Wrestling season during pandemic presents serious challenges for Shaler

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, January 10, 2021 | 9:01 AM

Shaler Area junior wrestler Brad Yeager isn’t deterred by the road ahead.

Even with low numbers and the pandemic restrictions, the 106-pound grappler is excited to have another season on the mat.

Yeager, whose club closed once the pandemic started, has had his opportunities limited.

“We’ve been working hard and following the rules and restrictions,” Yeager said. “We aren’t going to let it hold us down or push us back. We are ready and prepared to compete at the highest level.”

Finding a place to compete will be a challenge for Titans’ coach Ethan Swope and athletic director Clinton Rauscher.

Shaler’s numbers were already low at the start of preseason — the Titans initially had 12 wrestlers — but that number has dwindled to six.

Shaler opens the season with a dual Jan. 13 against Mars. After that, Swope said the Titans are still weighing their options.

“Right now, we are doing mostly duals,” Swope said. “We’re undecided on a few more duals tournaments. Those are the most efficient because we can pack several matches in during the day. It’s hard because teams want us to bring a full roster, but in the time we’re in schools have been accommodating.”

Rebuilding the program moving forward will require the Titans to fill out fewer weight classes moving forward. The PIAA dropped the number of weight classes from 14 to 13 starting with this season.

The remaining weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 172, 189, 215 and 285.

Shaler doesn’t have any WPIAL qualifiers returning from last season, but will bring back some experience, including Yeager.

“He made the most improvement,” Swope said. “The improvements he made reflects the work he put in.”

Yeager said the mental aspect of his approach will be the most important one.

“I want to tune up my technical skills,” Yeager said. “But I want to get my mind right, especially this year. I’m hoping to compete and hoping to win. If anything, this year has reinstalled my love for the sport.”

Continuing to put up that level of effort will be something Swope expects from all the Titans. They are having to get creative to practice without depth in the weight classes.

“We have a couple of lighter guys and a couple middleweights, but it is difficult to practice since we don’t have a lot of good partners for them,” Swope said.

Swope hopes this will be a good year for guys to pick up experience.

“We have a lot of young guys and brought up some freshmen,” Swope said. “We just want to stress to them the improvements that will make them better.”

Tags: Shaler