2002-2003 Pre-Season Chat
Head Coach Brian Hills  12/12/2002

Can you explain your involvement, if any with Burns decision to go to Reynolds.

Absolutely none. I can honestly say that I had no conversation with the Burns until after they had made a decision.

Good question! The kids asked the same question the other day. My response is that our goals are always to go beyond what our normal capabilities would allow us to. I explained to our team that our goals are automatic each year and that would be winning the conference championship, District 10 team duals, and go on to the post season and do well. The individual championships is where we really want to excel and advance as many kids as possible that want to utilize their God given talents to the best of their ability. State championships are always a main priority.

That tournament is a great way to start the season. Each wrestler gets 3 to 4 matches that I consider to be hard matches. There were numerous State qualifiers and some great teams there this year. Neshaminy AAA out of the Southeast Region has an outstanding team loaded with seniors this year. Philipsburg Osceola AAA always has an outstanding team coached by one of the best coaches in the state in Dave Caslow. We were pleased with 11 placers out of 14 weights. We would like to have had more individual champions but for the opener we were not 100% physically and that will take care of itself as we go through the season. The freshman did an outstanding job!

I like the weight class in particular this year. We have a very good freshman that has his goals set high. We are very fortunate to have some big bodies this year. Overall I like the additional weight class but I do believe it can be a burden for the smaller schools who do not have alot of bodies to choose from.

If the score is tied at the end of the match there is a list of tiebreakers in the wrestling rulebook.
1. The team whose opposing players or team has been penalized the greater number of team points for flagrant or unsportsmanlike conduct shall be declared the winner.

2.The team having won the greater number of matches shall bedeclared the winner.

3. The team having accumulated the greater number of points for falls, defaults, forfeits or disqualifications shall be declared the winner.

There are a total of 13 tiebreakers listed and these are the first three.

This is an outstanding group of young men. I have looked forward to these kids joining our squad for several years. Combine this years youngsters with next years freshman and look out we should be pretty well set adding them to the likes of Hable, Battles and Sommerfeld. This years 9th graders have had alot of success in the Pa Jr wrestling State Championships. Dunn 2 time champ, Edwards 3rd place, Stewart 8th place, Kulka Qualifier. All of the freshman who are either varsity or junior high can be extremely proud of themselves and if they stay together will have great success.

We are fortunate to have a great wrestling family that includes people that have been around Reynolds wrestling for years. Parents whose kids are now parents of kids that are wrestling in our program. Coaches that are interested in training our kids to reach their ultimate potential. and becoming good people as well. It truly is an honor to be associated with a great group of people and hard workers from the coaches to wrestlers to booster club officers and parents. We have a outstanding fan base that have gone to great levels to help us in fundraising throughout the year.

I am extremely proud of Kevin and his accomplishments at CP. I know he will be drilling his kids hard to beat us and instilling in them that they can. His team is very good and will be greatly prepared. They will be getting recognized on the State level shortly. We are not focusing on that match at the present as we have some BIG tune-ups which we will use to prepare. We have Lewistown, Manheim and Tool City to prepare our squad for the MCAC and the Ultimate Duals. We need to get everyone healthy and hopefully shuffle a few weights and we will get better as we go.

We have four seniors this year. This class has always been one of our smaller groups and losing Nick Hunt to Sharpsville was a disappointment. The beginning of the season was a struggle with Joel being hurt and just preseason in general. Over the last few weeks Owen Brickell, Mike Hills, Joel Davis and Dan Burns have done an OUTSTANDING job of motivating our practice room and these kids are starting to lead with their hearts and that is extremely motivating.

Don Shaffer does an outstanding job with our media and program. He is truly a great Reynolds wrestling enthusiast and I would personally like to thank him. By the way Don the pizza is very good the beverages are cold and sorry you couldn't be here.
PS Don't call when you get home there isn't any left!