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PHOENIXVILLE WRESTLING 2007-08 BLOG
The Phoenixville Area High School wrestling team head coach is John Tornetta, a Phoenixville Area High School graduate and a former star in wrestling and track himself for the Phantoms before graduating in 1981. His assistant is Dave Saville.
The Phoenixville Area Middle School wrestling team is coached by Hank Coyne.
The Phantoms fell to Owen J. Roberts, one of the top teams in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, Wednesday night on the Phoenixville mats by a 62-12 score.
Phoenixville managed just two victories out of the 14 weight classes on the card. The Phantoms’ Ken Cenci (215 pounds) and Dan Giannone (140) each accepted forfeits to account for all of the Phoenixville points.
Phoenixville is now 1-3 in the PAC-10 and 9-9 overall for the season.
As both Tornetta and Owen J. Roberts head coach Steve DeRafelo pointed out, the Phantoms have a young squad that is lean on wrestling experience at the high school varsity level.
Phoenixville must continue to improve at the youth program and middle school levels, even before entering high school, just to compete with the many formidable wrestling programs in the area. Success at wrestling also requires a lot of offseason work on conditioning, weightlifting and overall skills improvement.
Each step on the ladder requires more hard work. At the high school level, wrestlers are required to compete for a grueling six minutes in each match that goes the full regulation time.
Phoenixville is also missing one of its top wrestlers, 160-pounder Joe Mandrusiak, who is sidelined with a knee injury. Mandrusiak is an important cog in the Phantoms’ lineup and competes during the offseason. He is committed to the sport and does the extra work involved.
Phoenixville is also a small school with limited numbers in terms of enrollment. This factor affects wrestling (and all sports) because there is a lack of depth, especially when teams are trying to fill 14 separate weight classes.
Plus, increased numbers would benefit the entire program. Wrestlers would push each other harder in the practice room and that would carry over to the dual meets, tournaments and postseason competition.
Two of Phoenixville’s most experienced and successful wrestlers, Stephen Lord at 125 pounds and Chris Onder at 112 pounds, both went down to defeat against Owen J. Roberts. So instead of recording as many as 12 points in the two weight classes, the Phantoms surrendered nine points on a pin and decision. That differential helped the Wildcats post the lopsided verdict.
Posted by
Barry Sankey
The Phoenixville Area Middle School wrestling team is coached by Hank Coyne.
The Phantoms fell to Owen J. Roberts, one of the top teams in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, Wednesday night on the Phoenixville mats by a 62-12 score.
Phoenixville managed just two victories out of the 14 weight classes on the card. The Phantoms’ Ken Cenci (215 pounds) and Dan Giannone (140) each accepted forfeits to account for all of the Phoenixville points.
Phoenixville is now 1-3 in the PAC-10 and 9-9 overall for the season.
As both Tornetta and Owen J. Roberts head coach Steve DeRafelo pointed out, the Phantoms have a young squad that is lean on wrestling experience at the high school varsity level.
Phoenixville must continue to improve at the youth program and middle school levels, even before entering high school, just to compete with the many formidable wrestling programs in the area. Success at wrestling also requires a lot of offseason work on conditioning, weightlifting and overall skills improvement.
Each step on the ladder requires more hard work. At the high school level, wrestlers are required to compete for a grueling six minutes in each match that goes the full regulation time.
Phoenixville is also missing one of its top wrestlers, 160-pounder Joe Mandrusiak, who is sidelined with a knee injury. Mandrusiak is an important cog in the Phantoms’ lineup and competes during the offseason. He is committed to the sport and does the extra work involved.
Phoenixville is also a small school with limited numbers in terms of enrollment. This factor affects wrestling (and all sports) because there is a lack of depth, especially when teams are trying to fill 14 separate weight classes.
Plus, increased numbers would benefit the entire program. Wrestlers would push each other harder in the practice room and that would carry over to the dual meets, tournaments and postseason competition.
Two of Phoenixville’s most experienced and successful wrestlers, Stephen Lord at 125 pounds and Chris Onder at 112 pounds, both went down to defeat against Owen J. Roberts. So instead of recording as many as 12 points in the two weight classes, the Phantoms surrendered nine points on a pin and decision. That differential helped the Wildcats post the lopsided verdict.
Posted by
Barry Sankey
posted by The Phoenix Files at
7:55 AM
1 Comments:
Mr. Sankey, I think your points on the condition of the PAHS Wrestling team are valid. However, rather than placing the blame on the youth and middle school programs, my opinion is that the HS program itself needs to be reevaluated. The attrition rate on the HS team is overwhelming. Only two seniors on the team this year? Probably only two next year? Only three sophomores remain after a group of more than a dozen came up from the Middle School. More freshman starters than upperclassmen? Most freshmen are still wrestling at their middle school programs in the other PAC-10 schools. How is the team supposed to gain the experience necessary to be competitive in the PAC-10 when it remains an underclassmen heavy team each year? Why are they not returning? These young men have shown dedication to a very difficult sport. So why are they leaving? One must look to the leadership. Are they being taught the skills necessary to compete? Are they being motivated? The kids are willing to work; to put themselves out on the mat and face the likes of Upper Perk, Boyertown, and Spring-Ford, as well as the others; but are they being taught what they need to be competitive when they get there?
You are correct that this sport requires off-season commitment. Why then does the Phoenixville team not go, as a team, to off-season camps? Most every other PAC-10 team does that. There are some excellent camps every summer at Bloomsburg, Messiah and Kutztown, just to name a few.
With regard to the numbers on the team, I refer back to the rate of attrition. There is an abundance of wrestling talent walking the halls of the HS, who should be on the team. Why are they not there? They wrestled in middle school, why are they leaving?
The administration and coaches of the wrestling team need to take a hard look at themselves, and decide honestly if they are doing right by the student athletes and the program.
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