North Allegheny wrestling to rely on young lineup

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 8, 2017 | 11:00 PM

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A battle for the 220-pound spot on the North Allegheny wrestling team best personifies what assistant coach Dan Heckert thinks the Tigers will be about.

With the Tigers graduating five PIAA qualifiers, including two-time state champion Jake Woodley, every wrestler will have to earn their place.

Sophomores Ben Grafton and Austin Heubner will each be looking to lock up that spot, at least temporarily.

“They're not going to be able to slack off, in terms of in the room,” Heckert said. “They are going to have to be constantly getting better because whoever wins that spot out is going to have someone right on his tail. He's not going to be able think this is my spot for the rest of the year.”

Freddie Junko (120), Jake Downing (132), Jon Hoover (160) and Derek Devine (285) will all be key returning wrestlers for North Allegheny, which opened the season over the weekend at the Eastern Area Invitational. The Tigers will open the sub-section portion of their section when they travel to Indiana this week.

North Allegheny, which finished 13-3 last season, reached the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals and the third-place match of the PIAA finals before falling 27-26 to Cathedral Prep.

North Allegheny cruised through the sub-section and section tournament with a perfect record. That will be a tough task to repeat.

“We want to win the section and get back to the state tournament,” Heckert said. “We need to see what happens having so many news faces that don't have a good track record. We're going to have to go there and wrestle and see what happens.”

To replace Woodley, along with fellow medalists Eric Hong and Jake Hinkson, North Allegheny will rely on a roster that features 10 sophomores and a freshman.

Getting up to varsity speed will be the coaching staff's challenge.

Anyone who cracks the lineup will have to know that spot is only good for as long as they maintain the proper work ethic.

“We want to see them improve and get better,” Heckert said. “We're going to be starting a lot of kids that were either JV last year or coming off the junior high. A lot of these kids are going to see action they've never seen before. We want to see them get better as the year goes on and handle the pressure in February and March.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny