This column was originally published in the Jan. 19, 2010 edition of The Mercury.

They’re calling for a blackout in Boyertown on Wednesday night. Don’t panic, neither PPL nor PECO is turning off the electric (and there isn’t any heavy snow or high winds in the forecast, either).

The blackout will be confined to the high school gym, where Boyertown wrestling fans are being asked to wear black for the Bears’ annual Pioneer Athletic Conference dual – or brawl, as it’s come to be known – with Upper Perkiomen.

The last few years, the spotlight has been on the Bears, who have won two outright PAC-10 titles and shared another. Before that, the focus was on the Indians, who won eight outright PAC-10 titles and shared another.

As most of the folk in Boyertown remember (and many vow never to forget), the Indians at one time always had their way with their Bears. After surviving that 32-29 thriller back in 2001, or since leaving District 3 and the Berks Conference to enroll in District 1 and the PAC-10, the Bears lost six in a row to the Indians – eight if you dare count 2007’s two setbacks that were reversed to forfeit wins when a residency infraction was revealed up in Red Hill later in the year.

But a mere move here and there is about all that has separated the two in most meetings.

And in no time at all, Boyertown and Upper Perkiomen became, in every sense of the word, rivals … actually bitter rivals damned to outdo one another every time they met on the mat. Off the mat, neither care to be mentioned in the same breath with the other.

Their competitive fires have been reduced to very conspicuous sparks of late, and the condescension their respective followings have for one another has lost a bit (not all) of its snap, crackle and pop. But you can bet your next utility bill the fans in Boyertown would love nothing more than to keep the Indians in the dark Wednesday night.

Most feel they will, too.

Heck, the Bears have the added incentive of going for the program’s 500th win, a milestone only two other area

schools (Spring-Ford and Methacton) have reached.

But don’t try to sell any guarantees to the fellas leading the respective charges, namely head coaches Pete Ventresca and Tom Hontz.

Yes, Boyertown is clearly the favorite with a foursome – Matt Malfaro, Jeremy Minich, Alex Pellicciotti and Zach Heffner – its guests aren’t likely to keep up with. As a matter of fact, depending on the matchups, Upper Perkiomen may not have a clear-cut favorite in any of the 14 individual bouts. Sound familiar? It should, because not to awfully long ago it was Upper Perkiomen that lined up with a gang of so-called unbeatables that Boyertown wasn’t supposed to keep up with.

Winning four or five doesn’t equal victory. Sometimes taking six — or even managing a split right smack down the middle — doesn’t either, as several high-profile teams have proven time and time again through the years.

The swing matches, as we all love to call them, will be plentiful Wednesday night. They could also be very entertaining.

Depending on the coin flip and the matchups, the gem among the toss-ups may unfold at 112 – Boyetown senior Adam Kolb, when on his game can roll with some of the best in the district, going against Upper Perkiomen freshman Wolfgang McStravick, a genuine talent who is 17-3 already. Another could be at 130, with Boyertown’s vastly improved Peter Jones going against Upper Perkiomen’s Dan Rodenberger, a postseason surprise of a year ago when he nearly wrestled his way to states, who is beginning to get into a groove again since returning from an early season injury.

Ventresca sure has a little more depth, or options. Jon Neiman and Adam Benfield have surfaced as reliable talents who can flip-flop in the middle, and Ventresca can send out Brock Hallman, Tyler Mauger, Ryan Schwager and Heffner just about anywhere he wants from 171 on up. Hontz is likely to counter with Chris Rementer and Dalton Fleming in the middle, and with Cody Ambrose, Nate Pompei, Nick Hale and Dan Wolfram in the upper portion of the lineup.

The bottom line is that all will be decided on the mat. What is written here or discussed in the forums carries no weight whatsoever.

Odds are it won’t be a blowout, like the Bears’ 44-12 romp in the two teams’ first meeting way back in 1977, or like the Indians’ 48-9 thumping six years ago.

Even if it does end up a bit lopsided one way or the other no one can black out the fact Ventresca, Hontz and their respective programs will have helped enrich the rivalryand keep it one of the best in the PAC-10 and throughout District 1.

* * *

Upper Perkiomen leads the all-time series, 9-6. … Six of the meetings (just under half when not including the forfeits) have been decided by less than 10 points, including three by a mere three points. … All five of Boyertown’s losses this season have been to state-ranked opponents – Liberty, Council Rock North, Parkland, Cumberland Valley and No. 1 Central Dauphin. … Since joining the PAC-10, Boyertown is 53-5, while Upper Perkiomen is 49-9 (which includes the six forfeit losses in 2007). … The Bears and Indians have been No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in The Mercury’s rankings the past month.

GRAND TIME

Owen J. Roberts became the fifth team to reach 100 wins in the PAC-10 after defeating Pottsgrove last week. Spring-Ford, which has never had a losing season in the league, leads the list with 176, followed by Upper Perkiomen (138), Perkiomen Valley (105) and Pottstown (100).

POSITIVE MOVES

Daniel Boone, behind Colin Martucci’s golden effort at 145 pounds, finished fourth in last weekend’s BCIAA Tournament – one of its best finishes in a number of years. … Head coach Jesse Young led The Hill School to a fourth in last weekend’s Valley Forge Military Invitational, getting gold from Colin Saunders (135) and Jay Knighton (285). And the tireless Tim Klavon, despite struggling to fill a lineup that has hardly any experience in it up at Perkiomen School, had two medalists (Luke Martin and Zach Sell) in the tournament.

IN THE LEAD

Pellicciotti and Spring-Ford’s Matt Krueger have won 12 and 10 bouts in a row, respectively. … Malfaro has won 11 of his last 12. … Minich, who won his first seven before dropping two straight, has bounced back with eight wins. McStravick has had a similar run, winning his first nine, dropping three in a row, then winning his last eight. … Pellicciotti is also the area’s runaway leader in pins with 18. Upper Perkiomen’s Ambrose and Hale, along with Boyertown’s Heffner and Phoenixville’s Ken Cenci, all have 10 apiece.

MOVING UP

Pellicciotti’s 148 career wins rank him ninth on The Mercury’s all-time chart. He needs two more to become just the ninth area wrestler ever to top the 150 mark. … Malfaro’s 128 wins put him at No. 29. … Daniel Boone’s Eddie Lockowitz (94) is within six wins of joining Tyler Swartz as the only Blazers on the list of 100 or more. … Minich and Syrek, both juniors with 88 career wins apiece, should reach the milestone before season’s end, and could be joined by Pottsgrove’s Zach Robinson (81), also a junior.

DUAL TIME

The District 1-Class AAA and Class AA Team Duals seeding meeting will be held Sunday. Neighborhood rivals Council Rock South and Council Rock North are likely to get the top two seeds in AAA. The survivor of Wednesday’s showdown in Boyertown could get a No. 3 seed. Look for both Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford to get into the 24-team field as well. … Octorara is almost a lock for the No. 1 seed in Class AA, and could be joined in that bracket’s four-team lineup by St. Pius X

The AAA’s first round (Thursday, Jan. 28) will be hosted by Hatboro-Horsham, Henderson, Pottsgrove and Upper Perkiomen. The remaining rounds (Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6) will be held in Strom Gymnasium at Pottstown High School.

A call may be made to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to cancel the state wrestling tournament in two weeks. There are a whole lot of people from Bensalem to Butler, Boyertown to Bradford, and just about everywhere else in the Commonwealth who already have it all figured out … already know who’s finishing first (if not first through eighth) in all the brackets.

Why does that thing about the chicken and the egg and whatever came first keep coming to mind?

Ya gotta love wrestling fans. You should, at least most of them, that is. Their energy, and their passion, sure help make wrestling the great sport it is.

But this is the time of the year when a lot of the girls and boys (or shall we say ladies and gentlemen) kind of get ahead of themselves.

Just over a week ago, before District 1’s six sectionals began, a lot of people were already making their picks for the Southeast Regional. This week, before the three district tournaments’ top three seeds were revealed and everyone else was placed in their respective spots in the brackets, the conversations — and bantering on various forums, of course — intensified, with even more people coming up with a list of who was getting out of the Southeast Regional and going to medal at states.

Holy Singlet, Batman … it sure does seem like a lot of people are ahead of themselves (or maybe Biff got a hold

of Marty McFly’s 2009 PIAA State Championships results book).

District 1’s three Class AAA tournaments get under way this morning and, for the record, there are a good number of weight classes in each of them that are locked and loaded with talent, or enough talent to create a lot of excitement … a whole heck of a lot of questions that won’t necessarily get answered — officially, that is — until later tonight.

And then, when we’re able to digest all the results and combine them with those from District 12 (the district better known for its mystery school district boundaries and recruiting skills), it’ll be fun to hear all the conversations (and arguments) and see how they overload the forums next week heading into the Southeast Regional.

Let’s start up North.

Norristown’s Parker brothers — Brandon and Stephen — would like to have Family Day in Quakertown. Brandon (140), a sophomore and the No. 1 seed, likely hasn’t forgotten that match 30 days ago when he got pinned with 30 seconds left by none other than Eric Koch of Quakertown, who happens to be the No. 2 seed today. Stephen (145), a senior and the No. 1 seed, has probably heard enough about Pennridge’s Colin McDonnell being this and being that, but could get the opportunity to let it all fall on deaf ears if he meets McDonnell — the No. 2 seed — in the final. At 160, Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s John Staudenmayer was almost as good this time last year (38-1) as he is now (34-0), and would like nothing more than to finish off the weekend like he did last year’s district weekend, with a win over C.B. East’s Devon Passman. That, of course, would help him get a favorable seating in next week’s bracket, where he could take aim at a few other notable challengers (Council Rock South’s Ed Shupe, Great Valley’s Justin Schellenger, and Springfield-Delco’s Pat Leahan).

But if the North has one weight class to watch it’s the big boys at 285 pounds — a gang of eight whose combined won-loss records are second only to the South’s 152-pound bracket. There’s defending champion Jared Bennett of Upper Perkiomen (35-2), whose only two losses were back in December out in Reno — and both on the mats and not in the casinos; Hatboro-Horsham’s Alex Myers (29-4), who has won 14 in a row, including 10 times by pins; C.B. East’s Joe Burke (27-4), who flip-flopped between 215 and 285 all season and has been beaten just once at 285 — by Bennett last week; Norristown’s Marcus Robbins (36-6), among the district leaders in pins who won 18 in a row before dropping a close decision last weekend to Myers; and Perkiomen Valley’s Chase Godfrey (31-5), whose only two losses since the calendar turned over to 2009 have been to Bennett (1-0) and Myers (5-2).

Now, to the Central showdown at Spring-Ford.

At 119, it could be a Section Four rematch for Boyertown’s Matt Malfaro (35-5) and Unionville’s Joe Bonaduce (24-3), who had a 6-2 lead before Malfaro hit him for a six-point move that led to an injury default. And it may not be any different at 125 for Spring-Ford’s very quick Tim Miller (28-6) and Great Valley’s very strong Kyle Liberato (28-3).

Penncrest’s Resnick brothers have an agenda, too. At 135, Will (23-5) is likely to get Kennett’s unbeaten Kyle Bove (32-0) in the final; and at 171, Jim (27-2) is likely to have a final date with either Great Valley’s Scott Schretzenmaier (30-2) or Henderson’s Hunter Smith (25-1), who lost his unbeaten season last week in a 1-0 struggle with Resnick. But the 171 semifinals — Resnick against Downingtown West’s Josh Homer and Smith against Schretzenmaier — may be double the fun to watch.

At 140, unbeaten Joe Marino (29-0) of Garnet Valley and Downingtown East’s once-beaten Billy Heemer (26-1) are at opposite ends of the bracket. At 152, expect another PAC-10 battle between OJR’s Nick Fuschino (28-1) and Boyertown’s Tim Feroe (35-6), but don’t necessarily expect another lopsided score like the one in last week’s Section Four final.

Both 189 and 215 are packed tight, too. At 189, Boyertown sophomore Zach Heffner (25-5) is an up and coming talent, and could see Oxford’s Nick Ruggear (27-4) in the final. At 215, Great Valley’s Carl Buchholz, who pound for pound may be one of the best in the entire district, seems to tower over the rest. But don’t overlook OJR’s Scott Syrek (23-4), Conestoga’s Greg Gruschow (24-5) or Downingtown East’s energized Amro Elansati (25-1).

And finally, heading South.

At 103, Chris Matusik (30-2) could become only the second district champion at Academy Park, but will likely have to upset Truman’s James Bak (32-2) to do it. At 125, Council Rock South’s Matt Rappo (30-8) will be looking for his second district title that would extend his family’s string of at least one district champion to six straight years. At 145, a potential semifinal between South’s Marc Helfrich (27-7) and Springfield-Delco’s Brandon Loro (29-5) may be the best of the bracket.

At 152, what a final it could be between once-beatens Jimmy Vollrath (32-1) of Council Rock South and Josh Marquard (33-1) of Sun Valley. That is if pin-happy Bobby Scheivert (33-3) of Chichester doesn’t pull an upset beforehand. And at 160, Springfield-Delco’s Pat Leahan (29-5) would like to avenge that 4-2 setback in the district duals to top-seeded Ed Shupe (29-3) of Council Rock South.

But the one match most are looking for tonight unfolds at 189 … and make no mistake about it, barring a Twilight Zone-like upset early on, the final will be between Council Rock North’s Jamie Callender (35-5) and Springfield-Delco’s Andre Petroski (32-2). A junior, Petroski defeated Callender, 12-8, on Jan. 17 during the Elite Duals at C.R. North. They avoided one another in the district duals (understandable coaching strategy), but won’t today.

At the Section Eight Tournament last weekend, La Salle dominated as expected — nine individual champions, two runners-up, and two others who placed third. Don’t look for the Explorers to lose many of their 13 qualifiers at today’s District 12-AAA Championships, either, where the eight-man brackets are made up of four qualifiers each from the Philadelphia Catholic and Public leagues. The tournament is being held at Thomas Edison High School.

TRIVIA TIME

Who were the five District 1 wrestlers who failed to win an AAA Southeast Regional title but advanced to the PIAA Championships the following week and won a state title? (Answer at the end of the column … and no peeking).

DISTRICT MATTERS

Of all the teams represented in today’s three AAA tournaments, Sun Valley has gone the longest of any without a district champion. The Vanguards’ last gold medalist was Mike Kennedy in 1987. Ridley (1989), Penn Wood (1990), and Strath Haven (1990) are next on the list.

In Class AAA, Upper Perkiomen has had nine straight seasons with at least one district champion, three better than Boyertown, Pennsbury, and Quakertown. Council Rock South and Owen J. Roberts are shooting to extend their respective streaks to six straight years today. In Class AA, Octorara is the runaway leader with 17 straight seasons of at least one district champion. St. Pius X (10) and Harriton (8) are a distant second and third, respectively, behind the Braves.

BEARING DOWN

Alex Pellicciotti is within nine wins of tying the Boyertown school record for wins in a season. The junior 130-pounder takes a 38-3 mark into today’s District 1-AAA Central Tournament, but would need to wrestle his way to states and pick up a few wins there to match the 47 wins put up by both Fred Rodgers (2006) and Jesse DeWan (2007). Pellicciotti needs one win to equal his total of a year ago and two to join a list of 12 former Bears who had 40 or more wins in a season.

Fuschino (120), Pellicciotti (115), Bennett (114), and Feroe (110) are the area’s career win leaders among those still wrestling. Fuschino could conceivably tie Robert Hoffman (131) for second on OJR’s chart, but will fall short of Aaron Brown (134). … Pellicciotti has all of next year yet to track down DeWan (143) as the Bears’ all-time leader. … Feroe (69) and Bennett (59) are far and above the area’s active leaders in career pins.

TRIVIA ANSWER

The five District 1 wrestlers who failed to win an AAA Southeast Regional title but advanced to the PIAA Championships the following week and won a state title were: Neshaminy Maple Point’s John Reich, was pinned in the regional final by Council Rock’s Lee Lartucci, but went on to win the state title at 155 pounds in 1978; Methacton’s Jon Moser finished third at the regional behind runner-up Pat Curry of Haverford and champion Tim Tobin of Ridley at the regional, but went on to win the state title – decisioning Curry in the first all-District 1 state final – at 126 pounds in 1979; Central Bucks East’s Marc Sodano finished third at the regional behind runner-up Dave Lucerne of Downingtown and champion Nick Vodantis of Phoenixville, but went on to win the state title at 112 pounds in 1982; Upper Perkiomen’s Brad Rozanski was decisioned by West Chester East’s Mike Krafchick in the regional final, but went on to win the state title at 125 pounds in 1990; and Upper Perkiomen’s Chris Sheetz finished second at the regional to Council Rock South’s Rick Rappo, but went on to decision Rappo in the state final for the title at 112 pounds in 2005.

The PIAA has been staging its state team duals tournament 11 years now. The first, back in 1999, there were just 10 teams — all district champions — that made up the Class AAA field. And there were no wrestle-backs, no consolation brackets, either.

The inaugural run started with some controversy, when Northampton head coach Don Rohn — unhappy that the timing of the duals conflicted with the individual postseason — sent his No. 1 ranked Konkrete Kids’ junior varsity team out for a first-round match-up with Gettysburg and, of course, lost. The inaugural run ended on a rather gloomy note, when Bald Eagle Area humbled Upper Perkiomen, 53-0, in the old Hersheypark Arena.

For the next five years, with more postseason-friendly dates — and everyone, including the folks up in Northampton, considerably happier as a result — the duals served as nothing more than a showcase for the District 11 powers. Northampton won it in 2000, then Easton pinned down the next four titles.

In 2005, the PIAA altered its duals format, opening the field to include runners-up and third-place finishers from the state’s larger districts, bringing in the champion from its newest member — the Philadelphia Public League (District 12) — and adding a consolation bracket for survivors of the opening-round matches.

Since then, and since moving a few blocks over to the Giant Center, it’s been quite an event, perhaps what the PIAA — and Pennsylvania’s devoted wrestling following — envisioned from the outset.

But the duals, a great venue for the state to show off its scholastic wrestling powers, were never quite the spectacle they were last weekend.

Don’t think so? Take roll call (alphabetically) on Saturday … Blue Mountain, Boyertown, Central Dauphin, Central Mountain, Cumberland Valley, and Northampton.

Well, depending on what state ranking you choose to read (or subscribe to), two of them had Central Dauphin, Northampton, Central Mountain, Blue Mountain, Cumberland Valley, and Boyertown at No. 1 through No. 6, respectively. And depending on what national ranking you choose to read (or subscribe to), the one most recognized (and, of course, most criticized) had Central Dauphin at No. 4, Northampton at No. 5, Central Mountain at No. 6, Blue Mountain at No. 14, and Cumberland Valley at No. 19.

Let’s see, the top six teams in the state and five of the Top 20 teams in the country all sharing four mats Saturday morning at the Giant Center.

Can you say, “Wow” … or just spell it?

And did Boyertown belong in that elite group of six? You can bet your singlet it did.

The Bears have their share of what wrestling extremists like to call “studs,” those you can likely count on to get four or more points no matter what weight class you pencil them in at. Not a lot of them, mind you, but their fair share. They have their share of others who will, more often than not, get you a win here and there. And, most important, they have their share of anonymous entries in the lineup who will not always surrender the bonus points that are so critical in determining the outcome of big matches.

This season, despite a couple of injuries and an assortment of distractions from their critics and forums statewide, the Bears stepped up … and without question earned the right to be called one of the top six teams in Pennsylvania.

And if you’re talking top six? In this state? For 2008-09?

Not bad … not bad at all.

PAC IT UP

The Pioneer Athletic Conference’s 23rd season of wrestling ended Monday night with Boyertown claiming its third straight title. Runner-up Upper Perkiomen, with the exception of the ineligible wrestler issue that created the forfeit frenzy in 2007, has been first or second every season since 1997.

But it’s been a while since the rest of the league was so competitive. Owen J. Roberts and Perkiomen Valley shared third place at 6-3, and both Methacton and Spring-Ford were right behind at 5-4.

OJR lost to Perkiomen Valley, but defeated both Methacton and Spring-Ford, the latter for the first times since joining the PAC-10 back in 1988. Perkiomen Valley lost a two-point thriller to Methacton, but got the best of Spring-Ford for the second straight season – which it had never done before.

Methacton, which got thumped early by Spring-Ford, finished strong with the win over PV underlining the stretch run.

And if there was a silver lining for the Warriors, at least for rookie head coach A.J. Maida, it was that he had wins over three Methacton graduates who are currently head coaches in the PAC-10 – Tim Walsh at Perkiomen Valley; Dave Saville and Phoenixville; and Jeff Madden at Pottsgrove.

Owen J. Roberts was 6-3 for the first time since 2002, while Perkiomen Valley was 6-3 for the first time since 2003. … Spring-Ford’s five wins were the Rams’ fewest since the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s inaugural season, when they were 4-3 in the then eight-team league. … Pottsgrove, which closed at 3-6, lost to Perkiomen Valley by just two points and were within two individual bout wins of knocking off Owen J. Roberts and Methacton. … Phoenixville, as well as Pottstown and St. Pius X, weakened considerably by lack of numbers, injuries and illnesses, still reared their competitive heads at times this season.

Spring-Ford, the only member of the Pioneer Athletic Conference with a winning record in all 23 seasons, remains the winningest program in the PAC-10 with 172 wins. Upper Perkiomen is second (134). … Boyertown, with seven seasons in the league, owns the best winning percentage (.914). … Perkiomen Valley (103) and Pottstown (100) became the third and fourth teams to get to the 100-win mark in league competition. Owen J. Roberts needs two wins next season to join the group.

IMPRESSIVE TUNEUP

Springfield-Delco’s Andre Petroski, a legitimate contender for a state title at 189 pounds next month, tuned up for the postseason by winning the 184-pound weight class in the annual Edinboro Open last Saturday. Petroski strung together five wins – four decisions and a disqualification – against college rivals.

CLOSING IN

Boyertown’s Matt Malfaro and Upper Perkiomen’s Mike McStravick will be shooting for sectional titles as well as their 100th career wins Saturday. The 119-pound Malfaro, a junior, hasn’t lost since Jan. 3 – a string of 21 straight wins – and is one away from the milestone after his victory Monday night against Phoenixville. The 140-pound McStravick, a senior, has won 15 of his last 16 bouts and needs two this weekend to reach the milestone.

Boyertown’s Ryan Kemmerer (152) is currently eighth on The Mercury area’s all-time win chart. … Owen J. Roberts’ Nick Fuschino (117) needs five more wins to move up into third place on his school’s leaderboard behind former Wildcats’ Robert Hoffman (131) and Aaron Brown (134). … Boyertown’s Alex Pellicciotti, a junior, and Upper Perkiomen’s Jared Bennett, a senior, each take 111 career wins into the postseason, while Boyertown’s Tim Feroe (107) – who reached the mark just over a week ago – is the only other active area wrestler with 100-plus career wins.

HALL OF FAME

The District 1 Wrestling Coaches Association announced the 20th class of inductees for the district’s Hall of Fame. Those to be honored at the Southeastern Regional at Oxford later this month are former longtime coaches Charlie Kramer of Perkiomen Valley and Mike Colley of West Chester East, and outstanding wrestlers Mike Jones of Haverford, Rocky Mantella of Council Rock, and Derek Zinck of Upper Perkiomen.