There is no middle ground on the 2005-06 Bradford High wrestling
squad. The roster lists the names of 12 matmen – six of whom are
letterwinners and six of whom have no wrestling experience.
It will be up to those six lettermen to steer this year’s BHS
wrestling team down a winning path. They are seniors Matt Jordan
(130 pounds) and Adam Priest (215 pounds), juniors Tim Keane (145
pounds), Alan Soto (140 pounds) and Ryan Mongillo (275
pounds/heavyweight) and sophomore Dan McMurtrie (135 pounds).
“The weight will fall totally on that group of six boys as far
as our dual meet season goes,” emphasized Matt DeGolier, BHS head
coach. “I really look for high things out of that group in this
season and the postseason.
“We have to expect a lot out of the returning lettermen because
we’re going to start each match roughly 18 points down. We have
three holes in our lineup at 103 (pounds) and 119 and anywhere
between 160 and 171, so a heavy weight is going to lay on these
kids’ shoulders as far as coming up with bonus points with pins or
major decisions.”
Each of the Owls’ lettermen brings solid past experience into
the upcoming campaign.
Priest is the returning District 9 Class AAA champion in the
189-pound weight class and he finished with a 22-6 mark last
season. Jordan (15-15 last season) is a third-year letterwinner and
earned fourth place at the district meet in 2004-2005. Keane
(20-10) and Soto (5-16) are both two-year lettermen, while Keane is
also a two-time Regional qualifier and Soto finished fourth at
districts last season. Mongillo (20-15) has been the District 9
runner-up in each of the last two seasons and has twice qualified
for the regional meet. McMurtrie, as a freshman last season, went
15-9 and captured fourth place at districts.
“Priest has produced a lot of points for the team and we are
looking forward to him possibly repeating as a district champ,”
DeGolier said. “Hopefully, he can wrestle farther in the postseason
as far as regionals and maybe even states.
“Jordan was plagued with injuries throughout his junior year,
but he has a ton of skill and I’m hoping that we can get him higher
on the podium at districts and a trip to regionals.
“Keane lost in double overtime last year because of a nosebleed
that would not stop. We used up the five minutes of blood time and
he ended up losing a match that would have put him in the finals.
He has a ton of ability and I look for him to be in the district
finals and moving on through the postseason.
“I like what I see in the practice room from Soto,” DeGolier
continued. “He’s hanging with Tim and Matt and Dan – they work
together as practice partners and Coach (Rob) Cosper and myself
were commenting how much farther along he is this year than he has
been int he past. He is very competitive in the practice room.
“I’m very impressed with the work Mongillo has put into
conditioning this year. He was in the back of the pack on our runs
but now he’s moved up and pushing the younger kids. He’s very
strong on his feet in the wrestling room. We’d like to see him come
out with a district championship this year and if he keeps working
the way he has been he should have a very successful season this
year.
“McMurtrie is one of the guys that will push anybody in the
practice room. He’s always helping everybody and he’s very strong.
He wrestled a heck of a season last year, but I expect a much
better season this year.”
First-year wrestlers on the team include senior Tyler Lucco (152
pounds), junior Josh Miller (125 pounds) and sophomores Brandon
Hallock (112 pounds), Brian Garges (160 pounds), Clinton Quick (189
pounds) and Cody Minich (275 pounds/heavyweight).
“I’m impressed with how far Lucco, Miller and Hallock have come
since the beginning of practice. Much improvement has been made and
I would not be surprised to see these kids pick up one or two wins
at the East Liverpool Tournament this weekend,” DeGolier remarked.
“Garges, Quick and Minich are working hard and using this practice
time to get better. We’ll look for them to come around and get
better as the season moves on.
“We’re hoping that the lettermen are going to be able to bring
the first-year kids in and move them along quickly. The kids are
working great together as a group.”
After two weeks of practice, DeGolier holds a sense of tenative
optimism about the upcoming season.
“We’re going to have a lot of bumps this year as far as our dual
meet season is concerned because we can’t fill all the classes, but
I see quite a few of these kids placing at the tournaments that we
go to. That’s where our shining spots are going to be. We’re going
to fare better as a tournament team rather than a dual meet
team.”
One specific goal the Owls will carry with them in the campaign
is improving on individual records and last year’s team mark of
4-8.
“We definitely want to improve on what we did last year in dual
meets,” DeGolier commented. “With the athletes that we’re getting
out here I think it’s possible to be better than where we were last
year. If everybody can better their season from last year, I will
deem it a successful season.”
The Owls open the 2005-06 schedule Friday and Saturday at the
East Liverpool (Ohio) Tournament. The following week, they will
take part in the Warren Tournament before opening league
competition on the road with Clearfield on Dec. 13.
“The tournaments will give the kids a ton of mat experience
going into their first dual meet,” DeGolier reasoned. “They’ll
wrestle anywhere from eight to 10 matches in the first two weeks to
get the bugs worked out. They’ll gain ten times as much information
and ability from that than what they do in practice.
“The kids will end up having 17 matches by the end of December
and those matches will show the kids how to pace themselves through
the first, second and third periods of a match. All that mat time
is invaluable.”
