Mustang wrestling preps for PECO title repeat

West Perry wrestling preview 2021

NO LIGHTWEIGHT— West Perry junior Deven Jackson has 64 career wins, including 38 a year ago when he collected a fourth-place medal at the state championships. (Veronica Dillman photo)

On Dec. 30, Gov. Wolf released the pause button for high school sports.

The ban, in place since Dec. 12, will be lifted as of 8 a.m. Jan. 4, allowing practices to commence and starting the clock for the beginning of the winter sports cycle.

Assuming schools follow state-mandated COVID-19 mitigation practices and there are no further outbreaks, the three county wrestling programs will assemble at West Perry for the 31st edition of the Perry County championship.

It could be a classic.

Newport, West Perry and Susquenita will each arrive with lineups that have their share of top-shelf quality and questions.

How those questions get answered will determine which school gets possession of the traveling trophy.

Mustang coach Craig May, for one, is taking nothing for granted, despite returning 11 wrestlers with starting experience from a team that went 18-6, won the county tournament and made the program-first trip to the PIAA-AA duals championships.

“Every time I get ready to go, they shut us down,” said May. “We have no idea from week to week what is going to happen.”

If all goes according to plan, the Mustangs will enter the county tournament more battle-tested than the Buffaloes or Blackhawks.

According to the schedule on the school’s website, West Perry will open its season at Hanover on Jan. 9, then make trips to Waynesboro (Jan. 11) and Big Spring (the 14th), before hosting Trinity on the 16th.

The robust opening schedule will give the Mustang brain trust ample opportunity to sort out lineup issues.

“We’re thin in some spots,” May admits. “For us to have a chance, we’ll need kids — inexperienced kids — to step up.”

In reality, those thin spots barely register.

May will feature a lineup that includes eight wrestlers who won at least 20 matches spread nicely from the bottom up.

He’ll open with sophomore Ashtyn Leigh, a 24-match winner, at 106, then send out junior Deven Jackson, a third-year starter with 64 career wins, at 113. Jackson, one of three Mid-Penn Colonial all-stars, won 38 matches last year, section and district titles and placed second at regions and took fourth at the state championships. Freshman Brady Sokoloski is also an option at 113.

Talented freshman Blain Puchalsky is in line to take the spot at 120.

“Blain’s solid,” May said. “He’s a little inexperienced, but he’s really strong and a grinder.”

Adam Rea, a four-year starter with 16 career wins, is slotted at 126, though May said, “With Ashtyn, Deven and Blain, we have the ability to bump kids around.”

From 132 to 145, May can call on a tested trio of sophomores.

Nolen Zeigler (28 wins), Justice Hockenberry-Folk (a program-record 31 wins as a freshman) and Carter Nace (20) were section medalists. Zeigler and Hockenberry-Folk placed at districts and Hockenberry-Folk, who led the county with nine tech falls, made it to the state tournament.

Where things get dicey is at 152 and 160.

May will need some combination of junior Joe Saylor, sophomore Dayton Seidel or freshman Bryce Smith — each a first-year varsity wrestler — to take charge.

“They’re inexperienced, but they are scrappers,” May said.

Inexperience isn’t a problem at the back end of May’s lineup. The Mustangs have proven quality at the last four weights.

Senior Tyler Wonders, a third-year starter with 55 career wins, is slated to go at 172. Wonders, a Colonial all-star who had 17 pins, won at sections, placed second at districts and fourth at regionals, qualifying for the state tournament.

West Perry wrestling preview 2021

HAMMER TIME — West Perry junior Brad Morrison had a school-record 25 pins en route to his 40-win sophomore season. (Veronica Dillman photo)

Brad Morrison, a top sophomore, follows Wonders in the lineup. Morrison won 40 matches — a school-record 25 by fall — and joined Jackson and Wonders on the all-Colonial team. He took first at sections, second at districts and third at regions to advance to the state championships.

At 215, junior Jeremy Hockenberry-Folk, who won 11 matches in his first varsity campaign, faces the challenge of freshman Kaleb Cordell.

Sophomore Josh Trostle, a 20-match winner who made it to regions, will have to hold off senior Loyal Carver (six wins) to maintain his grip on the 285-pound spot.

“It’ll be interesting to see how things go this year,” May said. “We’ve got the ability to be very competitive again.”

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