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Young Rams focused on improvement
ROYERSFORD -- Some coaches call it reloading, restructuring, retooling, even that frightening word (rebuilding) some steadfastly refuse to even whisper. But every coach will admit a practice room full of young and inexperienced wrestlers can lead to both an agonizing and long winter.
In other words, not too many wins and a whole heck of a lot of losses.
Of course, there are a number of programs in the area, around District 1 and throughout the state that never quite seem to re-anything from year to year. Methacton, for example, has gone 35 years without a losing season, and only the wrestling gods know how long it’s been since the emperors of District 11 – Easton and Northampton – have gone since finishing under the .500 mark.
The streaks represent consistency to some, absolutely nothing to others.
Like Spring-Ford’s Tim Seislove.
Now in his 10th season with the Rams – 13th overall when adding in his previous three at Pottsgrove – and the owner of a very respectable 116-59 career record after last Saturday’s win at St. Pius X, Seislove doesn’t subscribe to streaks of any kind. And even though Spring-Ford hasn’t finish
ed up on the short side of that won-loss ledger since 1986-87, extending the program’s mark to 22 consecutive seasons isn’t even on his list of things-to-do.
“Sometimes wins are over-rated,” Seislove explained. “Think about it… you can make up a schedule to have any record you want. We have never done that.”
Despite knowing he’d have Spring-Ford’s youngest and most inexperienced roster in recent memory to work with this season, Seislove still didn’t run off to his athletic director or anyone else to tone down the schedule. There was still the Southeast Classic, the Keystone Games Invitational, even a trip to the always difficult Manheim Holiday Tournament for the first time in a number of years. Still ahead are the Parkland Duals, not to mention the annual grind through the Pioneer Athletic Conference, with Boyertown (which already knocked them out 56-15 back on Dec. 17), Upper Perkiomen and several other worthy rivals.
“It’s going to be tough (this season),” Seislove said. “We’re going to have anywhere from seven to nine freshmen and sophomores in our lineup (for duals). But there isn’t anything you can do about it. Each year is different.
“But right now we’re enjoying this, enjoying going to practice. It’s been exciting going into the room with these kids. They have potential, and they’re working hard.”
Unofficially, Spring-Ford’s roster features just four seniors, and only three – Tim Miller, Andrew Cooper and Justin Franiak – who are regulars in the lineup. There are also three freshmen, 18 sophomores and 13 juniors. So the numbers are good, numbers that should bode well for the future if not for right now.
“It really isn’t all that tough to deal with,” Franiak said. “We just have to be patient with the younger guys. Some of us have to help groom them, give them a little confidence.
“There’s really only three seniors, so we have to lead by example. We have to be the hardest workers in the (practice) room, and hope everyone else follows and gets better.”
And that becomes a little easier with the team makeup the Rams have.
“We have a bunch of good kids, good student-athletes,” Seislove said. “They’re fun to be around, too, because they’re working their tails off. All we can do is take practice one day at a time, one match at a time … hope they score as many points as they can and work from there.
“They don’t get frustrated. Of course they don’t like to lose, and they do get upset when they lose. But they don’t let stuff like that affect them. It only motivated them to work harder, to do better.”
One thing that Seislove did not was that a lot of the Rams wrestled in junior high school but not necessarily in youth programs. So as far as experience, or mat time, there is a little catching up to do.
“We’re seeing improvement,” Franiak said. “Some of the guys who were JVs last year are stepping in and doing well, and the seniors are picking it up. Everyone seems to be working harder.”
A labor of love, perhaps, that may or may not be good enough to extend the streak neither the coach cares about or his wrestlers treasure.
“It’s nice to have (the winning streak), but we know we’re going to struggle against some of the better teams,” Seislove said. “We’ll take any win, anything we can get. But right now we’re more worried about getting better.”
TOURNEY RECAP
Among area teams, there’s no question No. 1 ranked Boyertown had the strongest showing over the holiday break. The Bears, with two notable starters out with injuries, finished second to the state’s No. 1 Northampton at the Cedar Cliff Duals. … No. 2 Upper Perkiomen went a respectable 5-3 at the Battlefield Duals down in Va. … Pottstown’s Eric Daniels, a gold medalist at 145 pounds in the Governor Mifflin Tournament last week, is the area’s lone remaining unbeaten (with 10 or more matches) and shouldn’t get a serious challenge until the postseason. … Perkiomen Valley was seventh at the Wetzel Classic and followed with a third at the Octorara Duals. … Pottsgrove showed its competitiveness with a Top 10 (seventh) finish at the Christmas City Tournament up in Bethlehem.
SIZABLE QUAKE
Quakertown, which has established itself as a legitimate contender for the District 1-AAA Duals title later this month, won last weekend’s Zephyr Duals with a 34-33 thriller over Paramus, N.J. Head coach Kurt Handel’s team outlasted the 16-team field with a few impressive wins, including a 33-30 decision over District 12 power La Salle College High and former Council Rock coach Vic Stanley. … Wyalusing, which finished eighth, is coached by Gary Haley, brother of former Methacton coach and current Boyertown assistant Tony Haley.
MILESTONES
Boyertown’s Ryan Kemmerer moved up to No. 8 on The Mercury’s career win chart when four wins over the weekend pushed the senior’s total to 147. Ahead of him at No. 7 is Upper Perkiomen graduate Darren Kern (154). … Upper Perkiomen senior heavyweight Jared Bennett is at 98 and could reach the 100-win mark this week when the Indians hit the road for visits to Pottstown (Wednesday), Downingtown West (Thursday) and Easton (Saturday). … Boyertown teammates Alex Pellicciotti (95) and Tim Feroe (92) are also closing in on the milestone.
Congratulations to Easton head coach Steve Powell, a graduate of West Chester Henderson, who picked up his 400th career win Saturday after the Red Rovers’ 35-28 decision of Council Rock South during the Easton Invitational. … Radnor’s Richard “Skip” Shoemaker, one of the genuine class acts in all of Pennsylvania, picked up his 350th win Saturday with a 33-28 decision of longtime Central League rival Ridley. Shoemaker needs four more wins to tie former Plymouth-Whitemarsh coach Bob Lorence (357) for fourth place on the District 1 win chart.
ON THE CALENDAR
Boyertown takes on Toms River North (N.J.) this evening (6:00) at Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J. The match will be followed by the host Broncs’ battle with Bloomsburg. A year ago, Rider and Bloomsburg held its match at Boyertown. … The Bears will be at the Cumberland Valley Duals on Saturday. The five-team field features Central Dauphin and host Cumberland Valley, who are ranked one-two in District 3-AAA and No. 3 and No. 12, respectively, in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News. … Owen J. Roberts will be busy Friday and Saturday in the 24-team Escape The Rock Tournament at Council Rock South. …
In other words, not too many wins and a whole heck of a lot of losses.
Of course, there are a number of programs in the area, around District 1 and throughout the state that never quite seem to re-anything from year to year. Methacton, for example, has gone 35 years without a losing season, and only the wrestling gods know how long it’s been since the emperors of District 11 – Easton and Northampton – have gone since finishing under the .500 mark.
The streaks represent consistency to some, absolutely nothing to others.
Like Spring-Ford’s Tim Seislove.
Now in his 10th season with the Rams – 13th overall when adding in his previous three at Pottsgrove – and the owner of a very respectable 116-59 career record after last Saturday’s win at St. Pius X, Seislove doesn’t subscribe to streaks of any kind. And even though Spring-Ford hasn’t finish
ed up on the short side of that won-loss ledger since 1986-87, extending the program’s mark to 22 consecutive seasons isn’t even on his list of things-to-do.
“Sometimes wins are over-rated,” Seislove explained. “Think about it… you can make up a schedule to have any record you want. We have never done that.”
Despite knowing he’d have Spring-Ford’s youngest and most inexperienced roster in recent memory to work with this season, Seislove still didn’t run off to his athletic director or anyone else to tone down the schedule. There was still the Southeast Classic, the Keystone Games Invitational, even a trip to the always difficult Manheim Holiday Tournament for the first time in a number of years. Still ahead are the Parkland Duals, not to mention the annual grind through the Pioneer Athletic Conference, with Boyertown (which already knocked them out 56-15 back on Dec. 17), Upper Perkiomen and several other worthy rivals.
“It’s going to be tough (this season),” Seislove said. “We’re going to have anywhere from seven to nine freshmen and sophomores in our lineup (for duals). But there isn’t anything you can do about it. Each year is different.
“But right now we’re enjoying this, enjoying going to practice. It’s been exciting going into the room with these kids. They have potential, and they’re working hard.”
Unofficially, Spring-Ford’s roster features just four seniors, and only three – Tim Miller, Andrew Cooper and Justin Franiak – who are regulars in the lineup. There are also three freshmen, 18 sophomores and 13 juniors. So the numbers are good, numbers that should bode well for the future if not for right now.
“It really isn’t all that tough to deal with,” Franiak said. “We just have to be patient with the younger guys. Some of us have to help groom them, give them a little confidence.
“There’s really only three seniors, so we have to lead by example. We have to be the hardest workers in the (practice) room, and hope everyone else follows and gets better.”
And that becomes a little easier with the team makeup the Rams have.
“We have a bunch of good kids, good student-athletes,” Seislove said. “They’re fun to be around, too, because they’re working their tails off. All we can do is take practice one day at a time, one match at a time … hope they score as many points as they can and work from there.
“They don’t get frustrated. Of course they don’t like to lose, and they do get upset when they lose. But they don’t let stuff like that affect them. It only motivated them to work harder, to do better.”
One thing that Seislove did not was that a lot of the Rams wrestled in junior high school but not necessarily in youth programs. So as far as experience, or mat time, there is a little catching up to do.
“We’re seeing improvement,” Franiak said. “Some of the guys who were JVs last year are stepping in and doing well, and the seniors are picking it up. Everyone seems to be working harder.”
A labor of love, perhaps, that may or may not be good enough to extend the streak neither the coach cares about or his wrestlers treasure.
“It’s nice to have (the winning streak), but we know we’re going to struggle against some of the better teams,” Seislove said. “We’ll take any win, anything we can get. But right now we’re more worried about getting better.”
TOURNEY RECAP
Among area teams, there’s no question No. 1 ranked Boyertown had the strongest showing over the holiday break. The Bears, with two notable starters out with injuries, finished second to the state’s No. 1 Northampton at the Cedar Cliff Duals. … No. 2 Upper Perkiomen went a respectable 5-3 at the Battlefield Duals down in Va. … Pottstown’s Eric Daniels, a gold medalist at 145 pounds in the Governor Mifflin Tournament last week, is the area’s lone remaining unbeaten (with 10 or more matches) and shouldn’t get a serious challenge until the postseason. … Perkiomen Valley was seventh at the Wetzel Classic and followed with a third at the Octorara Duals. … Pottsgrove showed its competitiveness with a Top 10 (seventh) finish at the Christmas City Tournament up in Bethlehem.
SIZABLE QUAKE
Quakertown, which has established itself as a legitimate contender for the District 1-AAA Duals title later this month, won last weekend’s Zephyr Duals with a 34-33 thriller over Paramus, N.J. Head coach Kurt Handel’s team outlasted the 16-team field with a few impressive wins, including a 33-30 decision over District 12 power La Salle College High and former Council Rock coach Vic Stanley. … Wyalusing, which finished eighth, is coached by Gary Haley, brother of former Methacton coach and current Boyertown assistant Tony Haley.
MILESTONES
Boyertown’s Ryan Kemmerer moved up to No. 8 on The Mercury’s career win chart when four wins over the weekend pushed the senior’s total to 147. Ahead of him at No. 7 is Upper Perkiomen graduate Darren Kern (154). … Upper Perkiomen senior heavyweight Jared Bennett is at 98 and could reach the 100-win mark this week when the Indians hit the road for visits to Pottstown (Wednesday), Downingtown West (Thursday) and Easton (Saturday). … Boyertown teammates Alex Pellicciotti (95) and Tim Feroe (92) are also closing in on the milestone.
Congratulations to Easton head coach Steve Powell, a graduate of West Chester Henderson, who picked up his 400th career win Saturday after the Red Rovers’ 35-28 decision of Council Rock South during the Easton Invitational. … Radnor’s Richard “Skip” Shoemaker, one of the genuine class acts in all of Pennsylvania, picked up his 350th win Saturday with a 33-28 decision of longtime Central League rival Ridley. Shoemaker needs four more wins to tie former Plymouth-Whitemarsh coach Bob Lorence (357) for fourth place on the District 1 win chart.
ON THE CALENDAR
Boyertown takes on Toms River North (N.J.) this evening (6:00) at Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J. The match will be followed by the host Broncs’ battle with Bloomsburg. A year ago, Rider and Bloomsburg held its match at Boyertown. … The Bears will be at the Cumberland Valley Duals on Saturday. The five-team field features Central Dauphin and host Cumberland Valley, who are ranked one-two in District 3-AAA and No. 3 and No. 12, respectively, in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News. … Owen J. Roberts will be busy Friday and Saturday in the 24-team Escape The Rock Tournament at Council Rock South. …
Labels: improvement, Rams
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