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It’s expected to see wrestlers overcome with emotions once their state tournament, and careers, come to a close.
Whether it’s with jubilant celebrations or heart-breaking goodbyes there were hundreds of those over the weekend at the PIAA Championships.
Coaches, on the other hand, are there to be the rock that watches everything fall into place or the thread that helps sew the pieces back together.
Not all the time though.
Dallas coach Mike Richards couldn’t hold back his emotions on Saturday night after seeing the career of his record-breaking senior Ryan Monk come to an end with a third-place medal in the Class 3A 285-pound bracket.
“You hope you get kids like this every year, but the reality is you get them once in a lifetime as a coach,” Richards said. “I went through all the emotions earlier, going through them again. I’ll probably go through them on the ride home.
“Two years in a row to the state tournament. (He’s) probably the most storied wrestler in our history. I’m lucky to be the guy who coached him.”
Monk, the Mountaineers all-time wins leader with 140 and the school’s highest medalist ever in the Class 3A classification, ended his career on a winning note when he defeated Tyler Mears of Greater Latrobe, 5-2. Only one other Dallas wrestler has a third-place medal and that’s Dave Longmore in 1973 when there was just one classification. Of the six state medals ever won in school history, Monk has accounted for a third of them.
“It’s great. It’s an unbelievable feeling and I’m so thankful for everybody who supported Dallas wrestling and supported me throughout these four years. It’s been so special,” said Monk, who has been tabbed as a preferred walk-on for Penn State’s football program in the fall.
“Coach Richards is a great guy and a great coach and I love him to death. Four years, it’s meant a lot. What I can take from it is you never stop believing and always keep working. Just keep focused, no matter how high you get, no matter how low you get you just have to push and be the best you can be.”
Wyoming Valley West’s Drew Feldman was also bottled up with sentimental feelings on Saturday night after his 160-pounder Cody Cordes finished second in the state.
And who can blame him?
Cordes was Feldman’s first state finalist as a coach. Heck, it was also Feldman’s first appearance in the state finals in his life because when he wrestled for the Spartans, the furthest round he reached was the state semis. Cordes became just the first state finalist for Wyoming Valley West since Trevin Cowman won the title in 2006, and became the sixth silver medalist for the storied program.
“This is the best feeling in the world,” Feldman said. “Emotions I’ve never felt as a coach. Being out there in the parade (of champions), the chills.
“After the semi match, I couldn’t even be in the arena. I ran out of here just to contain myself. It was just so much excitement that I don’t think I ever felt as a wrestler either.”
Even coaches who haven’t seen their wrestlers for a long time were emotional seeing their guys leave the program. Crestwood’s Dan Ritz was with his coach Gary Siegel for just one season, as was Lake-Lehman’s Derek Dragon with his head coach J.J. Konigus; Ritz and Dragon both grabbed eighth-place medals over the weekend.
The natural
GAR’s Saul Wilkins only wrestled for two years in his career, but made many memories for himself and his mentor Rick Simon including a third-place showing on Saturday and becoming the first state medalist for Simon.
Wilkins became the first third-place medalist in school history and the school’s highest finisher since Tony Tolbert placed second in 1983.
“He’s a natural. For a kid that’s in just his full, second year of wrestling to come down here and place in probably the toughest state in the country and take third, that’s unbelievable,” Simon said. “It’s been one heck of a ride for all the coaches and for Saul, the teammates.”
Proud accomplishments
The 2015 state qualifiers from the Wyoming Valley Conference will be known as the bunch that set a record for the most qualifiers in recent history as 15 participated.
They should also be remembered for what they accomplished in their careers, especially the 10 seniors.
Monk, Cordes and GAR’s Zac Faust are their school’s all-time wins leaders. Wilkins came out of nowhere a year ago and advanced to states two years in a row. Dragon didn’t even get past districts as a freshman, and picked up a state medal as a senior.
Ritz finally showed that the elite competition he wrestled over the course of a four-year career paid off as he not only grabbed a state medal in his first appearance at states, but grabbed plenty of golds along the way.
Pittston Area’s Jake Vaxmonsky might be the only wrestler in the 3A tournament to win at least three matches and not earn a medal, in a strange occurrence due to the new pigtail round.
Cordes’ teammate Jimmy Wright punctuated his career by getting career win No. 100 when he won his first district title, that’s another rare happening.
Hazleton Area’s Derek Spachman turned in a heck of a postseason run from leaving districts with a runner-up status to finishing one win shy of winning a state medal when he lost in overtime nonetheless.
TJ Cistrunk from Meyers won 32 matches this season and his two losses at states came to state runner-up Cory Hazel from Penns Valley and fourth-place medalist, Michael Collins from Pope John Paul II.
Quacking in Hershey
Coaches and wrestlers always point to offseason wrestling as a reason for sustained success during the high school season and postseason.
That couldn’t have been more evident for District 2 wrestlers as 10 of the 23 state qualifiers from the district wrestled on the offseason team, the D2 Mighty Ducks and six of those 10 earned medals over the weekend.
In addition to Monk, Cordes and Ritz grabbing medals, Wyoming Area’s fifth-place finisher Charlie Johnson, Wallenpaupack’s Chase Gallik (sixth) and Delaware Valley’s Matt Wagner (fifth) were medalists. Faust, Hazleton Area’s Jimmy Hoffman and Chris Lasecki, and Gallik’s teammate Jared Wehrmann also wrestled with the Ducks and reached the state tournament.
“Offseason wrestling is so important, especially to all the younger kids. You gotta wrestle into the offseason, spring, summer, even into the fall if you have to,” Monk said. “It’s cool being here with the Ducks. We all have that bond of District 2. We’re all rooting for each other and we’re all supporting each other no matter what happens.”