This year’s wrestling season has commenced. The 2020-2021 season is off to a great start in light of the chaos that COVID-19 brought about. The wrestling community has been very proactive in doing everything they can both on and off the mats to ensure that there would be a season. 

To prepare for the season, many of the wrestlers train year round. Aside from the other sports they participate in, it’s common for them to spend 2-3 days a week, offseason, at the high school to work on technique and strength training, as well as 6 days a week during the season. Others also belong to elite level clubs where college  coaches and highly ranked partners help with these aspects. 

Not only has the practice and hard work paid off for the team itself, but individuals have really outdone themselves. Some of the WPIAL ranked boys include: Blake Reihner #6 at 126 pounds, Bodie Morgan #6 at 145 pounds, Ty Banco #6 at 215, and Tyson Brophy #4 at heavyweight. At the State level, Morgan is ranked #13 and Brophy is #10 at heavyweight.

Coach Reihner would like to congratulate Banco and Brophy for being the first Powerade medalists in recent years: “We have not had two wrestlers bring home medals at Powerade [an amateur wrestling tournament] since 2006. Overall, we have a very young team filled with talented underclassmen. You will see us competing for WPIAL titles and State medals in the years to come.” 

Banco, being one of the younger ones on the team (a sophomore) and already accomplishing so much, has set himself one important goal for this year: “My goal for this season is to make it out of WPIALS and make it to States. I think I have improved a lot from last year, but there is always more room to improve on this season and the next upcoming seasons,” he says. 

With the season well underway, there are still many more matches to come. The next match is on February 13, a duals tournament at Derry, which can be viewed through the Trinity streaming network.