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Monday, March 10, 2003 Page: 1B
HERSHEY – The only way to truly remove blame from a situation is to erase
the original problem.
By placing second within minutes of each other at the 66th PIAA Wrestling
Championships in Hershey on Saturday, Joe Rovelli and Carlo Mercadante did
just that.
The postseason hopes of Mercadante, an undefeated two-time District 2 champ
who had never qualified for states, were in serious doubt in late January.
Mercadante failed to comply with the PIAA’s new 50-percent weigh-in rule,
which requires half of a wrestler’s weigh-ins to come at the lowest weight he
intends to wrestle at in the postseason.
Mercadante couldn’t wrestle at 152 pounds, as he intended to, and the only
realistic weight he could go to – 160 – was occupied by longtime friend
Rovelli. Rovelli won a wrestle-off with Mercadante for the right to compete at
160 and, for about two days, Mercadante had given up on the postseason.
However, Rovelli decided to drop to 152 so his teammate could go after his
dream of getting to Hershey at 160.
Fingers were pointed everywhere, from first-year Meyers coach Ron Swingle
Jr. to the PIAA to a scale on a rubber mat in Tunkhannock, where Mercadante
did not make 152 for a dual match.
Mercadante and Rovelli have since taken matters into their own hands.
Since the District 2 tournament began at Scranton Prep, Rovelli and
Mercadante have been bonded more closely than their 10-year friendship ever
brought them. Back-to-back, they won district and regional titles against
fierce competition – Rovelli against 2002 PIAA seventh-place finisher Keith
Gavin of Lackawanna Trail and Mercadante against Lake-Lehman two-time state
qualifier Willie Weber.
“Always in the back of my mind, what Joe does I know I’m going to do,”
said Mercadante.
Then on Saturday, Rovelli and Mercadante both lost in the finals amid some
controversy they are now well-equipped to handle. Despite the losses, this
storybook ending was still triumphant.
Mercadante – and most everyone else in the arena who saw his bout against
West Branch’s Jared Ricotta, caught the replays on the scoreboard and those
watching the broadcast on PCN – knows he wasn’t pinned. Mercadante was leading
7-1 in the first period when he got caught and ruled pinned, in 1:14.
It was just one month ago that Mercadante’s season was on the ropes. Most
important, his mother, who had open heart surgery smack-dab in the middle of
the whole situation, was among the Giant Center crowd cheering on her son.
Rovelli, himself a victim of some questionable officiating that had at
least some bearing on his 6-2 finals loss to Northern Lehigh’s Ryan Hluschak,
knows he has another year to try to strike gold.
“I think he could win (next year),” Mercadante said of Rovelli. “He can
beat that kid.”
Swingle, incidentally, led Meyers to a seventh-place finish in the PIAA
team points standings. Swingle took a young, rebuilding program – except for
state qualifiers Rovelli, Mercadante and 103-pounder Wally Geiger – that was
overmatched at the beginning of the season and turned it into a contender that
finished third in the team points race at the Northeast Regionals. If Swingle
was ever blamed for the weigh-in mess, he should now be praised for keeping
his team together and highly successful.
“For a first-year coach, it was a roller-coaster ride,” said Swingle, who
stressed his assistants – father, Ron Sr., and former Meyers and King’s
College standout Jason Schlingman – were instrumental in bearing the load.
“But in the end, this is fun.”
Two star wrestlers, one who helped his friend get to where he wanted to go
(Rovelli) and another who is forever grateful (Mercadante), are enough to make
a coach get past a difficult situation.
“There are worse things than second place,” Swingle said.
Like not getting the chance to compete in the postseason, or one friend
getting there without the other.
Joe Petrucci, a Times Leader sports writer, may be reached at 829-7342.