Pair of seniors set to lead Thomas Jefferson wrestling

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 14, 2017 | 9:54 PM

Thomas Jefferson's wrestling team has been working out the kinks and working on the basics in preseason practice.

“We are the youngest team I've had in the three years I've coached (at TJ), with 11 underclassmen to 10 juniors/seniors,” said Michael Ladick, the Jaguars' coach. “The learning curve is going to be interesting, especially with us starting out at the Eastern Area tournament, which can be a meat grinder of a start to the year.”

Among the 10 more experienced wrestlers on the team, Kellen Lynch and James Mulenga are the only seniors.

“Kellen, who is a two-time section finalist and two-time all-county, is looking to make the most of his senior year as he starts to prepare for the next level,” Ladick said, “and James finishing one match away from (qualifying for last year's) WPIAL tournament was a great step for him in hopefully breaking through this season.

“Having Kellen and James be my first true class of seniors to go will be hard. Those guys have been consistent, loyal and committed the past three years.”

Lynch and Mulenga will be complemented this season by juniors Alex Bowyer, Ryan Davison, Brendan Fitz, Andy Kalup, Max Shaw, Austin Sobeck, Ridge Vlha and James (Alex) Weber.

“Alex Weber has been a leader year-round,” Ladick said. “He's the hardest worker in the room, and started to recruit guys into that leadership role.”

The sophomore class is represented by Luke Bell, James Dorsey, Brendan Finnerty, Jacob Fisher, Denver Haynes and Brandon Sobeck.

“Brendan Finnerty has had a total change in motivation since last year's section tournament,” Ladick said. “Brendan has focused on outworking everyone in the room, including Alex, and that internal competition is growing. Our room has picked up its intensity.”

Trystan Alava, Kale Buckiso, Benjamin Eckenrod, Naythan Krutules and Michael Zacur are top freshman prospects.

Ladick has had his grapplers focusing on the “three P's” while developing their individual skills at practice.

“ ‘Position, Pace and Pressure' has been our identity since I came to TJ, but it was my fault for not overemphasizing that the past two years,” Ladick said. “It has been preached, but never expounded upon as it has been this season.”

Thomas Jefferson opened the season at the Eastern Area invitational tournament over the weekend at Gateway.

“I'm going to get on my soap box here, but there is no hiding that these sports seasons have become brutally long seasons,” Ladick said. “We promote multi-sport athletes but give them (as student-athletes) absolutely no time to breathe. The sport of wrestling is lacking because the fall sports season runs right into Thanksgiving, where people travel and want to spend time with family, and it rolls over into the winter season, which hurts numbers across the board. I understand they're trying to make rule changes and uniform modifications to increase interest and participation, which I think is great.

“Personally, I think kids just need time to heal and rest coming out of fall sports. In my opinion, I think practice shouldn't officially start until Dec. 1, and I think it could potentially increase participation and also cut down on injuries.”

The Jaguars' schedule in the first month of the season includes the Armstrong Invitational on Dec. 20, and section matches at Albert Gallatin (Dec. 13) and at home against Belle Vernon (Dec. 20).

The teams to beat in the section?

“All of them,” Ladick said. “Our season starts off with Albert Gallatin and Belle Vernon, and never looks back. The competition has increased in my opinion, and there is no doubt Connellsville is the top team in the section until someone knocks them off.”

Thomas Jefferson placed seventh at the season-opening Eastern Area Invitational.

The Jaguars were led by Buckiso, who finished as the runner-up in the 120-pound weight class.

Eckenrod and Finnerty secured third place at 106 and 138, respectively; while Lynch (126), Weber (145) and Zacur (112) placed fourth, fifth and sixth in their respective weight classes.

A total of 23 teams participated in the tournament, with Kiski Area taking first place with 224.5 points.

The tournament's top 10 teams consisted of Kiski Area, DuBois (139), Franklin Regional (130.5), Connellsville (130), West Allegheny (128), Bethel Park (117.5), Thomas Jefferosn (112), Altoona (106.5), North Allegheny (99) and Mt. Lebanon (87.5).

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

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