Brayden Zuercher is among Nazareth’s trio of four-year starters who have PIAA gold aspirations to finish their senior careers.
He came close a year ago, finishing fourth at 189 pounds. He knows he has the physical tools to attain his goal.
“I know I have the strength and conditioning to get there,” Zuercher said. “It’s all a mindset of how hard can I push myself in the room. Every day, I try to go 110% in the room to get that 1% better. Hopefully, it all pays off.”
Zuercher has to find a way to pull the trigger with his offensive shots. He did not score a takedown in his state semifinal loss (4-1 to Sun Valley’s Brandon Carr) or third-place match (6-2 to Greater Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder).
The Blue Eagle captured District 11 and Northeast Regional gold by beating Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Dominic Sumpolec 9-5 and 3-2 in an ultimate tie-breaker, but Sumpolec bulked up 15 pounds to be a true 189 pounder so there will be plenty of local and state competition for Zuercher.
“In that state semi, I got ridden out in the second period,” he said, “so I definitely have that chip on my shoulder for this season.”
Zuercher and the Campbell twins, Cade and Jack, are the team leaders. They have a combined 309 victories, four district titles, four regional titles and four state medals.
They are the type of people who must be careful not to put too much goal-oriented pressure on themselves.
“They are guys who tend to think more, put more pressure on themselves, have these standards they hold themselves to,” Crowell said. “They often worry what others are thinking about them.
“There are others I’ve seen over the years who are tougher, not greatest citizens and are like, “Who am I wrestling tonight?’ They are obliviously to all that and wrestle more free.”
The lineup
Either freshman Jack Dressler and freshman Jace Nelligan will be at 107 pounds. If Nelligan doesn’t get down there to start the year, he could be at 114.
Senior Derek Fulmer will be at 121. He won 30 matches last season and is a two-time District 11 and Northeast Regional medalist.
Crowell is not sure who will be at 127. Senior Daevon Jones (4-7 last year) or junior Michael Good (22-17) are two possibilities.
Junior Cooper Wenrich, who won 31 matches last season or Good could be at 133. Freshman Caleb Kosko likely starts the year at 139. He is ranked among the state’s top 10 freshmen regardless of weight.
Senior Jack Campbell, who was 40-9 last year and a two-time PIAA medalist with 111 career victories, opens the year at 145. Sophomore Chase Brown (6-14 last year) will be at 152.
“[Brown] is a really good competitor,” Crowell said. “He puts more into his matches than most. If others watch [him], maybe it will wear off. It’s just an effort thing. He just wrestles so hard. He’s fun to watch.”
Junior Matteo Martincavage could figure in at 145 or 152. He has four matches on his resume.
Senior Cade Campbell, Jack’s twin brother and Naval Academy commit, opens at 160. He was 39-7 and state fifth a year ago and has 94 career wins.
Seniors Dominick Tunison and Elijah Simak will be at 172 or 189 depending on matchups, with senior Brayden Zuercher bumping up to 215 for the dual-meet season. Tunison won 26 matches last season and was regional sixth. Simak was 30-13 and district fourth.
Zuercher was 40-4 last year and was fourth in the state at 189, where he’ll likely end up again this year. The Cornell commit as 104 career wins.
Junior Austin Christine will be at 285. He has two varsity matches on his resume.
“If he ever goes in there and takes charge,” Crowell said, “he can be good. Hopefully he can get there.”
Seniors Rafael Calderon and Jayden Quach are others who could earn varsity time.
Nazareth should again be one of the teams competing for District 11 Class 3A supremacy and one of the two berths at the state tournament. The Blue Eagles have finished second in the district and state the previous three seasons.
“We have a pretty mature group of guys,” Crowell said. “We have a handful of guys who will be starting for four years, others for three years. We should be good.
“I’m not a goals guy. I just want to go out, try to get better every time and see how it works out. Goals are good for training purposes, especially in the offseason when it’s easy to sluff off. But I think that during the season it can add pressure that is counterproductive.”
The schedule
(Dual meets at 7 p.m. unless noted)
Dec. 3: at Whitehall
Dec. 5: Northampton
Dec. 10: at Easton (100th meeting)
Dec. 12-13: PennStro Leasing Kick-Off Classic at Cumberland Valley
Dec. 17: Dieruff
Dec. 20-21: Beast of the East at the University of Delaware
Dec. 28-29: Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic at Liberty
Jan. 7: Emmaus
Jan. 9-10: Virginia Duals at Hampton Coliseum (Va.)
Jan. 14: Pleasant Valley
Jan. 21: at East Stroudsburg South
Jan. 22: Southern Lehigh
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
