Hempfield’s Kemerer wants 1 thing: PIAA wrestling gold

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 7, 2017 | 7:57 PM

Luke Kemerer is a two-time PIAA placewinner in wrestling. He placed third in 2016 and fifth in '17.

But the Hempfield senior and Pitt commit won't be satisfied with anything short of a state title.

Kemerer was one of three Hempfield wrestlers to win WPIAL titles in 2017. Jarod Verklereen has moved on to Penn State as a walk-on, and Vincent Distefanis is at Seton Hill.

But Kemerer would love to join his brother, Jake, who has two PIAA champion banners hanging in the Hempfield wrestling room.

Kemerer was 37-5 in 2017 and enters his final season with a 107-20 career mark. He'll compete at either 145 or 138 pounds.

“I trained a lot in the offseason,” Kemerer said. “I lifted more and got stronger. I'm more mentally sharp, and I'm more technical. Worked on my entire game.”

And while Kemerer worked on those things, he's not looking ahead to college. His focus is on his senior season.

“I'm just trying to train hard every day,” Kemerer said. “Whatever my coaches want me to do, I'll do. It's really listening to my coaches.”

Kemerer was a WPIAL runner-up in 2016, and he followed that with a good state performance.

As for Kemerer's goals, he said he wants to pretty much dominate everyone he wrestles.

“I've never won states, and I want to win that,” Kemerer said. “I've never won Powerade, so I want to do that.

“I know what it takes to win states. Having a great coaching staff helps a lot. Coach (Vince) DeAugustine is a two-time state champion, so he knows what I have to do to get there.”

Kemerer said he has worked on adding moves to his arsenal.

“Anything on my feet makes me dangerous,” Kemerer said. “My leg attacks are my best moves. I'm basically refining things, making sure I'm doing things correctly.”

And Kemerer is excited about the season. He said he feels the team should be good and some freshmen need to step up.

Hempfield has a co-op with Jeannette this season, which could strengthen the team.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Hempfield Area