NETHER PROVIDENCE — If patience truly is a virtue, then Strath Haven’s Sam Milligan is one virtuous young man.
The junior 189-pounder has had to wait two years for his moment in the wrestling spotlight. As a freshman, Milligan was stuck behind Chase Barlow and Alex Hemmingway on the depth chart. While Milligan did wrestle 16 varsity matches at 152 pounds and finished fifth in the Central League championships, he didn’t make the postseason roster.
Last season, Milligan was second choice at 189 pounds behind Gabe Federico, who went on to finish third at Centrals and fourth at the District 1 Class 3A South tournament to qualify for the South East regional. Milligan only wrestled three varsity matches, once again relegated to spectator for the postseason.
This year, Milligan has finally broken through. At 25-0, the District 1 South champ is just one of three undefeated wrestlers who will take part in the PIAA Class 3A Southeast Regional at Oxford Area High School starting Friday night.
“It’s exciting,” Milligan said. “It’s kind of crazy. I didn’t think it was possible at the beginning of the year, but this year’s been a lot of fun so to be here is really cool.”
Strath Haven coach Tony Gilliano isn’t surprised at Milligan’s success. Milligan beat Federico in a wrestle-off last season, allowing him to wrestle three times at the varsity level. He won all three of those matches, which means he has not tasted defeat since he was pinned by Lower Merion’s Jakob Segal in the consolation semifinals of the 2020 Central League tournament, a string of 29 wins in a row, according to pa-wrestling.com.
“He’s the best kept secret in District 1,” Gilliano said. “He had the talent, he just couldn’t break into the lineup for the past two years because of the people in front of him. He’s had great practice partners for the years that he’s been here. We finally got him in the lineup and he’s been able to show what he can do.”
Going against the likes of Hemmingway, Federico and Barlow, the career wins leader at Strath Haven, on a daily basis in practice prepared him for this season, where 17 of his wins have been by fall plus one by technical fall.
“Wrestling behind Chase was a learning experience,” Milligan said. “He’s a state medalist and so technically sound. He does everything right. He gets in these scrambles, so watching somebody like that you learn how to do each move. A lot of big guys don’t learn that. Being smaller when I was younger and learning from him I’m able to do that’s that otherwise I wouldn’t know how to do. And Gabe was a state qualifier (in 2020) so wrestling against two state-caliber wrestlers really helps, especially in the big match.”
Milligan’s success has not been limited to the wrestling mat. As a quarterback, he scored the winning two-point conversion as the Panthers defeated West Chester Rustin, 34-33, in double overtime in the District 1 Class 5A football final last fall.
“That was crazy,” Milligan said of his winning play in the district final. “That whole season was awesome.”
The previous spring, Milligan helped the Panthers to the PIAA Class 5A baseball title. He added another district title when the Panthers captured the District 1 Class 3A South crown last week at Interboro.
“I’ve been pretty lucky with the teams I’ve been on, that are not only good but a lot of fun to be on,” Milligan said. “The last three seasons have been pretty awesome.”
Milligan hopes to continue that success at the regional. He’s in a tough weight class. Quinn Collins (35-1) of Central Bucks East, the 3A East champ, finished sixth at the PIAA championships at 215 pounds last season. West champ Sam DiTrolio of Garnet Valley was a state qualifier after finishing sixth at 189 in the East super regional last year. Milligan is the only unbeaten in his weight class.
“There’s a bunch of good guys but I feel confident that I can wrestle with any of them,” Milligan said. “I’m not going to treat it any differently than any other day, just go out there and do the things I’ve been doing, wrestle my match.”
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NOTES >> Milligan is one of eight Strath Haven wrestlers who advanced to the regional, including his brother Ben, a freshman, who won the 113-pound crown at the South section. Barlow (160), Kelton Brunner (152) and Anthony Crawford (215) also won titles last week. … DiTrolio and Garnet Valley teammate Matt Ricci need one win each to reach 100 in their respective careers. DiTrolio is 99-33 and Ricci is 99-39, according to pa-wrestling.com. The Central League champion Jaguars have six wrestlers in the regional. … Sun Valley also will be well represented. The Vanguards have eight wrestlers in the tournament. … Wrestling begins with the first round at 5 p.m. Friday followed by the quarterfinals at 8. The tournament continues at 9:30 Saturday morning, and the championship, third- and fifth-place matches are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. The top five wrestlers in each weight class advance to next week’s PIAA championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.
