It got off to a so-so start in the 2013-14 season, hovering around the .500 mark before slipping to 5-7 near the end of January.
But the Owen J. Roberts wrestling team got rolling down the stretch, finishing with a 9-7 regular-season record before placing in the upper tiers of the Pioneer Athletic Conference, District 1-West, AAA Southeast Region and PIAA Class AAA tournaments. And this season, it's been "full steam ahead' for the Wildcats.
OJR's start to the 2014-15 schedule has outpaced its 3-3 mark coming out of the blocks last year. The ' Cats went 4-1 at the season-opening Brian Bealer Memorial Duals, a perfect run thwarted by host Boyertown in a 34-25 championship-match loss; they resumed their winning pace with a 60-12 romp over Perkiomen Valley Wednesday.
"After that (first) weekend, this was a pretty good test for us,' OJR head coach Steve DeRafelo said following the PV match. "The kids came out confident. I feel we're getting a bit of traction.'
At the same time, DeRafelo was not about to anoint his team a fully-refined product ... not with the King of the Mountain Tournament at Central Mountain High on the docket for the upcoming weekend.
"This weekend will be a big test,' he said. "King of the Mountain is no place for errors. We have to be good.'
Challenge met. Roberts rode the fourth-place finishes of Ryan Resnick (113), Derek Gulotta (120), Demetri D'Orsaneo (138), Dominick Petrucelli (152) and Xavier Ferrizzi (195) to a sixth-place team finish, tied with Boiling Springs in a 34-team field headed by Bethlehem Catholic (198 points), Greater Latrobe (189) and Mifflin County (135).
"A great tournament,' was DeRafelo's assessment following the weekend's action.
Owen J. came out on the mats in November, headed by a solid corps of seniors seasoned in their down-and-up junior campaign. It had three 12th-graders with state-level experience: Gulotta, a fourth-place finisher at 113; D'Orsaneo, who placed seventh at 138; and Petrucelli, who went 2-2 at 145, missing the medal round by one win.
Alongside Gulotta (36-7, 15 pins), Petrucelli (32-9, 11 pins) and D'Orsaneo (35-12), OJR has seniors Dalton Brinbrauer, Will Dawson, Robert Dlugaszewski, Jimmy Fratantoni, Drew Gerber and John Ruckle. Dawson, his 10-19 record notwithstanding, was a district qualifier at 182 while Fratantoni (6-6), Gerber (9-9) and Ruckle (8-9), ended up at or near the .500 mark.
To date, Petrucelli leads the team with a 12-2 record, followed by Ferrizzi (11-2). D'Orsaneo stands at 9-2, with Ryan Resnick and Gulotta both at 9-3.
Looking ahead, Owen J. will get a couple more encounters with Boyertown during the regular season. The Bears, who placed fifth at King of the Mountain, will visit Bucktown for their PAC-10 dual Wednesday, Jan. 7, then join OJR in the "Escape The Rock' Tournament field the weekend of Jan. 17-18 at Council Rock South.
"I think we wrestled them 20 times in the last four years,' DeRafelo said. "We're looking to pushing them.'
LATE RETURNS
Jakob Campbell headed a quartet of medalists who led Boyertown's showing at the King of the Mountain Tournament. Campbell placed third at 106, Gregg Harvey (182) and Tommy Killoran (285) scored fourths, and Lucas Miller (126) was seventh to help the Bears finish fifth in the team standings at Central Mountain.
Pottsgrove had four unbeaten wrestlers lead the way as it emerged as team champion in West Chester East's Colley Classic. Chris DeFrancesco went 5-0 at 220, Ryan Finn (152) and Evan Weneck (170) were each 4-0, and Christian Pace was 3-0 at 160.
FAST START
It didn't take Sam Walters long to get that all-important first win as Upper Perkiomen's new head coach.
It probably happened well before most people stopped for a lunch break last Saturday.
The Indians nailed down the "W' for Walters in their first match at Bethlehem Freedom's Battle in Bethlehem Duals, rolling to a 55-24 victory over Pittston Area. But they didn't stop there, adding wins against Quakertown (43-30), LaSalle College (51-24) and Neshaminy (51-15) against their lone loss to host Freedom (39-25).
Seniors Dustin Steffenino (120, 126) and Eric Miller (145), as well as freshman Jared Kuhns (106), all went 5-0 on the day while 4-1 records were achieved by senior Trevor Weeks (170, 182), juniors Michael Felix (170, 182), Noah Folk (132, 138) and Mike Lockhoff (152) and freshman Jarek Svanson (113).
MAKING POINTS
They're not only winning, they're winning big.
Spring-Ford has been overwhelming the opposition in its dual matches thus far, posting an average score of 59-8. Boyertown is second around the area with a solid 53-13 differential, and Owen J. Roberts has been handling opponents by an average of 48-23.
THE PAC IS BACK
Not completely, mind you. But before week's end, a majority of the Pioneer Athletic Conference's mat programs will have opened their league slates.
On Wednesday, Boyertown will be at Methacton and Pottstown will host Upper Perkiomen. On Thursday, Phoenixville will get under way by hosting the Bears.
With Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Pope John Paul II and Spring-Ford having paired off one week ago, that leaves Pottsgrove as the lone holdout. The Falcons will get into PAC action the weekend after New Year's Day, hosting Pottstown 11 a.m. on Jan. 3.
