Quinn McBride is a three-time PIAA qualifier and a two-time state medalist with 91 career victories. He is talented, hard working and confident.
But nerves sometimes factor into his performance.
“I need to trust in my training and not let nerves get to me,” the Pennridge senior said. “It’s a big thing I struggle with. I know I work hard. There’s no reason to doubt myself.”
McBride is fine at most tournaments until he sees his name come up on the board. That is when tightness creeps in. He felt it at last year’s season-opening Brian Bealer Memorial Duals at Boyertown, when he got in his own head in his third match, an 8-6 loss to Owen J. Robert’s Carter Soto.
“I remember thinking that if I lost,” he said, “I would think, ‘Damn, I lost and I’m a state placer.’ I didn’t wrestle how I was supposed to.
“But I’m not training to beat kids in December. I want to beat them in March.”
Pennridge coach Brian Kuhns has seen this before. He said there is no universal method for a coach to approach the situation with wrestlers. He and his staff are working through it with McBride, whom he feels will be instrumental in the Rams’ turnaround from a 7-7 rebuild in 2024-25, when they had eight new starters.
They return many from last year who were thrust into a challenging schedule with little experience. They came out on the other side and pushed through a solid offseason of weightlifting, training and competing.
They did most of it without prompting from the coaching staff.
“They took a lot of control of the offseason,” Kuhns said of the captains. “They did the heavy lifting, getting the kids together for lifting, morning runs. They all were motivated. It was a weird offseason for me because I kept thinking that I should be doing more.
“But I’d get texted, saying that they met for this, did that. We had a few captains’ breakfasts over the summer to see how they were doing and what they needed from us. They got right on things.”
Kuhns and his coaches also worked through confidence issues with McBride and others who took some lumps during the 2024-25 season in which the schedule remained the same from a team two years ago that had one of the program’s best seasons ever.
In retrospect, Kuhns felt last year’s team needed more dual-meet tournaments in order to ensure most of the starters five matches instead of going 0-2 on Day 1 of individual tournaments. He made subtle changes to this year’s schedule, including pulling out of Escape the Rock, an individual event.
The fifth-year coach said he believes this year’s crew is up to the challenge.
“Most of the kids were in the club working out,” Kuhns said, “wrestling freestyle and Greco, taking trips to big tournaments and committing to the weightlifting plan. They found their way.
“We threw them into the first last year, but did a lot of film review, gave them a lot of data. We deflected the blame [to the coaches] because we put them through the grind. But it’s what motivated them.”
Sawyer Ermigiotti is another wrestler who has gained confidence as he gained experience and enjoyed some success. The junior was 24-12 and a regional qualifier last year. He believes he is ready to take the next step and qualify for states.
The 215-pounder also believes the team is ready to return to the state team tournament after the offseason dedication.
“I really wanted to get that district title,” Ermigiotti said. “Losing in the finals last year wasn’t fun. But I think I made the proper adjustments in the offseason to go back there, win it and get top-5 at regionals and get to states.
“I did a lot of lifting, worked with all my coaches and had great partners in the room. I think we as a team took massive steps.”
McBride bulked up from 127 last year to 145 this year. He thinks that also will make a difference in his postseason performance.
“The issue was that he didn’t trust his strength,” Kuhns said. “Now seeing the way he’s wrestling, he’s not worrying about weight. He attacked weight training. He feels like a completely different wrestler. He found his way to a little more confidence.”
The lineup
Freshman Deklan Wills will be at 107 pounds.
“He’s a really tough kid,” Kuhns said. “I’m excited to see what he can do. He’s done the whole scene in youth and middle school, MAWA, states. He’s fun to watch.”
Sophomore Jake Ramos (8-9) is at 114. He is one of several who got thrust into a starting spot last season and should turn the corner. Sophomore PJ Irving (12-11) is at 121.
Freshman Matt Coffin, whose brother Cole won 127 matches and was a four-time regional medalist, will be another talented freshman being counted on to contribute right away.
“He should be a four-time state qualifier and a multi-placer in his career,” McBride said. “I’m excited to see him compete this year.”
Junior Kevin McFadden (23-15), a two-time regional qualifier, is at 133 with the expectation of making it to Hershey in March.
Senior Cole Meenan (7-7) and a bunch of young kids are in the mix at 139. McBride is at 145.
Junior Gavin Stevens, who has no varsity experience, is among those in a battle at 152.
“He’s really grinded for us the last few years and made huge improvements in that time frame,” Kuhns said.
Junior Jake Wood (4-8), who missed nearly two months last season with an injury, is at 160. Junior Brody Blomgren (7-6), who is coming from football season that ended on Thanksgiving Day, hopes to be at 172 in time for the season-opening Brian Bealer Memorial Duals at Boyertown.
Junior Charles Dodge (9-18) is bumping up from 160 to 189 after a heavy offseason lifting program. Ermigiotti is at 215. Senior Carter Mercier (8-12) is coming off a knee injury and competing with a couple underclassmen for the 285-pound spot.
“We are a completely different team from last year,” Ermigiotti said. “We got it figured out. We’re out of that rebuild phase from two years ago. We have a set team now with everybody we got, and I’m expecting the team to do great things this year.”
The schedule
(Dual meets at 7 p.m. unless noted)
Dec. 6: Brian Bealer Memorial Bear Duals at Boyertown
Dec. 10: at Quakertown
Dec. 12-13: PennStro Leasing Kick-Off Classic at Cumberland Valley
Dec. 19: at Lower Merion
Jan. 3: Mats at the Mecca Duals at Pottsville
Jan. 7: Central Bucks South
Jan. 9-10: War on the Shore at Powell Convention Center (Md.)
Jan. 14: Souderton
Jan. 16: Hatboro-Horsham
Jan. 21: at North Penn
Jan. 22: District 1 Class 3A duals
Jan. 24: Emmaus, noon
Jan. 28: at Central Bucks East
Jan. 31: District 1 Class 3A duals
Feb. 4: Central Bucks West
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
https://www.mcall.com/2025/11/30/lehigh-valley-wrestling-pennridge-primed-for-big-bounce-back-year/
