Hampton wrestling vastly improved, expecting more

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 28, 2018 | 11:55 PM

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Hampton could have been satisified after a second-place finish at the WPIAL Section 3-AAA wrestling tournament.

Instead first-year coach Chris Hart gave the Talbots an earful after a 50-12 loss in the final to Seneca Valley.

“I'm trying to change the culture,” he said. “We were outmatched, no doubt. But Seneca is not 38 points better than us.”

Despite struggling for years, Hampton's 15-2 record — good enough for a No. 6 ranking in the WPIAL — isn't good enough for this group.

“I asked them, ‘Were you pleased with your performance? Did you give 100 percent? Some of you are going to say no to that,' ” Hart said. “Until you change that mindset, you're going to go out there and lay down. And I'm not going to accept that.”

Hart is proud of his team, but he sees more for this group.

“Change in attitude takes time,” he said. “Five starting freshmen. It takes time to do that.”

The talented freshmen and a group of upperclassmen bought into Hart's message. It's the biggest reason Hampton wrestled Peters Township in the first round of the WPIAL team tournament Monday in a match that ended too late for this edition.

Freshman Justin Hart (27-1), a junior high state champion and nephew of the coach, won at 182 pounds at the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships at Fox Chapel on Jan. 19-20.

“His goal was, ‘Hey, I want to win the county championship four times.' ” Hart said. “I said, ‘You can't win it four times if you don't win the first one.'

“Justin, fortunately or unfortunately, being my nephew and having coached his (former state champion brother Jake Hart), I'm holding him to a higher standard regardless of the fact that he's a freshman.”

Hart wasn't the only Hampton wrestler at the top of the podium at the county meet. Sophomore Tyler Kocak (24-2) took first at 120.

“(Kocak) is so talented,” Hart said. “He did pack on some weight and some muscle and realized the things he needed to work on to get to the level of a Louis Newell or a Logan Macri.”

Newell (Seneca Valley) and Macri (Canon-McMillan) are ranked No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, at 120.

It takes more than two great wrestlers to have an outstanding team year, though, and the Talbots flexed their muscles at the county tournament, placing four others in the top 5. Senior Chad Scherer (20-10) at 170, junior Josh Campbell (21-9) at 106 and sophomore Zach Wright (17-6) at 126 finished fourth. Freshman Dawson Dietz (20-8) at 220 finished fifth.

Campbell, who qualified for WPIALs the past two seasons, continues to improve.

“Right after the Seneca Valley loss, he came up to me and said, ‘Coach, what do I have to work on?' That's what you like to hear as a coach,” Hart said.

“Zach is having a good year and is in a really tough weight class. … I know he wants his record to be a lot better than it is, but they're all losses to better competition, and wins and losses don't matter until the season ends.”

Dietz often wrestles at heavyweight, giving up 30 to 60 pounds.

Scherer, dubbed “Coach Chad” by his teammates, is having a solid season, and freshman brother Corey (11-12) has put in tough work at 160.

“Chad's been hurt all year and has wrestled his butt off,” Hart said. “He's come up with some huge victories for us, and when he gets a fall, he comes through and gets the crowd so excited.”

While talent drives the big wins, the Talbots are full of unsung heroes who carved a niche.

The biggest, literally and figuratively, of those, is heavyweight Tommy Rengers (6-10), who stepped in when senior Jesse Berzonski left the team. Rengers posted a top-eight finish at the county meet.

“What can I say about him?” said Hart. “Last year he wasn't a starter and had one victory. To get on the podium was huge for him. And it was huge for his teammates to see him on there. I've never seen a bigger smile on his face than seeing him there, holding that All-County T-shirt.”

Senior Zach Boggs (14-11) at 173 pounds, gives up nearly 25 pounds pounds in many matches but has posted a winning record. Junior Vincent Schmitt (15-8) at 145 has showed mental toughness.

Other contributors include Cameron Rakar (15-9) at 106, freshman Gage Galuska (11-12) at 132, junior Liam Helon (13-9) at 138 and freshman Conrad Harold (15-10) at 152.

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.

Tags: Hampton