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What
will the lineup look like this season?
Wrestle-offs are done and we are
excited about our opening line up. We had several close eliminations
and look forward to more. Initial line up appears as follows
for IRONMAN.
103 Neal Engstrom 9
112 Rodney Harnett 12
119 Mason Beckman 11
125 Dylan D'Urso 10
130 Adam Matthews 11
135 Austin Matthews 9
140 Justin Rhodes 10
145 Luke Taylor 12
152 Matt Tofani 10
160 Tyler Rhodes 11
171 Greg Baptiste 12
189 Jeremy Fowler 12
215 Blake Heim 10
285 Jamar Henry 9
What's
the staff look like this year, any changes?
No. Pretty much the same. Assisting
Casey Taylor, Joe Reichard, Ron Beckman, Michael Hills, Ryan Hills,
Tyler Middleton. Michael Hills head Junior High , assistants are
John Tofani, Mark Higbee and Rick Stoyer. Pete Leise and Scot
Nottingham are helpers as well at all levels.
How do
the local teams match up with the Raiders?
We have great respect for the local
teams and expect competitive matches. Greenville looks to be very
good as well as Sharon and Commodore Perry. Mercer and Grove City
are always formidable competition. Fort LeBoeuf and Saegertown
appear to be very good up North.
What are
the Region Duals?
They are a duals competition that
allow us to get 4 of our required conference matches in on one day.
We are wrestling Hickory, Sharpsville, West Middlesex and Mercer
that Saturday as well as Cambridge Springs. This allowed us 3 points
schedule wise to be able to wrestle other competitions. We have
added Erie McDowell, Fort LeBoeuf and Commodore Perry as non region
matches.
Is Mike
still heading up the Junior High? How is the JH looking like?
Yes. Michael is organizing and
running the Junior High team. We think there are some great kids at
this level and as has become a custom look forward to them stepping
up and growing with our varsity team.
Coach Hills - How strong will this years team be and who will be
your tuffest competition
Opening up at the IRONMAN will
expose us to the best high school wrestling in the country, so win
or lose we will gain that valuable experience. There are 13 teams
ranked in the top 40 in country attending. We are the 13th listed at
# 31 so a top 10 finish is a tremendous goal. The King of the
Mountain tournament and Manheim Holiday Tournament provide excellent
venues and competition. Dual competitions with Fort Leboeuf,
McDowell, and the Ultimate Duals will be some great in season
competition. The Ultimate Duals will provide duals with Burrell,
Ridgway, Athens, Northern Lehigh and Brookville. Hopefully we remain
healthy and survive without injuries or illness.
Where is
our strength in the roster this year?
Obviously we feel with the addition
of Rodney Harnett down to 112 lbs, that from 112 through 135 lbs we
are capable of scoring alot of points. Add Beckman, D'Urso, Matthews
X 2, Taylor, Baptiste, Rhodes Rhoades, Fowler, Heim etc. We feel we
are competitive at all weights with newcomers in Engstrom @ 103,
Tofani @ 145-152 and Henry @ 285.
Hi
coach. I was really interested in reading about the match between
Austin Matthews and Dylan D'urso. Will this be an ongoing match
through out the year?
Not sure. We will offer it as much
as they want. Regardless they will both be in our line up. They did
wrestle off for the 125 lb spot at IRONMAN. This was a great state
caliber wrestled match in our very own practice room that went to
the 2nd overtime. Austin may decide to move up and lift as well. It
is totally up to him and what is best for our TEAM.
I
was wondering if the public would ever be allowed to watch the
elimination matches?
We pretty much have an open door policy
but do not allow cheering etc. when 2 teammates are wrestling each
other. It has been suggested to charge an entry fee but we feel that
is not necessary.
Who will
we wrestle at the Ultimate Duals? How competitive is this year's
teams?
The competition has increased greatly
this year. Ridgway is returning with almost their whole team back
from last year. Burrell is coming who is the last team to beat us in
the 2008 TEAM State duals. Athens and Northern Lehigh have great
pride and tradition. Brookville is going to be much better, very
young and on the way up. We take great pride in the fact that we
have attended each year since the inception of the Ultimate Duals.
Who do
you think is the team to beat in Dist. 10 and then in the state?
We think that Greenville, Fort
LeBoeuf, Saegertown and more are very competitive in District 10.
State wide Juniata, Burrell, Ridgway, Schuykill Valley appear to be
very good.
Nice to see an elementary page on the web site.
Mark Bartolo has done an
outstanding job with this project. He took it head on and it is a
tremendous addition. Mark along with Frank D'Urso also heads our
Elementary program with many others assisting. Mark is scary -he is
about as detailed and organized as myself.
Can we
look forward to another top 10 finish at the Ironman this year?
As stated before there are 13 top
40 ranked teams in the country coming to this tournament. We would
be the 13th ranked at 31 in the pre-season ranking. Probably top 15
is a more realistic goal but top 10 is not out of the question.
What are
the tournament expectations this year... Ironman/King of the Mt. and
Manheim?
As always to finish as high as
possible. We think we have the talent to compete at a high level
although with a relatively young team. The initial line up includes
4 SRs, 3 JRs, 4 SOPHs and 3 FROSH.
What's
the freshman class look like?
This freshman class
is very good and allows us to continue to be competitive. There is a
great deal of PA JR Wrestling experience that is transforming to our
varsity squad.
How is
the senior leadership on the squad this year?
Very good leadership provided by
our experienced wrestlers in Luke Taylor, Greg Baptiste, Jeremy
Fowler, Rodney Harnett and Dillon Babcock. additional seniors
include Tommy Gilson, Matt Smith, Drew Loutzenhiser, Zach Harrison,
and TJ Johnson. Major football injuries hit us hard with 2 Senior
letterman out with injuries in Charlie Murray and Steve Mink. Steve
may possibly be available for action in January.
Where
and who do I send the uniform deposit to?
I assume you are asking about the
elementary uniform deposit. You need to ask Coach Bartolo or D'Urso
at elementary practice.
Are spectators allowed
at your practices?
We allow fans and parents to watch if
they wish. A lot of hard work going on. As long as not disruptive.
OK.
Do you think we can top
last years team ?
Remains to be seen. Last year was a
very special group. It really depends on how the chemistry of this
team gels. They can be very special.
Brian,
Greetings from the Raider Nation Outpost in Houston, TX. Did the
Raiders have any pre-season scrimmages ? If so how did they go ?
Good Luck at Ironman and the rest of the forthcoming season. Give my
regards to the 60's reunion attendees.
Joe Spicko
Great to hear from you Joe! Wish you
were coming up to our 60's celebration. We have some nice things
planned for our alumni that come back. Paul Dunn is in Houston as
well and is an avid supporter of the Blue and Gray. We did scrimmage
at Canfield, OHIO two weeks ago and Fort LeBouef this past weekend.
Kids did a great job!
How do you think the
three freshman in the Ironman lineup will do this year?
We expect them to perform as we would
any other team member. They will take some lumps with our December
schedule which should only prepare them for our primarily Dual
schedule in January. Austin Matthews is already wrestling at a state
caliber level.
When you look at the
best AA teams in Pennsylvania this year who is on your radar?
Again we believe Burrell, Juniata,
Schuykill Valley, Ridgway, Westmont Hilltop and surely several
others to be competitive.
50 years of Reynolds
Wrestling and you Brian have been a huge part of the Raiders'
success both as a wrestler and now as a coach. There is no question
here, I just wanted to say thank you for carrying on a tradition
that we all are very, very proud of.
Thank you for the kind words. This is
about surrounding yourself with good people and watching hard work
and chemistry blossom.
Do
you have any updates on how the rhs college wrestlers are doing?
Not alot of current
record information but we have many wrestlers competing in the
College ranks. Cody Kelly @ Cornell, Aaron Nestor @ Rider,
Lawrence Beckman @ Hofstra, Matt Dunn @ Columbia University, D-3
All-American Corey Brown and Rob Miller @ Thiel College and Tony
D'Urso @ Mercyhurst. We are just as proud of the academic successes
of all these kids.
Mason Beckman will probably have 100 career wins just two matches
into his junior season. Can you put that into perspective?
WOW! A tribute to
the Beckman family for the hard work and extra time they put into
this great sport. Congrats to Mason once he hits this milestone
which will happen this weekend. He has really become a team leader
and is very instrumental in teaching technique in our practice room.
If your team can reach
100 straight regular season wins this year do you think the boosters
club will bake us all a big cake?
You bet! Just like the old days!
At first glance, the
lineup looks a little light at the top. As their coach, what are you
expecting out of Fowler, Heim & Henry?
These guys are going to be better than a
lot of people expect!!!
Lots of buzz about
Austin Matthews floating around. How good is this kid?
Austin is very very good. You will be in
for a treat when you watch him this season.
The Chat is now over... Thanks for
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