,” he said. “You show the other guys how it is, and how to run their business.”
With David standing side-by-side at the lower end of the weight scale, the continuity figures to stay in place.
“It’s great to have brothers,” Ventresca said. “They push each other to make the team better. They give depth to the lineup, and help excel as a team.
“I’ll take as many Campbells as I can get.”
* * *
The state tournament will get under way Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey with preliminary, first-round and first-round consolations for both Class AA and AAA. Class AA kicks off the action at 9 a.m., with Class AAA starting at 4 p.m.
On Friday, Class AA will have quarterfinal, semifinal and four rounds of consolations on tap starting at 9 a.m. Class AAA will have quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations beginning at 2:15 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule will be heavier for AAA, semifinals and two rounds of consolations at 9 a.m. preceding medal-round matches at 7 p.m. Class AA’s medal bouts will start at 2 p.m.
The AAA field will have 17 area representatives, Daniel Boone 220-pound junior Jesse Enck (36-3) joining grapplers from six Pioneer Athletic Conference schools. Along with Boyertown’s nine and Spring-Ford’s three, Pottstown, Owen J. Roberts, Methacton and Upper Perkiomen each have one wrestler at states.
