Connect with us

Wrestling

PAC wrestling championships preview; LaRocca now a leader, and part of a family, at Spring-Ford

Tyler LaRocca has found himself a home and family.

On a combined three counts, in both instances.

After an early life marked by relocations to reside with various family members, LaRocca has settled into living with a brother in Limerick. Enrollment at numerous schools — six since 8th grade — has been supplanted by his attendance at Spring-Ford High School for a second year.

And his thirst for athletic achievement is being satisfied as a member of the school’s wrestling team, where he’s evolved into a senior leader and one of the Rams’ most impressive performers in a program enjoying an equal measure of success this winter.

LaRocca went through the Rams’ regular season with a 27-6 record featuring 15 pins, primarily in the 220-pound weight class. That shows considerable improvement over his junior campaign, marked by an 18-13 record and third-place finishes in both the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1-AAA West individual tournaments.

“You’re only as good as your last match,” LaRocca said following a practice session in preparation for this weekend’s PAC tourney at Boyertown. “I want to be better.

“It was a roller coaster last year. I was a normal, average .500 guy. I wish I could have done more.”

Spring-Ford senior Tyler LaRocca. (Austin Hertzog – DFM)

He was able to get another year of eligibility through successful petitioning of the PIAA — a function of his constant movement from school to school.
Along with the statistical improvement is LaRocca’s assumption of a leadership role with the Rams. That’s been a function of a different approach to life.

“When I first got here,” Tyler recalled, “I was an angry kid. I didn’t trust everyone and put up an invisible wall around me … became a ‘lone wolf.’ As the season went on, I opened doors and liked people.”

“The biggest part was making him feel at home,” Spring-Ford head coach Tim Seislove said. “He’s a hard worker who always has goals. The key was to make him feel accepted and be part of something.

“He’s had a good year,” Seislove said. “The biggest thing is him being a leader in the room. The kids enjoy being around him … he’s upbeat in the room.”

Classmates like Matt Lepore and Ben D’Arcangelo were at the forefront of LaRocca’s change in demeanor.

“He was the very first person to welcome me,” Tyler recalled. “He made me feel very welcome. He made me laugh even when I didn’t want to.”

“It was the same with Ben as Matt,” he added. “He was like a brother.”

LaRocca’s involvement in wrestling goes back to his kindergarten days. For much of those early years, however, the sport took a step below football.

“I always wrestled for football,” he said. “That was my number-one sport.”

That changed, in part, the first week of the 2016 mat season.

“His brother contacted the school, asking permission to talk with the coaches,” Seislove recalled. “Tyler loves to wrestle, and he wants to be here.
Tyler’s desire to advance further in wrestling’s post-season is still there.

“You’re only as good as your last match. I want to be better,” he said.

But the team’s welfare is just as big a consideration.

“His mindset changed when he came to us. He wants to go to states, first. But now he cares more for his teammates.

“That’s a true testament to his character.”

***

A number of different faces will ascend to the top step of the medal podium Saturday.

Gold medals from the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s individual tournament will be placed around the necks of no fewer than 13 wrestlers from the day’s action — the first of the high-school campaign’s postseason — at Boyertown High School.

Only one of the 14 PAC grapplers who won their weight classes last winter will be in position to defend an individual title. The others from 2017 have either graduated or are out of action due to injury, making for a wide-open rush for gold this time around.

“It was very senior-oriented,” Spring-Ford head coach Tim Seislove said of the 2017 PACs. “Boyertown had its group of (four) seniors.”

The lone returning champion is Bear senior Elijah Jones, who used last year’s 182-pound title as a stepping stone to a fifth-place medal at the PIAA Class AAA tourney. Jones brings a 30-3 record into PACs as the 195-pound top seed, and a final go-round before a hometown crowd in his scholastic career.

Spring-Ford’s Lepore, the league’s 285-pound champion last winter, found his senior season come to an unexpected and premature end when he injured his leg during the Rams’ Liberty Division dual with Methacton one month ago. The injury, ironically, came against Tonee Ellis — the wrestler Lepore beat for the 2017 championship.

There is, however, no shortage of competitors in position to step up and claim gold medals. Nine of them were runners-up one year ago, and two are former PAC champions.

Spring-Ford senior Brandon Meredith (32-1), a silver medalist at 113, was the conference’s 106-pound champion two seasons ago. He went on to finish fourth at states that year, and also qualified for a trip to Hershey his junior season.
Meredith is the top seed at 120.

Owen J. Roberts’ Dan Mancini, a PAC champion at 126 two years ago, was second at 145 last winter. He’s 29-4 this season working primarily out of the 152-pound bracket, where he stands as the PAC’s top seed.

Mancini goes into the weekend’s action within reach of the 100-win mark for his scholastic career. The senior currently stands at 95 victories.
The Wildcats, who won the PAC’s 2016-17 team trophy by a one-point margin over Boyertown, have two other silver medalists in Antonio Petrucelli (25-9) and Cole Meredith (26-6). Petrucelli is a top seed at 138, and Meredith a second seed at 145.

Methacton, in its first year under head coach/mat alumnus Brad Clark, have two other 2017 runners-up alongside Ellis (22-7). Junior Corey Morabito is 19-6 at 106, and sophomore Roman Moser is 14-5 at 145, where he stands as top seed. Morabito is seeded second at 113.

Rounding out the list is Spring-Ford junior Chase Smith (20-3) and Pottsgrove senior Skylar McLeod (21-4). McLeod is the top seed at 220, and Smith is the 182-pound bracket’s second seed.

The PAC’s other top seeds are Phoenixville’s Antonio Valenteen (24-1) at 106, Upper Perkiomen’s Jared Kuhns (20-1) at 113, Pottsgrove’s Chase Banyai (20-4) at 126, Methacton’s Kibwe McNair (26-2) at 132 and Michael Blakemore (23-3) at 160, Owen J. Roberts’ Jason Zollers (27-5) at 170, Boyertown’s Jacob Miller (33-6) at 182 and Pottstown’s Tom Doyle (15-7) at 285.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in Wrestling

situs slot gacor provider terbaik agen toto slot terpercaya 2023 agen toto togel terpercaya 2023 situs toto togel pasaran resmi terbaik bandar toto macau pasaran resmi toto togel bandar toto slot gacor 4d 2023 bo togel online pasaran terlengkap sepanjang masa bo toto slot terlengkap sepanjang masa situs toto togel 2023 bet 100 perak daftar toto slot dan toto togel 2023 bermain toto togel dengan bet hanya 100 perak daftar toto slot bonus new member terpercaya bermain toto slot pelayanan 24 jam nonstop situs toto togel terpercaya situs toto togel online terbaik winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto unsurtoto unsurtoto unsurtoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto rasa4d rasa4d rasa4d gampangtoto gampangtoto gampangtoto winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto rasa4d bungtoto bandar toto togel terbesar hadiah 4d 10 juta daftar winsortoto situs toto terbaik winsortoto situs toto slot gacor dengan toto togel terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bet 100 perak winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto slot 4d winsortoto situs toto togel online deposit 10rb winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta winsortoto agen toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto agen toto slot dan situs toto togel resmi winsortoto situs toto togel 4d terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi terbesar winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto terpercaya beragam bonus winsortoto situs toto terpercaya toto togel dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs togel online dan slot online terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online hadiah terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel bonus harian terbesar winsortoto agen togel online terlengkap bet 100 perak winsortoto situs toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d terbaik winsortoto situs toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel online terpercaya 2023 winsortoto agen toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d winsortoto agen toto togel online banyak bonus terbesar winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus new member winsortoto situs togel online resmi terpercaya pasaran terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel online 4d terpercaya situs toto togel deposit pulsa tanpa potongan winsortoto situs toto slot pasti slot gacor winsortoto situs toto slot dan toto togel hadiah terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan resmi dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto resmi bonus new member 100rb tanpa potongan winsortoto toto slot gacor dan togel online resmi terpercaya winsortoto situs toto toge online terpercaya di Indonesia winsortoto toto togel online bonus new member terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta terpercaya winsortoto toto togel online hadiah 4d 10 juta bet 100 winsortoto situs togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online resmi dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel permainan toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus menarik winsortoto situs toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online winsortoto situs toto terpercaya togel online dan slot online resmi winsortoto situs toto dengan permainan togel 4d dan slot 4d winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan togel online terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel terpercaya permainan resmi winsortoto situs toto togel resmi bet 100 perak tanpa potongan winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto resmi winsortoto toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya dan terbaik winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto bungtoto rasa4d titi4d ltdtoto bobatoto bobatoto situs toto togel slot situs bandar toto togel slot terpercaya titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d slot titi4d togel situs titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d titi4d togel titi4d slot situs titi4d agen titi4d bandar titi4d