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WILKES-BARRE — Dalton Ray admitted to doing something no athlete should ever do. He was looking ahead last week at the District 2 Class 3A Championships.
The Tunkhannock junior entered districts with a perfect record and 34 wins. A lot of the hype leading into the tournament was a possible match against returning state qualifier Cody Cordes from Wyoming Valley West.
Even Ray got caught up in the hoopla. Turns out it hurt him as he lost in the semifinals to Scranton’s Andrew Burgette, 4-2 on a late takedown for his first loss in nearly two years.
“I think I looked too far ahead into the tournament, into the season,” Ray said. “I need to focus on what’s in front of me first.”
His coach Bob Hegedty said that it’s natural for youngsters to get excited and think about possible matches.
“That happens sometimes kids look ahead, but obviously he couldn’t look past Andrew Burgette and it hurt him,” he said said.
The Tiger rebounded nicely after that loss to win his next two and finish third heading into this weekend’s Class 3A Northeast Regional Tournament. In many cases, after a wrestler is hit with his first loss of the season in the postseason, it can linger and affect his mentality. The loss didn’t bother Ray, though.
After a few minutes, Hegedty and assistant coach Mike Carroll told their 160-pounder it was time to refocus. And that’s what he did, especially with the pressure of being unbeaten had been lifted.
“I was definitely feeling the pressure and it freaked me out a little bit,” Ray said. “I gotta learn to relax. I don’t feel as much pressure on me now. I feel a little more relaxed right now going into regionals.”
This scenario is a complete turnaround from where Ray was a year ago at this time. He sat on the sidelines watching his teammates participate in the postseason as a shoulder injury that occurred at the beginning of last season kept him out more than six months. He couldn’t even run for two months because his arm was in a sling.
“I got a little fat,” Ray joked.
Once he got back to work and in shape, he used the time off as motivation for this season.
“It gave me a different perspective in the sport that helped me a little bit,” Ray said.
What made things even harder for Ray is that his last loss was a forfeit due to an injury at regionals during his freshman year. Seeing his sophomore season derailed was hard for his coaches. Still, they knew he would be back to his old form today.
“He has certain goals he wants to accomplish and certain things he wants to do,” Hegedty said. “We thought he would be where he was. He knows where he wants to be and we expect him to be there.”
One of Ray’s goals is to be a member of the first team from Tunkhannock to reach the PIAA Championships since 1993. That quest starts this weekend when he faces Father Judge’s Nick Reidy in the preliminary round and could see Bethlehem Catholic’s Adam Soldridge in he quarterfinals.
“I want to redeem myself,” Ray said. “In the room, I don’t want to let anyone get anything on me, just win every position I can.
“It (the bracket) is definitely tough, but I think I have a chance if I wrestle my best.”