BOYERTOWN >> A new season, a different look … but a familiar result in a familiar venue.
Boyertown got its 2016-17 season rolling Saturday by serving as host team for the Brian Bealer Memorial Bear Duals. And for the fourth straight year, the Bears came away with the team-championship trophy by sweeping their bracket in the 10-school competition.
Boyertown dominated its opponents in pool action, rolling past Dallas (57-18), Harry S. Truman (58-15), Governor Mifflin (46-25) and Garnet Valley (51-24). That put the Bears in a title match with Owen J. Roberts; and after a slow start, they put together a solid stretch run to come up with a 44-23 victory over their Pioneer Athletic Conference rivals.
“We wrestled great,” David Campbell, a senior co-captain and connection to the program’s glorious recent seasons, said. “We got fired up.”
Boyertown faced the unenviable task of replacing a 2016 class that featured state-level wrestlers like Jordan Wood, Tommy Killoran, Gregg Harvey, Lucas Miller and Garrett Mauger. They were prominent in the Bears finishing as the PAC regular-season, District 1-AAA West, 1-AAA Team Duals and Southeast AAA Regional champs the past three years.
But the Campbell brothers (David and Jakob), J.T. Cooley and Matt Wilde — remnants of the “Phenome-Nine” crew of 2016 state-tournament qualifiers — meshed with long-timers Chris Berry, Elijah Jones and Hunter Vogels to keep Boyertown on the winning track this winter. At the same time, the Bear brain trust is well aware there’s a lot more wrestling to undertake between now and mid-March.
“You can’t ever replace those guys from last year,” head coach Pete Ventresca said. “The guys from last year have to step up, and the young kids are showing promise.”
The seniors stepped up, to the tune of a combined 21-2 record in bouts. Berry, David Campbell and Wilde each went 5-0 — as did Elijah Jones — while Jakob Campbell and Michael Porreca were also perfect at 4-0. Chase Stehman, a freshman wrestling at 106, went 4-1, sophomore Jacob Miller was 3-2 and Connor Neiwswender and Mason Groshoski each went 2-2.
“The younger guys battle for every point,” Ventresca said. “They’ve worked hard and improved a lot.”
In the title match with Roberts, Boyertown fell behind by an 18-4 count through the first five bouts (145-182). But Jones got the Bears started on a roll that fashioned a 19-18 lead with Grohoski’s injury-default win at 285, and Stehman and Wilde added bonus points at 106 and 113, respectively, for a 29-18 lead the Wildcats were unable to erase the rest of the way.
“Technically, Boyertown’s kids did more than ours,” OJR head coach Steve DeRafelo noted. “This let me know what needs to be worked on.”
The ‘Cats went 4-0 in their pool, winning over Interboro (60-15), Unionville (51-21), Bethlehem Liberty (33-29) and Council Rock North (53-19). Their early advantage over the Bears was fueled by pins from Cole Meredith (4-0), Daniel Mancini (5-0), a 5-4 decision by Ryan Resnick (5-0) and Zollers’ 5-1 decision at 182.
“I liked the way we competed,” DeRafelo said. “You’re never as ready as you need to be this early, but every team is in the same boat. We were tested a couple times by teams in our pool, but the kids stepped up.”
Over the final nine weights, Owen J. got only a technical fall from Luke Resnick (5-0) at 120. In that same span, the Bears got pins from Porreca at 220, Wilde at 113 and David Campbell at 126), a tech-fall from Jakob Campbell at 132, and major decisions from Stehman at 106 and Brett Breidor at 138.
“It’s awesome,” David Campbell said. “We’re working hard, and we’re glad the work is paying off.”
The Boyertown/Owen J. championship pairing was a rematch from the 2014 Bealer Duals’ title match. The Bears won that one by a 34-25 count.
“We wanted to make sure everything was ready for today,” DeRafelo said. “Now, we’ll come out of this with a whole new list.”
The Bears will take a similar mindset into next week’s action, which features a dual with new PAC member Norristown Wednesday and a visit to the “King of the Mountain” Tournament at Central Mountain next weekend.
“We’ve been working hard. The younger guys are learning stuff, and it helps to have the older guys like we do,” Ventresca said.
NOTES >> Bethlehem Liberty claimed the tourney’s third-place trophy. Liberty, which went 3-1 in the pool headed by Owen J. Roberts, handled Garnet Valley 50-24. … Liberty’s Luke Werner was voted the duals’ Outstanding Wrestler. He was presented the OW trophy bearing the name of the late Don Seeley, a member of The Mercury’s sports department for more than 30 years and its sports editor for 15.
