Wrestling had always been a treat for the Malfaro family. Especially for Bill, a section champion for Pottsgrove back in 1980, and for his brothers Paul, Lewis, and Mike.

So it was no surprise, actually it was quite natural, when Bill’s first three sons — Billy, Tony, and Jacob — began rolling around on the mats at a young age.

But soon after Bill’s youngest son Matt started walking, he wasn’t in any hurry to exchange his diapers for a singlet, or traipse out onto the mats. He was, much to his dad’s and older brothers’ surprise, quite the aloof one when it came to wrestling.

“I hated it at first,” recalled Matt, now a junior at Boyertown High School.

But dad had one move the li’l fella simply couldn’t counter.

“Ice cream,” Matt explained. “Like I said, I hated wrestling. My dad got me started when I was in elementary school, and I didn’t like it at all. But it was in my family, so I guess I didn’t have a choice at first.

“When winter came around, I hated the idea (of wrestling). I hated the practices. I cried … did everything I could not to go. That’s when my dad said, ‘We’ll get ice cream after practice.’ Well, I couldn’t wait for those ice cream cones.”

What a treat they were.

And what a treat dad and brothers got in return Saturday morning when they watched Matt pin down his 100th career win during the opening round of the District 1-Class AAA Section Four Tournament.

“I started getting better in those practices, and by wrestling a lot with my brother Tony,” Malfaro remembered moments after the milestone win. “I actually started to like it.”

Getting better may have been an understatement.

Malfaro tipped the scales at 80 pounds and went 26-2 in seventh grade at Boyertown West. He bulked up to 90 pounds — not so much on ice cream anymore — and went 26-4 in eighth grade. He had more than proved himself, and the following year he was in the Bears’ starting lineup.

He hasn’t been out of it since, either.

And getting the 100th win — which led to his second Section Four title — is just another addition on his long list of wrestling achievements.

“It’s something I guess I always wanted to get, but something I didn’t really think a lot about,” Malfaro explained. “When getting (100) became more realistic, I realized it’s a pretty good accomplishment.

“Of course some people say winning 100 is easy to do now. Maybe it is, but not everybody does get that many. It was always something that made me want to work harder. It was never a distraction to me.”

Malfaro, now 102-33, hopes to add to that total during this weekend’s District 1-AAA Central Tournament at Spring-Ford. Adding a second district title to his resume would be nice, but the Southeast Regional and the PIAA state championships are just ahead, too.

“Right now, it’s step by step, or win, win, win,” Malfaro said. “Getting (100 wins) was one of my goals, but my long-term goal is to place at states. That means I’m going to have to win here (at sectionals), at districts, and at regionals.”

All Malfaro did Saturday was win. After his 46-second pin, he cruised in a 13-0 major to get to the final against No. 1 seed Joe Bonaduce of Unionville. He fell behind 6-2 early on, but a six-point move — takedown and four-point near fall when Bonaduce called for injury time — led to an injury default and the gold medal.

No one was sure if Bill Malfaro treated his youngest son to an ice cream cone later that night, though.

Saturday was a memorable day for Upper Perkiomen’s Mike McStravick, too.

The 140-pound senior became the program’s 21st wrestler to reach 100 career wins, reaching the mark with an 11-0 major decision during Saturday’s semifinals of the District 1-Class AAA Section Two Tournament.

“It felt good to get my 100th win out of the way early in the postseason. I dragged it out a little bit because of my (bout with) pneumonia,” said McStravick, who missed part a few matches late in the season and in the district duals because of the illness.

MILLER TIME

Spring-Ford senior Tim Miller said he worked a lot during the offseason to, in his words, “span the gap.”

Well, he actually closed the gap this winter. And that was never more evident than Saturday night when he outlasted Great Valley’s Kyle Liberato, 7-6, in the 125-pound final of the District 1-Class AAA Section Four Tournament.

Last year, Liberato blanked Miller, 4-0, at the sectional, then came back two weeks later and ended his season with an 11-2 major at the Southeast Regional. Liberato went on to medal at states, while Miller could just watch from the Giant Center seats.

“I just worked harder doing a lot of different stuff in the offseason,” Miller explained. “I knew I had to improve. And this (section title) was my first goal … the second and third are districts and regionals.”

Miller’s quickness was enough to offset Liberato’s muscle … at least enough to get that last-minute escape that proved to be the difference.

“I tried not to worry about his strength, because you can’t wrestle defensive,” Miller said. “I had to stay away from his ties. When he gets you tied up, it’s tough to get out. So I just tried to use my quickness against him. It seemed to work, too, because (Liberato) seemed frustrated at times, especially at the end.”

HIGH MARKS

The No. 1 high belongs to Hill School, which had seven medalists in last weekend’s Pennsylvania Independent Schools State Tournament. Colin Saunders swept the 119-pound weight class, Jay Knight was second at 285, Steele Phillips and Kyle Place were fourth at 135 and 215, respectively, and Jack Sullivan was fifth at 125 to advance to this week’s National Prep Championships up at Lehigh University. The Blues also got a pair of sevenths from Karl Wiszumerski and Tyler Mueller to finish up seventh in the 19-team field. Combined with Perkiomen School’s Zach Sell and Eric Pfeiffer — both eighth — it was the two area school’s best combined showing at the state tournament in recent memory.

Unquestionably the two other highs from last weekend belong to Perkiomen Valley and Owen J. Roberts, who have 10 and 9 district qualifiers — both school records — on the mats this Saturday.

DOUBLE DOWN

Zach Robinson became Pottsgrove’s first sectional champion in 15 years last season. This past Saturday he repeated, joining Mike Meko (1973-74) and Chris Beasley (1991-92) as the program’s only two-time sectional champions.

SOLE MAN

Daniel Boone’s Colin Martucci was the Blazers’ lone survivor in last weekend’s District 3-Class AAA Section Four Tournament at Governor Mifflin. Martucci, who finished second at 140 to improve to 31-5 n the season, will open the Southcentral Regional on Friday against Susquehanna Township’s Robert Tupper (23-10). Barring an upset, he’ll likely see top-seeded Jayshon Wilson (32-1) of Carlisle in the quarterfinals.

STREAKING

Methacton’s Brandan Clark repeated as a Section Three champion that, combined with older brother Brad’s three earlier, gives his family five straight seasons of sectional champions. … Upper Perkiomen’s Jared Bennett swept his second straight gold medal last Saturday to extended the Indians’ area-high streak of at least one section champion to 11 straight years. Owen J. Roberts’ Nick Fuschino’s second gold medal extended the Wildcats’ streak to eight straight years. Boyertown has had at least one every season since its return to District 1 back in 2002-03.

It’s never been too awfully difficult to figure out who’s who in Pioneer Athletic Conference football. Old fashion research – like checking team rosters from the previous year to see who’s coming back and who isn’t, a few off-the-record (of course) chats with coaches and players, and peeking in on summer practices as well as a scrimmage here and there – more often than not separates the good from the, dare we say it, not so good.

This season?

Let’s see, put ’em all in alphabetical order – Boyertown, Methacton, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, St. Pius X, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen. Reverse the order if you’d like. Scribble the names of all those teams on a slip of paper, them into a hat, give it a flip-flop, and empty ’em on the kitchen table.

Go ahead.

Just don’t dare claim to have an answer as to who is going to be on top of the standings when the show ends around noon Thanksgiving Day.

Quite simply, the 23rd season of PAC-10 football kicks off this evening with more uncertainty than any before it.

All that research, at least a few months of it, hasn’t revealed any clues. And as ridiculous as it may sound, coaches – a good number of them at least – have mentioned upwards of seven teams they personally feel are capable of winning the title. Most admitted their respective scrimmages were up-and-down (inconsistent, or good and bad, as some mumbled). And after two weeks of non-league tests, no one is exactly gushing over their preseason report cards.

A few fanatics from around the football neighborhood have already put their collective feet over the chin strap, under the facemask and squarely into their mouths by claiming this could be a bad season for the PAC-10.

But, in all likelihood, because of the uncertainty – or dare we say parity – it may very well unfold as one of the best.

The opening-night card isn’t going to tilt this season’s seemingly level playing field, mind you. Not yet, at least. And it isn’t going to reveal any unconquerable, goliath-like lineup(s), either. One week, or one game, a season doesn’t make.

But it sure is a good one. Five games, five legitimate toss-ups … and most of them have their own interesting storylines.

The headliner, if there is indeed one, is Methacton’s visit to Boyertown. The Warriors are making their Pioneer Athletic Conference football debut and, naturally, would like to make a good first impression. The Bears are thinking otherwise, of course. They’d like nothing more than to end an eight-game losing streak that dates back to last season, give new head coach Mark Scisly his first win, and give the Warriors a loss to dwell on during the long bus ride back to Fairview Village.

Phoenixville and Pottsgrove will both attempt to right their respective ships after splitting their two non-league games. Each team has a potential Player of the Year, the Phantoms with Anthony Nattle and the Falcons with Terrell Chestnut, both of whom strut their stuff on both sides of the ball. And even though it doesn’t play into anything, keep the number 550 in mind – this is the 550th game in the history of Pottsgrove’s program, and Phoenixville is looking for the 550th win in the history of its storied program.

St. Pius X will take a short hike over to Pottstown and, for the first time in five years, look for a win in its PAC-10 opener. George Parkinson, the first head coach with three consecutive seasons on the Lions’ sidelines since Dave Bodolus (1995-2001), and the Lions had last week off. But don’t think they lost any of the enthusiasm or confidence from their impressive opening-night shutout of Simon Gratz down in Philadelphia. The Trojans, meanwhile, are expected to be a little healthier than they were against both Blue Mountain and Upper Dublin. And they also have Kenny Baker, another genuine Player of the Year candidate, who can break a game wide open all by himself with his quickness and speed.

Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley meet in Graterford to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a series that has become as good a rivalry as there is locally. It’s also a series that has gone in reverse since Spring-Ford dominated the early meetings (by taking seven of its first eight PAC-10 wins by shutouts and four more in consecutive seasons – 1990-93). Perkiomen Valley has won eight of the last nine meetings, though. Both struggled the past two weeks, but both have two of the area’s top quarterbacks. The Rams have Trevor Sasek, who is threatening to rewrite the school’s record book, and the Vikings have Zach Zulli, who is threatening to rewrite the school’s and area’s record books.

And the final entry on the PAC-10 card has Upper Perkiomen at Owen J. Roberts, perhaps the two teams with as much to prove as anyone tonight. The Indians were nearly flawless in a rout of Allentown Allen and totally outplayed at Downingtown West. OJR got burnt by big plays against Downingtown West, then came up with their own to singe West Chester East. Indians head coach Keith Leamer hasn’t lost any of his five games against OJR, but will have to deal with two of the league’s best linemen in the Wildcats’ Sam Morgan and Nelson Munoz and two of the league’s most promising underclassmen in Ryan Brumfield and Scott Syrek.

MORE, MORE, MORE

Daniel Boone, the area’s only 2-0 team, is at home tonight for the first time this season and entertains Columbia – a team that gave up 576 yards and 61 points in a loss to York Suburban last weekend. If that trend continues, the stat-fanats may need a calculator to add up Nate Greene’s yardage on the ground and quarterback Jon Monteiro’s yardage through the air.

Perkiomen School finally kicks off its season tonight at Tower Hill down in Wilmington, Del. Head coach Kevin Manferdini can ill afford any injuries this season because of lower numbers in camp. He has two promising senior guards in Eric Pfeiffer and Robert Faraco, who’ll lead a charge up front for Abdul Smith, who has already committed to Rutgers University and is, without doubt, as good a candidate for Player of the Year honors as anyone.

SUNDAY SPECIAL

The Hill School will be the area’s last team to step onto the field this season. The Blues’ scheduled matinee for today against visiting Germantown Academy was pushed back to noon Sunday. The change was agreed upon by both schools after GA’s opener with Cardinal Dougherty got washed out Saturday night and, because of scheduling conflicts, was pushed back to Monday afternoon.

See Sunday’s edition of The Mercury for a preview of the Blues’ opener.

DISTRICT FEATURES

Three big games on the District 1 docket tonight feature Pennsbury (2-0) at Glen Mills (2-0) and Strath Haven (1-1) at Conestoga (2-0), while the showcase event is St. Joseph’s Prep (2-0) visiting North Penn (2-0). The teams are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the state’s AAAA division. There are a couple more interesting matchups on Saturday, too, with Quakertown (2-0) visiting Cheltenham (2-0) and Henderson (2-0) traveling to Malvern Prep (1-0).

AROUND THE STATE

West Wayne ended the state’s longest active losing streak at 41 games last weekend with a 21-6 win over Susquehanna Community. The Wildcats, who compete in the District 2-Class AAA bracket, hadn’t won a game since Nov. 7, 2003. Going into tonight’s games, Montgomery (District 4-A) and Allegheny-Clarion Valley (District 9-AA) own the state’s longest active losing streak at 24. … On the flip side, defending Class AA state champion Jeannette (District 7), which has swept 18 straight games, boasts the longest active winning streak in Pennsylvania. District 6-AA power Tyrone has won 34 consecutive regular-season games since a narrow 7-6 setback to Phillipsburg-Osceola four years ago.

CELEBRITY GAME

There were a few famous faces in the stands last week when Oaks Christian put a 35-7 thumping on Bakersfield Christian out in California. Former San Francisco 49er quarterback and Hall of Famer Joe Montana was there to watch his son, Oaks Christian quarterback Nick Montana. Seated nearby was NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Getzky and Hollywood star Will Smith, both keeping an eye on their sons who play for OC as well. On the other side of the field, former No. 1 NFL draft pick and journeyman quarterback David Carr was watching his son, Derek Carr, who was calling the signals for Bakersfield Christian.

It's never been too awfully difficult to figure out who's who in Pioneer Athletic Conference football. Old-fashioned research - like checking team rosters from the previous year to see who's coming back and who isn't, a few off-the-record (of course) chats with coaches and players, and peeking in on summer practices as well as a scrimmage here and there - more often than not separates the good from the, dare we say it, not so good.

This season?

Let's see, put 'em all in alphabetical order - Boyertown, Methacton, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, St. Pius X, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen. Reverse the order if you'd like. Scribble the names of all those teams on a slip of paper, them into a hat, give it a flip-flop, and empty 'em on the kitchen table.

Go ahead.

Just don't dare claim to have an answer as to who is going to be on top of the standings when the show ends around noon Thanksgiving Day.

Quite simply, the 23rd season of PAC-10 football kicks off this evening with more uncertainty than any before it.

All that research, at least a few months of it, hasn't revealed any clues. And as ridiculous as it may sound, coaches - a good number of them at least - have mentioned upwards of seven teams they personally feel are capable of winning the title. Most admitted their respective scrimmages were up-and-down (inconsistent, or good and bad, as some mumbled). And after two weeks of non-league tests, no one is exactly gushing over their preseason report cards.

A few fanatics from around the football neighborhood have already put their collective feet over the chin strap, under the facemask and squarely into their mouths by claiming this could be a bad season for the PAC-10.

But, in all likelihood, because of the uncertainty - or dare we say parity - it may very well unfold as one of the best.

The opening-night card isn't going to tilt this season's seemingly level playing field, mind you. Not yet, at least. And it isn't going to reveal any unconquerable, goliath-like lineup(s), either. One week, or one game, a season doesn't make.

But it sure is a good one. Five games, five legitimate toss-ups ... and most of them have their own interesting storylines.

The headliner, if there is indeed one, is Methacton's visit to Boyertown. The Warriors are making their Pioneer Athletic Conference football debut and, naturally, would like to make a good first impression. The Bears are thinking otherwise, of course. They'd like nothing more than to end an eight-game losing streak that dates back to last season, give new head coach Mark Scisly his first win, and give the Warriors a loss to dwell on during the long bus ride back to Fairview Village.

Phoenixville and Pottsgrove will both attempt to right their respective ships after splitting their two non-league games. Each team has a potential Player of the Year, the Phantoms with Anthony Nattle and the Falcons with Terrell Chestnut, both of whom strut their stuff on both sides of the ball. And even though it doesn't play into anything, keep the number 550 in mind - this is the 550th game in the history of Pottsgrove's program, and Phoenixville is looking for the 550th win in the history of its storied program.

St. Pius X will take a short hike over to Pottstown and, for the first time in five years, look for a win in its PAC-10 opener. George Parkinson, the first head coach with three consecutive seasons on the Lions' sidelines since Dave Bodolus (1995-2001), and the Lions had last week off. But don't think they lost any of the enthusiasm or confidence from their impressive opening-night shutout of Simon Gratz down in Philadelphia. The Trojans, meanwhile, are expected to be a little healthier than they were against both Blue Mountain and Upper Dublin. And they also have Kenny Baker, another genuine Player of the Year candidate, who can break a game wide open all by himself with his quickness and speed.

Spring-Ford and Perkiomen Valley meet in Graterford to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a series that has become as good a rivalry as there is locally. It's also a series that has gone in reverse since Spring-Ford dominated the early meetings (by taking seven of its first eight PAC-10 wins by shutouts and four more in consecutive seasons - 1990-93). Perkiomen Valley has won eight of the last nine meetings, though. Both struggled the past two weeks, but both have two of the area's top quarterbacks. The Rams have Trevor Sasek, who is threatening to rewrite the school's record book, and the Vikings have Zach Zulli, who is threatening to rewrite the school's and area's record books.

And the final entry on the PAC-10 card has Upper Perkiomen at Owen J. Roberts, perhaps the two teams with as much to prove as anyone tonight. The Indians were nearly flawless in a rout of Allentown Allen and totally outplayed at Downingtown West. OJR got burnt by big plays against Downingtown West, then came up with their own to singe West Chester East. Indians head coach Keith Leamer hasn't lost any of his five games against OJR, but will have to deal with two of the league's best linemen in the Wildcats' Sam Morgan and Nelson Munoz and two of the league's most promising underclassmen in Ryan Brumfield and Scott Syrek.

MORE, MORE, MORE

Daniel Boone, the area's only 2-0 team, is at home tonight for the first time this season and entertains Columbia - a team that gave up 576 yards and 61 points in a loss to York Suburban last weekend. If that trend continues, the stat-fanats may need a calculator to add up Nate Greene's yardage on the ground and quarterback Jon Monteiro's yardage through the air.

Perkiomen School finally kicks off its season tonight at Tower Hill down in Wilmington, Del. Head coach Kevin Manferdini can ill afford any injuries this season because of lower numbers in camp. He has two promising senior guards in Eric Pfeiffer and Robert Faraco, who'll lead a charge up front for Abdul Smith, who has already committed to Rutgers University and is, without doubt, as good a candidate for Player of the Year honors as anyone.

SUNDAY SPECIAL

The Hill School will be the area's last team to step onto the field this season. The Blues' scheduled matinee for today against visiting Germantown Academy was pushed back to noon Sunday. The change was agreed upon by both schools after GA's opener with Cardinal Dougherty got washed out Saturday night and, because of scheduling conflicts, was pushed back to Monday afternoon.

See Sunday's edition of The Mercury for a preview of the Blues' opener.

DISTRICT FEATURES

Three big games on the District 1 docket tonight feature Pennsbury (2-0) at Glen Mills (2-0) and Strath Haven (1-1) at Conestoga (2-0), while the showcase event is St. Joseph's Prep (2-0) visiting North Penn (2-0). The teams are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the state's AAAA division. There are a couple more interesting matchups on Saturday, too, with Quakertown (2-0) visiting Cheltenham (2-0) and Henderson (2-0) traveling to Malvern Prep (1-0).

AROUND THE STATE

West Wayne ended the state's longest active losing streak at 41 games last weekend with a 21-6 win over Susquehanna Community. The Wildcats, who compete in the District 2-Class AAA bracket, hadn't won a game since Nov. 7, 2003. Going into tonight's games, Montgomery (District 4-A) and Allegheny-Clarion Valley (District 9-AA) own the state's longest active losing streak at 24. ... On the flip side, defending Class AA state champion Jeannette (District 7), which has swept 18 straight games, boasts the longest active winning streak in Pennsylvania. District 6-AA power Tyrone has won 34 consecutive regular-season games since a narrow 7-6 setback to Phillipsburg-Osceola four years ago.

CELEBRITY GAME

There were a few famous faces in the stands last week when Oaks Christian put a 35-7 thumping on Bakersfield Christian out in California. Former San Francisco 49er quarterback and Hall of Famer Joe Montana was there to watch his son, Oaks Christian quarterback Nick Montana. Seated nearby was NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Getzky and Hollywood star Will Smith, both keeping an eye on their sons who play for OC as well. On the other side of the field, former No. 1 NFL draft pick and journeyman quarterback David Carr was watching his son, Derek Carr, who was calling the signals for Bakersfield Christian.

Sixty-four American Legion baseball teams are still playing today and, yes, Boyertown is one of them.

What’s new, eh?

Well, NorChester should be one of those 64, too. Problem is the Bulldogs ran into one of the best pitchers in Pennsylvania in the opening round of last week’s state tournament, then stumbled through their worst game of the entire summer at the absolute worst time — when they faced off against Boyertown in the next-to-last game of the tournament.

With all due respect to Bradford — which battled all the way through the losers bracket to get into that final game and advance into today’s opening round of the Great Lakes Regional — there is no question NorChester was over and above the best team behind Boyertown in the field.

What cost the Bulldogs dearly, or ended their season prematurely, wasn’t any error in the field or any error in judgment by manager Cobin Stoltzfus.

Not at all.

What cost the Bullodgs was not having their ace throw one pitch the entire tournament, or the entire postseason, for that matter. He wasn’t overworked. He wasn’t ailing. He wasn’t off on a family vacation, either.

Nope, he was in the dugout with the rest of the NorChester team for the entire Region Three and state tournaments.

The Bulldogs ace was told not to pitch by his college coach (who he has yet to throw even a fastball for). And Stoltzfus was told not to use his ace by that same college coach.

Yet another pathetic example of our “me-me” society today.

And does the selfishness ever get magnified tenfold in the dizzying circle of sports today, too.

Not so awfully long ago, a youngster by the name of Mike Mussina and his Montoursville teammates stolled into Bear Stadium for the state tournament. He had already committed to Stanford University, before he was a first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Orioles. But Mussina had the support of both the Cardinal staff and the Orioles ... and finished his American Legion season with Montoursville.

It was pretty much the same story for a couple of other Stanford standouts Rob Wassenaar of Edina, Minn., and Stan Spencer of Vancouver, Wash. Wassenaar pitched Edina all the way to two American Legion World Series, winning the 1983 national title (over Boyertown) after already committing to Stanford. Spencer pitched Vancouver into the 1987 World Series, even threw in the final (and lost to Boyertown) after already committing to Stanford. Neither was told to shut their arms down those summer. Come to think of it, two of Wassenaar’s teammates — Greg Olson and Mike Halloran — were playing after committing to the University of Minnesota.

There were others, too.

One that comes to mind is Brooklawn’s Brett Laxton, who pitched the New Jersey power to the 1991 World Series championship in Boyertown and to the final day of the 1992 World Series in Fargo, N.D. ... after having already committed to LSU (where he would become the National Freshman of the Year and later help the Tigers to the College World Series title).

New a few more names, perhaps familiar names?

How about Boyertown’s Ivan Snyder (pitching after committing to Alabama), John Ludy (pitching after committing to St. Joseph’s), and Greg Gilbert (playing after committing to West Virginia)? And Spring City’s Craig Clark (pitching after committing to Penn State) warrants mention, too.

In all fairness (despite hating to admit it), the NorChester ace did pitch in about a half-dozen games early this summer before leaving to complete a class or two at the college. But he returned in time for the postseason ... and was denied the opportunity to pitch.

If the college coach feared his prized recruit was going to get hurt, well, that’s part of the game. Heck, getting through each and every day of the week away from any ballpark without getting hurt, sick or whatever is part of life, too. And if being overworked by Stoltzfus was a concern, it shouldn’t have been. The Bulldogs manager wouldn’t jeopardize any of his ballplayers’ health let alone their careers, especially a pitcher who was getting a scholarship to the Division I school and a pitcher who was selected in the Major League Draft. The college coach could’ve easily put restrictions on the amount of pitches or innings he worked, too, if it was a concern.

Nope ... forget it.

Instead, one of the best pitcher to throw a baseball in this area in a long, long time spent most of his summer watching games instead of pitching in them.

That wasn’t fair to him or to his teammates, who battled gallantly and came within one win of playing this week.

But a young man was denied a valuable baseball experience — pitching in big games against good hitters in front of a lot of people — the kind of experience he could’ve taken to the mound next spring in college.

He was also denied what every devoted youngsters works for, perhaps even dreams of - playing for a state title, or even a national title (don’t forget this season’s NorChester ball club may have been even better than the previous two that advanced to the Great Lakes national regional).

He was denied that chance.

He was denied memories (and, incidentally, the “denied memories” was an off-the-record comment made by not one or two college coaches, but three college coaches who sat in on last week’s state tournament in Boyertown).

Which leads some to wonder what will happen in two, three or four years if the same young man is part of his college’s starting rotation or bullpen and gets drafted again ... just as his team is headed for the NCAA playoffs? Will that same coach begrudge the young man if he packs up his gear and heads off to the minor leagues?

Well, here’s hoping the young man — as well as his team — experiences all the success imaginable in the ensuing years. It will truly be interesting to see if that aforementioned scenario develops ... to see how that college coach reacts if one of his pitchers is told to shut it down and get to his first professional baseball assignment.

No one had an eye on the clock and an ear glued to their cell phone, but as the four medalists in each weight class stepped up and onto the awards podium during the final hours of the Southeast Regional on Saturday night, four others stepped up and onto their own awards podium at about the same time during the final hours of the Northeast, Southwest and Northwest regionals (just as they did a week earlier at the Southcentral Regional).
The winner was hailed, the runner-up and those other two fortunate enough to survive the grind of the consolation bracket, were acknowledged by a rousing round of applause.
The goal of getting to the PIAA Championships – qualifying for arguably the most physically and mentally demanding tournament of its kind in all of high school sports – was reached.
It was, without question, a memorable moment. And not just for the 14 individual champions, but for the other 42 medalists.
A good time.
But before any of those 56 wrestlers rolled into bed and under the covers for the night, they were well aware that the most imposing challenge of their entire season, if not their career, lied ahead … the state tournament.
So, after sleeping on their victories, their accomplishments of a weekend past, and getting a day to soothe the aches and pains and the bumps and bruises, it was one of those back-to-work-Mondays, or a return to the practice room.
And if the weekday routine seemed a bit difficult from November through February, they discovered it was never quite as intense as it is now, in the three days leading up to that first bout at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Pick it up now or, sometime Thursday, pack it up and head back home.
You see, there are four particular things about the PIAA Championships that, year in and year out, never change. Won-loss records are worthless; reputations are of no value; previous match-ups are meaningless; and, most important, whoever did whatever in the past carries absolutely no weight.
The area’s 12 qualifiers will have to deal with and digest those four realities before their openers.
And if you don’t think they exist…
At 130 pounds, if Boyertown’s Alex Pellicciotti can get past West Allegheny’s Zach Kelly, he’ll be rewarded with a quarterfinal date against two-time defending state champion and Oklahoma State-bound Jordan Oliver of Easton.
At 135, if Spring-Ford’s Ryan Kemmerer can get past Jason Kane of Lower Dauphin, he’ll be rewarded a quarterfinal date with returning bronze medalist and the No. 1 or No. 2 ranked (depending on your poll of choice) Dylan Alton of Central Mountain.
At 140, Methacton’s Jonathan Hammond opens against returning state runner-up Marshall Peppelman of Central Dauphin, who was upset in the Southcentral Regional final last week.
At 145, Owen J. Roberts’ Nick Fuschino makes his PIAA debut against defending state champion Walter Peppelman of Central Dauphin (yep, older brother of Marshall), who had to settle for third place in his regional that featured – and will send to Hershey – undefeated James English, who took down Peppelman in the semifinals and Cumberland Valley’s Joe Napoli in the final (and Napoli owns the only other two wins over Peppelman).
At 152, Boyertown’s Tim Feroe opens with returning bronze medalist and Southcentral Region champion Mallie Shuster. At 171, Upper Perkiomen’s Nick Edmonson takes on two-time state qualifier and Northeast Regional champion Joe Laffredo of Jersey Shore. And at 189, Owen J. Roberts’ Scott Syrek – the area’s first freshman to qualify at such a high weight – happens to get unbeaten and returning bronze medalist Mike Salopek of Norwin.
At 215, Spring-Ford’s Alex Kanakis opens against Northwest Regional champion Glenn Barnes of Central Mountain. And the big boys, 285-pounders Jared Bennett of Upper Perkiomen and Tyler Swartz of Daniel Boone, get just as big as tests. Bennett goes against Mike Horton of Phillipsburg-Osceola, and Swartz opens with returning seventh-place medalist Eric Kush of Chartiers Valley.
That’s just in AAA.
It isn’t any easier for Pottstown teammates Seth Ecker and Fred Holly in the Class AA bracket, either.
But getting to Hershey is no easy task to begin with. Ask any of those “can’t miss wrestlers” – a lot with just as good credentials as those heading there – who are sitting at home this week.

LUCKY 13TH
District 1 has won at least one individual state title the past 12 years. Whether this weekend is the Lucky 13th or Unlucky 13th remains to be seen.
Since 1981, or when the district quietly broke out of its woeful ways in Hershey, it has been blanked in the gold-medal count just four times – in 1985, 1986, 1990 and 1995. In the current 12-year streak, the district has had 24 state champions.

SPEAKING OF STREAKING
Edmonson and Bennett helped Upper Perkiomen extend its area-high streak of consecutive years with at least one state qualifier to 11. Spring-Ford is next at seven straight years, while Boyertown is third at six (as a member of District 1). Methacton and Owen J. Roberts each have qualifiers for the four straight year, while Pottstown’s streak in Class AA is now at three.
Bennett also gave Upper Perkiomen a regional champion for the ninth straight year. Head coach Tom Hontz has had 16 overall in that nine-year span.

REGIONAL RECAP
In AAA, the area’s 25 regional qualifiers combined for three individual championships, nine state-qualifying berths, and a collective 47-41 record.
In AA, the area’s 12 regional qualifiers combined for two runner-up finishes and state-qualifying berths, and a collective 6-22 record.
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District 1-Central – which includes Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts and Spring-Ford – had the best winning percentage (.521, 101-93) of the three sub-district alignments and tied with the South for the most state qualifiers (20) during last weekend’s AAA Southeast Regional.

PREMATURE
Once again, way too many coaches were jotting down their Outstanding Wrestler votes before the AAA Southeast Regional was over. While it would be difficult to go against the selection of Hatboro-Horsham’s Robert Gribschaw, one has to wonder how many votes Bennett would have received had everyone waited until the 285-pound final was over.
Bennett did something no one else did the entire tournament by dealing two undefeated opponents their first losses of the season. He beat Marple-Newtown’s Pete Massaro, a prized Penn State football recruit, and Abington’s David Osei, who was ranked No. 1 in the district the entire season.
The rush to get the ballots in brought back memories of the fiasco at the 2004 PIAA Championships. A lot of writers were asked to get their votes in for the OW award before the 171-pound final had even started. About a half-hour later, Boyertown’s Mike Spaid punched up his 12th pin in 13 postseason bouts (the other never started because of a medical forfeit) to complete his run to the 285-pound state title.

MOVING UP
Kemmerer (131) is now tied for 21st place with Owen J. Roberts’ Robert Hoffman and Spring-Ford’s Matt Moley on The Mercury’s all-time win chart. Four wins at states this week would push him past six former standouts and into a tie for 14th place with Upper Perkiomen’s Shane Smith. … Hammond (128), who will finish as Methacton’s third winningest wrestler, and Ecker (126), who will finish as Pottstown’s second winningest wrestler, are 26th and 29th, respectively. … The remaining state qualifiers and their career totals going into Thursday’s opening rounds are: Swartz (114), Kanakis (91), Fuschino (a junior with 90), Holly (82) and Bennett (junior with 78), Feroe (junior with 75), Pellicciotti (sophomore with 74), Edmonson (sophomore with 58) and Syrek (freshman with 39).