Rob Sherrill

 A major league baseball manager who had won many games in his career…and lost his share as well…wasn’t feeling well one day. He went to the doctor, who, after running a few tests, told the manager: “Skip, you have an unusually bad heart. Is there any way you can account for it?”

            “Bases on balls,” the grizzled old manager replied, shaking his head. “It’s all those bases on balls.”

            Those of us who observe the high school wrestling season for a living certainly can relate to that old baseball man’s dilemma.

            He sits there on the bench, that day’s game won or lost due to things he can’t do anything about. We sit here, whether it’s in the bleachers or behind our computer screens, marveling at the latest highlight while scratching our heads at the latest upset … the latest disappointment … the latest turnaround.

            If I’m trying to figure it out in my office, imagine what those coaches, who see it every day up close in practice and from the bench at a match, are thinking.

            But that’s what makes high school wrestling great. It makes all of us human…in the most elemental sense.

            Anything can happen…and has this year. From the Cuyahoga Falls (Ohio) Walsh Jesuit Ironman Invitational, where Lakewood St. Edward High dealt Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy its first non-winning performance of any kind in nearly eight years, to last weekend’s Geneseo (Ill.) Bi-State Invitational and the Virginia Duals, turnarounds have ruled the day. Here are just a few examples:

            •  Apple Valley (Minn.) High rebounded from a couple of early-season disappointments to share the title at The Clash National Duals. The Eagles didn’t win the Minnesota State Christmas Tournament and lost to a good, but not great, Wayzata team, 33-27, in a dual the previous 10 days, then turned around and beat three other top 10 teams:  Illinois powerhouses Carol Stream Glenbard North High (31-25) and defending Clash champion Orland Park Carl Sandburg High (31-31, criteria) and New Jersey’s top team, Jackson Memorial High (36-24).

            •  Iowa City (Iowa) West High has its best team ever — but inexplicably has come up short twice against Illinois competition. For all their talent — the Trojans have been as high as No. 6 this season — their inconsistency has coach Mark Reiland scratching his head.

            West finished a strong third at the Al Dvorak Memorial Tournament — Illinois’ toughest regular-season tournament — prior to the Christmas holidays. Despite the fact they didn’t win, it was a strong performance by the Trojans, who got dominating title performances from Dylan Carew (119) and Nate Moore (125). 

            The Trojans were riding even higher after winning their own Lepic Duals, Jan. 6, a day that included their second victory this season over Iowa’s No. 2 team, Waverly-Shell Rock High (35-28) and previous top 5 team Kansas City (Mo.) Oak Park High (40-31).

            One week later, West’s distant fourth-place finish in a much weaker field at Geneseo was hard to figure. Moore had a great day, avenging a loss in last year’s final with a 6-2 victory over two-time state champion John Starzyk of New Lenox Providence High. But Grant Gambrall’s win at 171 was their only other highlight. Derek St. John (135) lost for the second time to Chicago St. Rita High’s Steve Zimmerman, while Carew and 103-pounder Ridge Kiley both lost in the semifinals to unranked opponents — unranked not just nationally, but in Illinois as well.

            Fortunately, it’s a long season and the looming state tournament will provide motivation enough, particularly for Moore, who has a pair of runner-up finishes so far in his career.

            •  The battle between Virginia’s top two schools, Christiansburg High and Chesapeake Great Bridge High, is always interesting. This year, their series featured two duals a week apart, with different results. Great Bridge scored a 34-27 victory in the Battlefield Duals, Jan. 6. A week later, Christiansburg reversed five — count ‘em, five — Battlefield losses in taking the rematch, 31-29, in the Virginia Duals semifinals.

            Christiansburg lost, 32-31, to Nazareth (Pa.) High in another nail-biter in the final.

            •  Upsets are the price of wrestling a tough schedule…of putting your team on the mat against quality competition week after week.

            Tony Ramos, Glenbard North (112), Jason DeLuca, Dillsburg (Pa.) North High (125), Scott O’Donnell (130), Oak Park, Ben Jordan (135), St. Paris (Ohio) Graham High, Tommy Abbott (140), Wilmington (Del.) St. Mark’s High, Dan Gonsor (145), St. Edward, Albert White (152), St. Rita, Trevor Hall (160) of Battle Ground (Wash.) High, Clayton Foster (189) of Kamiah (Idaho) High, Sonny Yohn (189) of Alamosa (Colo.) High, are 10 more high-profile wrestlers with a loss to a currently unranked opponent.

Jantzen’s eligibility restored…in Section 11, at least

            If you’re a regular reader of our daily high school blog on W.I.N.’s Web site (www.win-magazine.com), we’ve chronicled the almost surreal tale regarding the suspension, then the (partial) reinstatement of New York state champion Corey Jantzen of Shoreham-Wading River High.

            In case you’re new to the story, the New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) on Jan. 4 ruled Jantzen ineligible for the rest of the season because he competed in the Midlands Wrestling Championships in Evanston, Ill. over the holidays, a tournament in which the Harvard recruit finished seventh at 133 pounds.

            The NYSPHSAA cited a rule that rule prohibits high school athletes from competing against collegiate athletes.

            (Rob Sherrill is one of the top high school wrestling analysts in the country and a long-time columnist of W.I.N. He also publishes the “American High School Wrestling Yearbook”. To order a copy, e-mail him at centermatpress@hotmail.com.) 

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