Brayden Wenrich’s internal clock was ticking toward this season’s PIAA wrestling tournament right after he finished second in Class 3A last year at 107 pounds.
“I question a lot of about [losing] that final,” the Northampton sophomore said. “But I have a countdown. I’m ready to go. I think about it every day as a reminder of losing that match. I can’t wait to get back there and right the wrong.”
That clock was paused after Wenrich suffered a torn lateral collateral ligament in his left knee in a match at October’s Super 32 tournament in North Carolina. He missed the Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament in early December and the EPC dual meet against Bethlehem Catholic.
The Konkrete Kid is getting in rhythm now. He was 6-0 at Saturday’s Parkland Winter Duals, all by bonus points. That performance comes a week after winning the King of the Mountain’s 121-pound bracket.
“He was basically off the mat away from competition for two months,” head coach Joe Provini said. “I thought he looked great at King of the Mountain. He was rusty. The timing stuff isn’t there yet. That’s going to happen after being out that long.”
Despite the time away, Provini has seen tremendous growth in Wenrich since the end of last season when he was 44-6 with District 11 and Northeast Regional championships to go with his state silver medal.
“He was a little one-dimensional,” Provini said. “There were certainly things he did phenomenally well, but he kind of stuck to those certain things. At King of the Mountain, he was scoring from all different attacks. I was really impressed. It just goes to show you how good he really is and where he can be.
“We’re still working to get him back. Mid-Winter Mayhem will be really good for him because he’ll start descending, wrestling heavier guys and that weight class is going to have really good guys in it.”
As important as the results have been so far, what has perhaps mattered most are Provini’s patience and Wenrich’s maturity in working through the progression from recovery to competition.
Provini made the call to keep Wenrich out of the Ironman, where the sophomore would have seen the deepest field of the season. The coach also made the choice to not wrestle Wenrich against Bethlehem Catholic after Northampton lost five days earlier last month to Nazareth.
“I’m very conservative with injuries,” Provini said. “Normally, I would just shut him down 100%, but we were getting mixed reports from the MRIs. I trust Brayden more than I would maybe an average wrestler because he takes such good care of his body and loves the sport of wrestling. I knew he would do whatever he wanted and needed to to get back.”
Wenrich not only takes care of his body, but he’s honest about how he is feeling. That’s particularly important since this was his first significant injury.
The 121-pounder said there remains some tightness in the knee, but he does not feel like he’s putting any greater risk on it now after taking the necessary steps to get to this point.
“My first thought was to do everything I can to get back for Ironman [on Dec. 12-13],” Wenrich admitted. “But I talked with coach Provini, and he talked about if I can control a match then he’ll use me but he’s not if there is a match where we can’t control where the knee is going to go.
“The final call came to me. You have to have full mental clearance, so it was tough to watch.”
So far this season, opponents are finding it tough to compete with Wenrich, who is 13-0 in 2025-26 and 57-6 in his career.
Dual results
Northampton took down No. 7-ranked Council Rock South 46-18 in pool play and No. 8 Boyertown 41-20 in the final to finish 6-0 and win the Parkland Winter Duals.
Trey Wagner (145), Chase Grabfelder (152), Carter Chlebove (160-172), Gabe Ballard (160-172) and Ben Schoeneberger (107) were 6-0 in addition to Wenrich.
“We had two weeks not being at the [Bethlehem] holiday classic,” Provini said. “It was a good time for us to get healthy. We were dealing with injuries and sicknesses. I think this was only the second time this year when we had our full lineup.
“We’ve been telling guys this year that if we come together, we can beat really good teams. Today, I think we beat a couple really good teams. It’s a step in the right direction. We’re happy with it, but it’s just part of the process.”
Northampton collectively was aggressive on its feet and did its best to push the pace in all its matches.
Luis Moya was 6-0 at 107 for fourth-place Parkland. Myles Lysek (285) and Donato Ciampittiello (172) were each 5-1. Braden Todora was 4-0 at 114.
Vinnie (172-189) and Luke Fugazzotto (189-215) were 6-0 for fifth-place Northwestern Lehigh
David Clayton (189), Logan Pfistner (160), Dylan Gappa (139) and Colo Borzio (114) all were 5-1 for eighth-place Quakertown.
Vinny Ilardi (107) was 5-1 for 10th-place Bangor. Carter Smith (133) and Jaxson Kreider (189) were each 4-2.
Brock Frable (172) was 6-0 for 11th-place Southern Lehigh. Cody Wesner (215) was 4-2.
Notes
Parkland captured its 700th win in program history in Round 2 by beating Southern Lehigh. There will be a ceremony prior to its Wednesday EPC match against visiting Whitehall to honor the achievement. The Trojans are inviting back all alumni for the event. …. Bangor was without injured 215-pounder Kody Ward. Southern Lehigh did not have Keith Barker, who suffered a left hand injury at last weekend’s Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic, or Griffin King. Reilly Steckert also got hurt and did not wrestle in the final four rounds. The 285-pounder was carted off and taken to a local hospital. … LaSalle’s Jack Steck suffered an arm injury seconds into his 107-pound bout against Parkland’s Luis Moya in the first match of the first round and was taken to an area hospital.
Parkland Winter Duals results
Saturday at Parkland H.S.
Round 1
Parkland 44, LaSalle 17
Boyertown 65, Southern Lehigh 3
Quakertown 31, Delaware Valley 24
Northwestern Lehigh 39, Abington Heights 27
Northampton 57, Bangor 9
Council Rock South 58, Hatboro-Horsham 11
Round 2
Parkland 54, Southern Lehigh 13
LaSalle 39, Quakertown 34
Boyertown 56, Delaware Valley 21
Northwestern Lehigh 50, Bangor 22
Northampton 52, Hatboro-Horsham 16
Council Rock South 46, Abington Heights 17
Round 3
Boyertown 40, Parkland 22
Quakertown 52, Southern Lehigh 24
LaSalle 31, Delaware Valley 27
Northampton 54, Northwestern Lehigh 18
Abington Heights 37, Hatboro-Horsham 31
Council Rock South 55, Bangor 12
Round 4
Parkland 36, Quakertown 30
Boyertown 52, LaSalle 16
Delaware Valley 38, Southern Lehigh 25
Northwestern Lehigh 53, Hatboro-Horsham 22
Northampton 46, Council Rock South 18
Abington Heights 40, Bangor 26
Round 5
Parkland 44, Delaware Valley 29
LaSalle 41, Southern Lehigh 32
Boyertown 52, Quakertown 12
Council Rock South 40, Northwestern Lehigh 27
Northampton 55, Abington Heights 17
Bangor 31, Hatboro-Horsham 30 (6th criteria)
Round 6
Championship match
Northampton 41, Boyertown 20
Third-place match
Council Rock South 44, Parkland 24
Fifth-place match
Northwestern Lehigh 53, LaSalle 21
Seventh-place match
Abington Heights 34, Quakertown 31
Ninth-place match
Delaware Valley 34, Bangor 31
11th-place match
Southern Lehigh 39, Hatboro-Horsham 33
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
