HERSHEY >> J.T. Hogan has a rock-solid family background in wrestling.
The Daniel Boone sophomore has two uncles with prominent resumes’ in the sport: Mike Shingara, a three-time Pennsylvania Class AA champion at Line Mountain High School (Class of 1997); and Max Shingara, a 1999 Line Mountain grad and three-time state medalist who went on to compete for the United States Army’s world team in the early 2000s.
He also has a coach at home: Father Jim, in his third season heading the Boone mat program after years of involvement with the local community’s youth wrestling club.
With all that in his corner, it’s no surprise J.T. took up the sport at an early age. And now he’s in position to enhance his own credentials on the mat.
Hogan is in pursuit of a medal from the 2020 PIAA Class AAA Tournament this weekend. The Blazers’ lone competitor in the state tourney will match up against the top grapplers in the 145-pound weight class in his first appearance at this level.
“We make a board every year, where we list our goals,” J.T. said. “I made it to Hershey, now the next goal is to get a medal.”
Owen J. Roberts’ Connor Quinn controls the wrist of Carlisle’s Colton Zimmerman in a 6-5 win at 160 pounds. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
Hogan made a run at state qualfication his freshman season. Winning the 138-pound championship at the 2019 District 3-AAA Section 1 competition, he advanced to the quarterfinal round of the South Central AAA Regional before being eliminated by back-to-back decisions.
“Last year, falling short motivated me to work harder,” J.T. said.
His work ethic translated into a 38-4 record to date, and runner-up finishes in the BCIAA and District 3-AAA Section 1 tournaments. In the regional tourney at Spring Grove, Hogan went 5-1 — his lone loss was in the quarterfinals — and placed third off a 4-2 decisino of Penn Manor’s Dylan Coleman.
“It was a weight off my shoulders,” J.T. recalled. “I accomplished that goal, and now I’m moving on to the next one.”
The cavernous confines of the Giant Center, intimidating as they may be to some first-time qualifiers, hold no such sway over Hogan. He joined his family as a state-tournament spectator a number of times in the past, in addition to competing in such high-profile competitions as Super 32 and the Fargo (N.D.) Freestyle Nationals.
“I’ve been in arenas like that,” he said. “The main thing is to stay calm.”
“I always tell him to control what you can control,” Coach Hogan said. “It’s just another tournament, another match. That’s how you have to approach it.”
Spring-Ford’s Joey Milano lifts the leg of Meadville’s Griffin Buzzell in a technical fall win at 182 pounds. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
Hogan got his latest visit to Hershey off to a flying start Thursday. He needed just 69 seconds to pin Abington’s Shane Kibler and qualify for a first-round pairing with Cole Handlovic, a Bethlehem Catholic senior and North East AAA Regional champion.
The roll ended, though, with Handlovic stacking up a 12-4 major decision That dropped Hogan into Friday’s second round of consolations, where he will face the winner of Thursday’s late consi between Nazareth’s Jake Dressler and Council Rock North’s Sammy Hayes.
With his career record at 64-10 coming into Hershey, and with two more years of scholastic eligibility, Hogan is in good position to reach the 100-win plateau for his time at Boone.
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Spring-Ford’s Dominic Ortlip staves off West Allegheny’s Ty Watters in an 8-0 loss at 106 pounds. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
Julien Maldonado moved one step closer to the 100-win mark for his scholastic career Thursday.
The Boyertown junior opened the PIAA Class AAA tournament with a 3-0 shutout of Upper Darby’s Keito Shaw at 113. Shaw, a senior and the South East AAA Regional’s fifth-place medalist, was coming off a victory over Nazareth’s Andree Ferraina to qualify for the first-rounder.
Standing between Maldonado (32-6) and triple-digit stardom will be Central Mountain’s Derek Keen, a sophomore and the North West AAA Regional’s champion, in the quarterfinals.
Maldonado was one of just four area wrestlers to remain in the gold-medal chase after two rounds of action Thursday. Other than Owen J. Roberts’ Connor Quinn and Spring-Ford’s Joey Milano and Louie Carbajal, the rest of the local contingent got dropped into wrestlebacks.
Quinn held off Carlisle’s Colton Zimmerman, 6-5, in their 160-pound dual. At 182, Milano rolled up a 15-0 technical fall on Meadville’s Griffin Buzzell, bringing their bout to an end 10 seconds into the third quarter.
Carbajal finished off the first round by edging Bellefonte’s Tyler Benner, 3-2.
NOTES >> The Class AAA wrestlers will be back on the Giant Center mats 2 p.m. Friday for quarterfinal and second-round consolation bouts at 2:15 p.m. They will continue with third-round consis at approximately 2:15 p.m., bookended by Class AA in the morning and evening.
Methacton’s Kibwe McNair gathers himself after a first-round loss to Seneca Valley’s Chanz Shearer at 138 pounds. (Nate Heckenberger – For MediaNews Group)
