Will Carter didn’t quite understand the cold-shoulder treatment he was getting prior to Saturday night’s championship round of the District 1-Class AAA North Tournament at Quakertown High School.

“Really, no one was talking to me before the final,” Carter said.

What the Pottstown senior didn’t realize was that no one wanted to jinx him … you know, like the pitcher working on a no-hitter sitting at one end of the dugout and everyone else huddled together at the other end.

What the Pottstown senior didn’t realize was that he had an opportunity to become the program’s first district champion in a long, long time. But just over a minute into his 285-pound final with Norristown’s Marcus Robbins, it looked as if his chances were slim to none.

Until he put Robbins on his back and got the pin, as well as a gold medal…

And became Pottstown’s first Class AAA district champion in 21 years, or since Chris Ruyak, Tom Medvetz and Job Price gave the Trojans a hat trick way back in 1989.

“Did I ever get an ear-full afterwards,” Carter said. “My teammates and their families were all telling me I was the first to do it in twentysome years. I didn’t know anything about that, so I was surprised.”

Carter’s actually been the one providing most of the surprises this season.

Since back-to-back losses a week apart back on Dec. 30 and Jan. 6, which dropped his record to 6-3 on the season, Carter strung together 22 straight wins. The last six, of course, have been the biggest because they’ve added up to section and district titles.

Not bad considering he was just 10-22 after his first two seasons with the Trojans. Even last year’s 17-13 mark, which included a fourth place at sections and cameo appearance – as in two bouts and two losses – at districts, didn’t exactly lend much promise to this season.

But an enhanced work ethic sure did.

“Will has worked extremely hard to become an accomplished wrestler,” said Pottstown assistant John Armato.

Even that may sound like an understatement.

“I guess the turnaround began in the off-season,” Carter explained. “I did a lot of lifting, a lot of running, and I was watching my weight. I just got stronger and faster. Plus, I really wanted to get my name up there on the board with all those other Pottstown wrestlers (who won postseason honors).

Carter earned a spot under the list of section champions when he breezed through the Section Two Tournament a couple of weeks ago. But it didn’t look like he was going to see his name anywhere else on that board after Robbins – who had won 36 of his previous 38 bouts – went in front 8-3 just over the halfway mark of the first period Saturday night.

“All I was thinking at that moment was that I had nothing to lose,” Carter recalled. “I knew I was the underdog going in, so if I was going to do it, if I was going to win, I had to do it now, and whatever happened I would have no regrets.”

Carter certainly didn’t regret the move that put Robbins on his back. Then again, he really hasn’t had any regrets since first stepping onto the mats in seventh grade. And that’s kind of ironic because he never even planned to wrestle.

“I was walking home from school one day with a friend of mine,” Carter remembered. “All of a sudden he stops and says, ‘I have to go back. I forgot I have a wrestling meeting.’ I went with him, and that’s when the coach, Jim Tsakonas – who, incidentally, was the last high school coach to have an AAA district champion – talked to me about joining the team. He kind of lured me in.”

Carter, an All-Pioneer Athletic Conference lineman for the Trojans’ football team, was suddenly a two-sport athlete.

“I liked wrestling from the start,” he said. “But I definitely liked football, too.”

The soft-spoken and good-natured Carter likes helping others as well … especially those away from the football field and wrestling mats.

He was very active with his football teammates in raising funds to buy food and gifts that were distributed to needy families during the holiday season. He also volunteers at the Manor Care, where he’ll sit in on a few bingo games with the elderly and help serve refreshments afterwards.

Carter learned a little bit about stepping up and becoming a leader last year, when he was one of four Pottstown juniors selected to participate in a three-day Leadership Camp over in Boyertown.

“The most important thing I learned there was others come first,” he said. “My teammates come first, and everyone else in my personal life comes first.

“Helping those families during the holidays was part of our football team’s community project. We wanted to create a foundation for other people after us to build on. It was our way of giving back to the community. And helping out with the elderly … that’s fun, especially when you see the older folks smile.”

Carter himself was all smiles when close friend Isaiah Washington joined the wrestling team this season.

“One of the big reasons I’ve done well this year is because of having Isaiah as a practice partner,” Carter explained. “The last couple of years I really didn’t have a practice partner except for (head coach Eric) Dusko, who is a lot smaller than me. I told Isaiah I needed a practice partner real bad, so he came out. And he’s really pushed me.”

So much so, that after those back-to-back losses the Carter-Washington workouts intensified.

“I was upset with those losses,” Carter said. “I was so mad that I mad a bet with (teammate James) McKinney that I wasn’t going to lose the rest of the regular season.”

He didn’t. And with gold medals from the first two stops in the postseason grind as proof, he’s extended the unbeaten run a couple more weeks.

“The win over (Robbins) was a confidence boost for me because he’s really good,” Carter said. “It’s great that I won sections and districts. But now I’d really like to win the regional, too.”

And get an ear-full of good news after about how he was the first to do it since Brian Campbell back in 1989.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Twenty-five area wrestlers have qualified for this week’s AAA Southeast Regional, and seven more were at it again Monday night trying to pin down the fifth and final qualifying spots in their respective weight classes. The seven, or their opponents, had already competed in the maximum number of bouts (five) permitted in one day on Saturday, so their showdowns were pushed back a couple of days.

Boyertown headlines the list with eight (with a possibility of two more), followed by Upper Perkiomen with four, and Methacton, Perkiomen Valley and Spring-Ford with three each, although the Rams had two attempting to take fifth on Monday night.

*

There was a lot of Lion pride over at St. Pius X this past weekend. District champions Conor Myers and Josh Rogers as well as teammates Jared Robbins and John Cherneski all qualified for the Class AA Southeast Regional.

The 152-pound Myers has lost just once since Dec. 30 of last year and is 25-3 on the season. He was 3-19 as a freshman, before breaking even at 16-16 last year. The 215-pound Rogers, who is 25-5 this season, has had a similar turnaround with 51 of his 70 career wins and 32 of his 44 career pins coming over the past two years.

Robbins, only a junior, didn’t even get on the mats this season until the first week of January. And Cherneskie, a sophomore, is in his first year of wrestling.

SO CLOSE

Daniel Boone junior Colin Martucci came up one win short of a berth in the state tournament after finishing fourth during last weekend’s AAA Southcentral Regional.

The 145-pound Martucci battled back from a second-round loss to eventual champion Bo Candaleria of Middletown with three straight wins – the last a 3-1 overtime decision of Cocalico’s Tyler Fittery, who defeated him in the sectional championship a week earlier. However, 4-2 setback in the consolation final to Mechanicsburg’s Rustin Barrick ended Martucci’s season at 31-6.

CARRYING THEIR WEIGHT

West-Mont Christian Academy head coach Jason Meister – who knew a little bit about wrestling (and winning) as a state medalist at Phoenixville High School and as a four-time NCWA All-American at Baptist Bible College – has a lot to look forward to next season. Two of his three medalists from the state prep tournament two weeks ago return … and return for a few years, too.

Austin Mortimer, an eighth-grader, was fifth at 103 pounds; Chris Martorana, the lone senior of the threesome, was seventh at 112; and John Hunter, a junior, was eighth at 160.

Mortimer is the first eighth-grader at WMCA to medal in a postseason tournament. Martorana finished second on the school’s career win list behind 2008 graduate Will Singer.

NATIONAL PREPS

More than 440 wrestlers representing 142 schools participated in the National Prep Championships last weekend at Lehigh University. But it was the same old story as Blair Academy, with six individual champions and two runners-up, won its 30th consecutive team title with 274 points.

Wyoming Seminary was second (237), while Bishop Lynch (173.5) was a very distant third. The Hill School tied for 42nd place.

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.

Nick Fuschino grew up getting beat up, on the wrestling mat that is, by his older brother. But there was no whining or whimpering, no running off and tattling to mom and dad.
“(Anthony) really helped me out,” Fuschino explained. “The problem was that he was a few years older and 40 pounds or so bigger than me. But he was a big influence on me.”
Anthony Fuschino did rather well for himself at Owen J. Roberts. He won Section Four and Southeast Regional titles, an eighth-place medal at states, and collected 89 career victories before graduating in 2005.
Five months after his cap-and-gown affair and official bye-bye to Bucktown, 14-year-old freshman Nick Fuschino strolled into the Wildcats’ practice room.
And today, though just a junior, he’s no longer known among the OJR faithful as the other Fuschino … or the little brother.
Winning will do that, and Fuschino is doing a lot of it of late.
Last Saturday night, during the 145-pound final of the District 1-AAA Central Tournament at Spring-Ford High School, Fuschino recovered from an early 2-0 deficit with a takedown and added a second-period reversal for all the points he needed in a 5-4 decision of Penncrest’s highly touted Jim Resnick. That was good enough for the gold medal – a district title – the one that eluded his older brother.
“I always felt like I was wrestling to fill (Anthony’s) shoes,” Fuschino said. “He always seemed like he was one step above me, so I figured I had big shoes to fill.
“There have always been those expectations. They came from a lot of people, but mostly from me. I’ve always wanted to out-do (Anthony). The great thing about it, though, is that he understands how competitive it is, and he’s always one of the first to congratulate me. He wants me to do well.”
Nick Fuschino is doing quite well.
He dominated his bracket at the Dallastown and Rustin tournaments earlier this season, placed third at the Keystone Games Invitational, and settled for fifth in the very tough Escape the Rock Classic at Council Rock South.
Fuschino (37-3) would like nothing more than to extend his personal winning streak, too. It began on Jan. 5 – when he humbled Absegami (N.J.) senior Dave Foulke in the consolation finals of the Escape the Rock – and is now at 17 in a row, with eight pins and three technical falls among the count.
The last three, of course, came during last Saturday’s district showdown. He needed just over two minutes to pin Oxford’s Cody Combs, was oh-so-workmanlike throughout a 5-1 decision of Downingtown West’s Chris Uhler, then proved he could go with one of the district’s other promising underclassmen in Resnick (31-3).
“I knew (Resnick) was supposed to beat me, or at least that’s what I heard,” Fuschino said. “But I felt I had something to prove, and I had the confidence to do it.
“Even when I fell behind (2-0), I felt I had the stamina. I figured if I could push him for six minutes he wouldn’t be able to hang with me. And in the end I felt I wore him down.”
For good reason, too.
A district gold medal is something his older brother hadn’t won, and something he himself wasn’t quite able to pin down last year.
“I was second here last year,” Fuschino recalled. “I didn’t want to settle for the same thing this year. I wanted to take first.”
*
Fuschino’s effort, combined with teammate Will Bentley’s at 112, gave Owen J. Roberts a pair of district champions in one season for just the fourth time. The first occurred in 1968 with Keith Nyman and Ted Madden, then equaled in 2004 with Dan Hoffman and Bill Kropp and again in 2005 with Jeremy Stierly and Robert Hoffman. … Fuschino now has 87 career wins, two less than his older brother. … Connor McCormick, who has severely hampered by a leg injury in recent weeks, was quite inspiring in his third-place finish. He sandwich a pair of 5-2 decisions and pin around a semifinal injury default to the very physical Steve Hess of Rustin. … The Wildcats suffered a major setback when 285-pound junior Randy Keehn suffered a broken ankle just 11 seconds into his consolation bout with Coatesville’s Zakk Barker.

BEARING DOWN
Boyertown’s run of three straight years with four district champions ended Saturday night. The Bears only had three finalists, but all three – Jeremy Minich (103), Alex Pellicciotti (130) and Tim Feroe (152) – did win. … Teammate Matt Malfaro (112), a state qualifier a year ago, settled for fifth after dropping disheartening back-to-back 2-1 decisions to Lower Merion’s Marcus Neafsey and Unionville’s Chris Carney. … Perhaps the big surprise for Boyertown was senior Tommy MacNamara, unquestionably one of the area’s most improved wrestlers from a year ago, who was fifth at 171.
*
Boyertown’s 15 district champions in the last four years is the area’s second-best mark behind Upper Perkiomen’s incredible 22.

GOLDEN NUMBERS
The area programs’ updated (and corrected) overall count of Class AAA district champions has Upper Perkiomen on top with 29, followed by Methacton (26), Boyertown and Spring-Ford (25 each), Phoenixville (21), Owen J. Roberts (19), Pottstown (17) and Perkiomen Valley (3).
The area programs’ updated (and corrected) overall count of Class AA district champions has Pottstown on top with 44, followed by St. Pius X (23), Perkiomen Valley (19), Pottsgrove (18), Phoenixville (14), and Upper Perkiomen (1).
* * *
Upper Perkiomen has had at least one Class AAA district champion for nine years in a row now, while the next longest such streaks belong to Boyertown (six) and Owen J. Roberts (five).
St. Pius X has had at least one Class AA district champion for 10 years in a row, while Phoenixville and Pottstown have each had one or more for four straight years.

DISTRICT 1-AA RECAP
Phoenixville, Pottstown and St. Pius X combined to go 58-42 in bouts, winning eight finals and finishing second in four others, during last weekend’s District 1-AA Tournament. The 12 advance to this Friday’s opening round of the AA Southeast Regional at Wilson (West Lawn).
The Trojans’ Seth Ecker won his school-record fourth straight district title and will attempt to become just the second area wrestler – joining former Pottstown standout Joey Allen (1991-92) – to win two AA regional titles.
Pottstown’s four gold medalists – John Jensen, Ecker, Kyle Musso and Fred Holly – matched 2005’s total. That mark is second only to the seven (Mike Bakay, Gentry Brownie, John Freese, Todd Wright, Jeff Satterwhite, Paul Green and Randall Beasley) titles won in 1984.
Phoenixville’s Joe Mandrusiak and Rob Newcomb were the Phantoms’ first twosome to go gold since 1996 (Jason Meister and Josh Moyer). And Pius’ had two champions, Ryan Miller and Enzo Carannante, for the first time in three years.

HARD TO BELIEVE
One of the most improved programs in all of District 1 is Penncrest. But despite going into last Saturday’s District 1-AAA Central Tournament with nine qualifiers, the Lions failed to end one of the district’s longest and more infamous streaks – the most years without a district champion. No one has accomplished the feat since Randy Erickson swept the gold medal at 127 pounds way, way back in 1968. In simple math, that’s 40 years ago.
Penncrest has had a pair of Southeast Regional champions – current Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca (1990) and the late Reed Shanaman (1998), but no district champions other than Erickson.
“That’s unbelievable when you think about it,” Ventresca said prior to Saturday night’s finals.

ONE AWAY
Bentley doesn’t need any additional motivation for Friday night’s first round of the AAA Southeast Regional. But the senior needs just one win for the 100th of his career.
Bentley, who swept the Section Four and District 1-Central gold medals the last two weekends, is on a roll of late. Since dropping his last two bouts at the Escape the Rock and then a 6-5 decision to Spring-Ford’s Tim Miller on Jan. 9, he’s won 14 straight bouts. In that run are five pins, one forfeit, three technical falls, three majors and two decisions – 9-5 over Pottsgrove’s Zach Robinson, who was the district North runner-up last week, and 8-1 over Lower Merion’s Marcus Neafsey in the Central final last Saturday night.
“After losing to Miller I thought, ‘This is my ninth loss, I’m so sick of losing,’ ” Bentley said Saturday night. “I was a little down on myself, so I decided I had to turn everything up a notch.
“But dropping from 119 to 112 is a big difference, too. At 119 the kids are a lot bigger. But at 112 I have a lot more confidence. I don’t feel anyone is stronger than me at 112.”

MOVING ON
The area will have 25 wrestlers in the AAA regional and 12 in the AA regional this week. Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen lead the way with six each, while Pottsgrove will have three (freshman Zach Robinson and seniors Matt Michaels and Mike Noto) for the first time in recent memory. Perkiomen Valley’s lone representative will be junior Jordan Deane at 135.
Daniel Boone’s Tyler Swartz finished second at 285 during last weekend’s AAA Southcentral Regional to earn a spot in next week’s PIAA Championships. Swartz (38-4) opens against the third-place entry from the Northwest Regional.

MOVING UP
Spring-Ford’s Ryan Kemmerer (128) is now tied with Spring-Ford graduate Eric Smith at No. 25 on the area’s career win chart. Methacton’s Jonathan Hammond (126) is 29th, while Ecker (124) is tied with Boyertown graduate Nick Hyatt in 31st place. … The other two active wrestlers over the 100-win mark are Swartz (114) and McCormick (107).
In addition to Bentley, other active leaders in the area are Michaels (91); Spring-Ford’s Matt Patterson (88); Fuschino (87); Spring-Ford teammates Gareth Cooper and Alex Kanakis (86 each); Holly (80); and Upper Perkiomen’s Jared Bennett (75).

With the exception of a handful of matches remaining on the local as well as District 1 docket, the two-month, two-week regular season is over. Everybody has their gold, silver, bronze and whatever other color medals, ribbons, plaques and trophies from the round-robins, classics, tournaments and invitationals. League championships, for the most part, have been decided, as have the prestigious district and state duals titles.
The grind is upon us.
The annual four-week grind.
The postseason, that is. The month when scholastic wrestling unveils its very unique character … individual sport at its best.
Forget about previous match-ups, and whatever resulted from them. There are no more arguments for if only this would’ve happened and if only that would’ve happened. Rankings are meaningless and, like reputations, carry absolutely no weight.
Excuses, whatever they may be, fall on deaf ears.
Beginning this weekend, with the six sectionals throughout District 1 – as well as the sectional for Daniel Boone up in District 3 and the prep school’s state tournament – arguments are limited to six minutes (a couple more if overtime is required to settle an issue).
Beginning this weekend, we find out exactly who is who.
For area wrestlers, specifically those weighing in for the District 1-AAA sectionals, what lies ahead may be their biggest or most formidable challenge in a long, long time. Yes, there is a number of quality – make that high-quality – wrestlers spread throughout the 14 weight classes. But, for the first time in a number of years, there are just as many if not more high-quality wrestlers to greet them, or challenge them, from the other sections … and it will only get more competitive with each passing week.
And if anyone is aware of that it’s the four returning state medalists and 16 other returning state qualifiers, all of whom are aware that the past is just that, the past. There are no guarantees.
So don’t get all hyped up when the sectional seedings are released Thursday night. Like all the numbers from December through last weekend, including those priceless prestige points, they’re meaningless.
“That’s the beauty of this sport,” said a PAC-10 coach who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s that time of the year when my nobody can knock off your somebody. It happens, and sometimes more than we care to admit. If you’re not ready to go, and ready to go for six minutes, the other guy will. And that usually means the end of your season.”
Stay tuned…
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Council Rock South should be applauded for its fourth place at last weekend’s PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals Championships in Hershey. It was the fourth straight year a team from District 1 has finished among the Top Four in the duals.
However, in the four years since the team duals were expanded and the district got three berths, it was District 1’s worst overall showing as far as wins and losses.
Council Rock South (2-2), Council Rock North (0-2) and Quakertown (0-1) combined for a 2-5 mark, well below the overall marks of the district’s three showings in 2005 (5-4), 2006 (5-3) and last year (6-5).
Also, Octorara was ousted in the opening round of the Class AA competition last Tuesday night, which meant District 1 remained winless – a humbling 0-13 – in the 10-year history of the state’s AA duals.

HONORABLE
Wrestler of the Week honors go to St. Pius X senior Enzo Carannante, who despite his 15-16 record swept the 145-pound bracket and gold medal during last Saturday’s Interboro Invitational.
Coach of the Week honors go to Pottsgrove’s Matt Pawlik, who led his team to a rout of Phoenixville last week that clinched a rare winning season (13-12 overall) for the Falcons.

PAC-10 WRAP
Boyertown and Spring-Ford put up a pair of lopsided wins last week to close as PAC-10 co-champions. For the Bears, it’s a share of the title they won outright a year ago, while the Rams earn a share of the title for the first time since sharing the 1998 title with Upper Perkiomen.
Upper Perkiomen, by a decision over Perkiomen Valley last week, will settle for third place.
Over the last six seasons, or since Boyertown joined the Pioneer Athletic Conference, the Bears are 44-5, with four of those losses to Upper Perkiomen and the other just a few weeks ago to Spring-Ford; the Indians are 41-7, with five of the losses forfeits and the other two to Boyertown and Spring-Ford this season; and the Rams are 39-10, with five losses to Boyertown, four to Upper Perkiomen, and one to Perkiomen Valley (this season).
St. Pius X hosts Pottstown tonight in a match that finishes up the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s 22nd season of wrestling.
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Spring-Ford is far and away the leader in Pioneer Athletic Conference wins (167), followed by Upper Perkiomen (126). Pottstown and Perkiomen Valley are tied for third (98), although the Trojans move up a notch with a victory at Pius tonight. Owen J. Roberts and former member Great Valley share the fifth spot (92).

PRIVATE MATTERS
The Hill School’s final dual meet was cancelled by host Penn Charter, so the Blues – under first-year head coach Jesse Young – will finish with one of their most successful regular seasons (7-6) in a number of years.
The Blues, as well as Perkiomen School and West-Mont Christian Academy, will participate in the Pennsylvania Private School State Tournament this weekend at Germantown Academy.
Among Hill’s hopefuls at the state tournament will be Tyler Mueller (119 pounds), Dwayne Sampson (125), Steele Phillips (130), Karl Wiszumerski (135), David Phillips (152), Darnell Morrow (160) and Jay Knighton (285).
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Sampson recently announced he will continue his wrestling career next year at Trinity University in Hartford, Conn. Sampson plans to major in Chinese and Japanese.

DISTRICT NOTES
Methacton’s forgettable finish and Neshaminy’s up-and-down week means both will have to wait until next year for their respective programs to reach impressive milestones. The Warriors dropped three of their last four matches and will open next season needing two wins to reach 500. Neshaminy, which recently stunned Pennridge to gain a share of the Suburban One National Conference title only to get thumped seven days later by Hatboro-Horsham, will open next season needing just one win to reach 600.
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Although there are a few more resignations and/or retirements expected in the coming month(s), Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Bob Lorence announced he was stepping down prior to last week’s win over Methacton.
Lorence spent his first five years as a head coach at Springfield-Montco and the last 27 guiding the Colonials’ program. The very amiable and respected Lorence led PW to a school-record 21-3 overall mark this winter.
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Henderson senior Hunter Smith, a district qualifier a year ago who was expected to be among the leading 171-pounders in the postseason, tore the lateral collateral ligament in his knee during practice and will likely be sidelined.
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Council Rock South head coach Brad Silemperi picked up his 100th career win with the Hawks over the weekend. It came in the state duals’ consolation semifinals against none other than Nazareth – his alma mater. In the consolation final, though, Silemperi and the Hawks lost to Cory Poff and Central Mountain. Poff is the son of Council Rock graduate Carl Poff – who later was Silemperi’s coach at Lock Haven University.
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There are only two league titles yet to be decided before the postseason gets under way on Saturday. The Del Val championship will be decided Wednesday night when Interboro (4-1) travels to Sun Valley (5-0), and heavily favored Council Rock South (6-0) is expected to pin down the Suburban One Continental Conference title Wednesday when it visits winless Souderton (0-6).

STATE NOTES
Upper Perkiomen graduate and current assistant Mark Smith’s state record for career pins (124) is likely to get broken in the coming week or weeks. Brandywine Heights senior Matt Yocco has 121 heading into this weekend’s District 3-Class AA Section 3 Tournament at Hamburg. Yocco is 178-25 with those 121 pins … Yocco’s twiin brother Nick is 164-35 with 100 pins, and sophomore brother Zane is already 85-12 with 48 pins. Add that up and you get a 427-72 mark with 269 pins. If that isn’t a record of some kind in this state, well…
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District 6-AA champion Mount Union, which swept the Bill Fretz Duals at Perkiomen Valley last month, went 0-2 in the duals and finished 23-3. … AA champion Burrell (21-0) finished as Pennsylvania’s only unbeaten dual-meet team this year. The Buccaneers, who defeated two-time defending champion Reynolds in the semifinals, became the first District 7 school to capture the AA championship. … Central Dauphin became the first District 3 school to capture the AAA championship.

THE LEADERS
A number of requests for area schools’ all-time win leaders have been received in recent weeks. They are, as follows:
Boyertown – Jesse DeWan (143); Daniel Boone – senior Tyler Swartz (108); Hill School – David Hoffman (189); Methacton – Dan Covatta (145); Owen J. Roberts – Aaron Brown (134); Perkiomen School – Larry Frankenfield (115); Perkiomen Valley – Tim Smith (111).
And, Phoenixville – Jason Meister (127); Pottsgrove – Chris Beasley (112); Pottstown – Joey Allen (132); Spring-Ford – Tom Ingram and Jason Shivak (134 each); St. Pius X – Craig Owsiany (90); and Upper Perkiomen – Zack Kemmerer (199).

MOVING UP
Spring-Ford’s Ryan Kemmerer (122), Pottstown’s Seth Ecker (121), Methacton’s Jonathan Hammond (120), Daniel Boone’s Tyler Swartz (108) and Owen J. Roberts’ Connor McCormick (102) enter the postseason as the area’s active career win leaders.
OJR’s Will Bentley (93), Daniel Boone’s Josh Sheriff (90) and Spring-Ford’s Alan Gauger (91) also have a chance to reach the 100-win milestone. Bentley and Gauger would have to wrestle through the AAA Southeastern Regional, while Sheriff – who would join Swartz as the only 100-bout winners in Daniel Boone history – needs to qualify and win a couple of bouts at the state tournament.
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Five juniors – OJR’s Nick Fuschino (80), Upper Perkiomen’s Jared Bennett (70), St. Pius’ Bobby Burns (70), Upper Perkiomen’s Mike McStravick (66) and Boyertown’s Tim Feroe (66) – are on target to reach the milestone next season. Two others, Boyertown sophomores Alex Pellicciotti (66) and Matt Malfaro (63), are also on pace to hit the mark next season.

Baseball lost one of its big hitters last week with the passing of Barry Trate.
The kids who play the game lost a great coach, an even greater role model … one of their most loyal fans.
The entire area lost a genuine gentleman.
Yes, Jane Trate did lose her devoted husband of 52 years, and Laurie, Cherie, Marcie and Chris did lose their beloved father. The emptiness, and the heartbreak his passing has created in the family, was oh so evident the past week, as it will be throughout this morning’s memorial services.
Time, as so many know, doesn’t heal all wounds.
But as Jane and Laurie, Cherie, Marcie and Chris have already heard – and will continue to hear – Barry Trate inspired and influenced so many lives beyond his immediate family. They’ve heard the stories, some over and over again and, aside of a new one here and there, will continue to hear them for quite some time.
And if they haven’t already, will soon realize just how Barry Trate’s love of baseball impacted so many youngsters’ lives.
“He loved baseball and he loved kids,” said Ross “Squiggles” Smith, chairman of the Boyertown American Legion Baseball Committee. “And he loved teaching baseball to kids.”
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Barry Trate fell in love with baseball growing up in Reading and played it as passionately as anyone every spring in high school and every summer for the Gregg Post’s American Legion organization. It didn’t change while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps – and playing for his unit in Quantico, Va. – either. Then, nearly 50 years ago, Trate brought his knowledge of the game and his uncanny ability to teach it to the Pottstown area.
It would be easy to point a finger toward an entire dugout full of men responsible for revitalizing the game in this area. But Barry Trate would definitely be in there among them.
He got involved with both of Pottstown’s Junior and Senior American Legion programs, and no one was more grateful – or expressed their appreciation for what Trate brought to their organizations – than the late Pat Sundstrom and his son Carl Sundstrom.
Trate had to take a few summers off, from baseball that is, because of extensive work-related travel. “I couldn’t stand it,” he told me years ago.
It wasn’t long before his itinerary changed … for good, too.
In 1988, he teamed up with Bob Houck on the Boyertown Bear-Cubs’ coaching staff. The following season, after Houck left, he teamed up with Lee Mecherly, and the two were together through last season. In his 19 years with Houck and Mecherly, the Bear-Cubs won more than a dozen Berks County League championships and six Pennsylvania state titles.
Trate was also an assistant under Boyertown High School coach Todd Moyer for six seasons. Most forget he served as an area, district and regional administrator for Pennsylvania Junior Legion, too.
But it didn’t matter if he was coaching or administrating, or when and where he was coaching or administrating, Trate didn’t miss many games – spring or summer.
“Barry had a great understanding of the game, a real passion for the game,” Smith said. “I don’t know many people who knew the history of game like Barry did, either.
“He loved the game. He loved to share his knowledge of the game with kids. He taught you to respect the game, too.”
Mecherly saw how quickly Trate earned the respect of his players, just 13-15 years of age.
“He was so good, so very good, with the younger kids,” Mecherly said. “They liked him, too, and that’s important.
“Barry was just a great guy. He’s going to be tough to replace. I’ll miss him big-time, like a lot of people will.”
Among them, Moyer.
“Barry Trate definitely had a passion for the game, but he also understood the game,” Moyer said. “It was his passion for the game that drew kids to him and to the game. Barry always had time for them. Whether it was before or after a practice, before or after a game, he’d always be willing to stick around with a kid and work with them individually.”
Trate didn’t just see baseball as a game with nine-on and nine-off, basepaths, fences and the like…
“It was more than just a game to him,” Moyer added. “What upset Barry more than anything was seeing a talented player who didn’t spend time practicing or working hard to get better.
“But what he enjoyed more than anything was seeing those other kids … the ones, regardless of how good they were, who wanted to learn, who wanted to play. He loved that. He loved helping them.”
Don’t think those “kids” didn’t learn to appreciate him, either. Every summer, they thanked him.
And there were even a few thirtysome-year-old kids thanking him in their prayers this past week.
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Barry Trate was inducted into the Pennsylvania American Legion Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Berks County Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 … honors he more than earned.
What Barry Trate didn’t earn, or deserve, was cancer.
First diagnosed with prostate cancer 12 years ago, he battled back until being diagnosed with bone cancer last July. Radiation and chemotherapy treatments weakened him, but not enough to keep him away from the ballpark.
He was barely able to get to his seat at last summer’s American Legion state tournament at Spring-Ford High School. When asked if he needed anything… well, let’s just say all he wanted was a Boyertown win, another Boyertown state championship. A couple of months ago, while lying in his bed in the hospital and asked if he needed anything … well, let’s just say all he was interested in was what teams were going to be good this spring in the Pioneer Athletic Conference.
You know, it’s a shame the cancer, which he fought so courageously for so long, didn’t show up with a bat and ball … because Barry Trate would’ve beaten it, and not into remission but submission.