2009-2010 Pre-Season Chat
Head Coach Brian Hills

Tuesday December 8th  7:30 - 9:00 PM

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 joining in!