ASTON — Brandon Carr has found a home at Sun Valley. It wasn’t a straight route.
The sophomore took a rather windy road to find that comfort zone. He started middle school at Malvern Prep, felt that he didn’t fit there, then switched to cyber schooling to finish middle school. Then he had another decision to make.
“Going to cyber school for high school wasn’t the best socially,” Carr said. “I wasn’t interacting with anyone, so my family and I thought, ‘Let’s try another private school.’”
Thus, Carr wound up at Archmere, and he excelled on the wrestling mat, finishing second at 126 pounds at the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) championships as a freshman with a 29-6 record. But he still didn’t feel entirely comfortable.
“I didn’t really like it,” Carr said. “I didn’t feel like it was the place for me. I didn’t enjoy it, didn’t feel like I fit in, so I pulled out.”
He left Archmere after wrestling season and transferred to Sun Valley in time to play lacrosse for the Vanguards last spring and immediately knew he had made the right move.
“I love it here,” Carr said. “People on the wrestling team and the lacrosse team, friends I knew from playing other sports welcomed me with open arms and took me in. It’s just been awesome.”
Carr has been awesome on the wrestling mat for the Vanguards. He’s 35-1 and the top seed at 145 pounds in the District 1 Class 3A West sectional, which will take place Saturday at Oxford Area High School. He won his first 34 matches before suffering his first loss last weekend in a 6-5 setback to Shane Wagner of Faith Christian at the Whippet Duals.
He has won 16 matches by fall and six by technical fall. Carr won the Ches-Mont League 145-pound title to start the season, also was the champion at the Governor Mifflin tournament and went undefeated at the Travis Manion, C.B. East and Mike Miluski Memorial Duals, and at the Rage in the Cage at Garnet Valley.
One of his most impressive wins was a 9-6 triumph over Kelly Kakos, a two-time state medalist from Perkiomen Valley in the District 1 Class 3A team dual meet tournament.
“Being in this room, how hard we work, I’ve gotten much better as a wrestler.” Carr said. “I’ve grown mentally stronger and found new techniques. I’ve just excelled.”
Carr’s success goes far beyond his technical skill, Sun Valley coach Tom Ellis said. Carr has that ‘it’ factor that separates a good wrestler from a great one. It’s innate, a drive that a person has inside and can’t be taught or learned.
“The thing that makes him special, and I tell this to all of my wrestlers, that if you want to be a good wrestler you have to want to win,” Ellis said. “If you ever want to become a great wrestler you have to hate to lose more than you want to win and he hates to lose in anything that he does. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly game of dodge ball. He hates to lose.”
Ellis has seen that trait on and off the mat. A few weeks ago he took the team outside to play a game of ultimate Frisbee and kickball. Carr didn’t treat it as a leisurely way of breaking the monotony of practice.
“He was played kickball and ultimate Frisbee like he was on the mat,” Ellis said. “He played to win. He just hates to lose. That’s the way he is. I think that’s what separates him from a lot of other wrestlers. He hates to lose more than he wants to win.”
“I’m that way. whether it’s wrestling, playing a game with my brother or playing backyard football with friends,” Carr said. “I want to win. That’s something I’ve always had.”
It’s an attribute that will serve him well in his pursuit to win a PIAA title, a goal he did not have when the season started despite his success at Archmere last season. Carr simply wanted to get to Hershey at first. The more success he had the more he wanted to make it to the podium, which would be a top-eight finish.
“These past few weeks I’ve been thinking that I really want to win that gold medal,” Carr said.
That quest begins this weekend and Ellis likes Carr’s chances.
“We’re expecting him to do big things,” Ellis said. “We’re expecting him to be in Hershey. In all honesty, we’re expecting him to medal this year.”
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NOTES >> Chichester, Garnet Valley and Marple Newtown are also at the West sectional. Academy Park, Haverford, Interboro, Penn Wood, Ridley, Springfield, Strath Haven and Upper Darby are the Delco teams in the South sectional at Interboro. Radnor is in the North sectional at Perkiomen Valley. The top four wrestlers in each weight class from each sectional advance to the PIAA Class 3A South East Regional next weekend at Souderton.
