This season, after putting in the offseason work necessary for the grueling sport, Ferradji has begun fulfilling that promise, already surpassing his win total from a year ago and quickly becoming a key part of the Warrior’s upper weight core, which is a big strength for the team.

“That is where we score our points,” said coach A.J. Maida. “It’s Devin (Bradley); it’s Michael (Baccaro); it’s Tahar; it’s Tracey Green. That’s not a secret that those guys score for us.”

According to Ferradji, it is because of that vein of talent that runs through Methacton’s upper weight classes that he has been able to improve so much this season, where his record currently rests at a more than respectable 13-3 with six pins.

“I think, honestly, it’s partners,” Ferradji said of his improvement. “It’s working with my good friend Tracey and Mike Baccaro. They’ve really helped me.”

And that help goes beyond just the wrestling room, as Ferradji said he and Green hit the weight room hard in the offseason to ensure that neither wrestler would be out-muscled over the course of the season.

“(A lot of the work) is outside of practice. We usually lift together,” he explained.

However, make no mistake, for all the time and hard work that Ferradji and the other wrestlers put in outside of the wrestling room, those wrestlers put in just as much time and effort inside the wrestling room, constantly working with each and making each other better.

For Ferradji, it is especially helpful to be able to roll around on the mats with two of the top upper weights in District 1, with Baccaro currently ranked fourth at 182 and Green ranked third at 285.

“(Practice) is definitely full-force,” he said. “I think that if we all work hard with people that we wrestle with, we’ll all get better as a group.”

Based on results so far this season, the “full-force” practices and work in the weight room has pushed Ferradji into elite company in the PAC-10, where his 13 wins rank near top of the 220-pound weight class, trailing only Boyertown’s freshman phenom Jordan Wood and Pottsgrove sophomore Pat Finn.

Based on the incredible improvement shown by Ferradji this season, improving on his fourth-place finish at sectionals and quick exit the following weekend at districts seems likely. However, he’s not thinking about personal glory and is focused only on putting the Warriors in the best possible place to win by both going out and winning his matches and by helping his teammates improve so that they can win theirs.

“I just go in (to each match) thinking that I have to do the best that I can for the team, no matter what the score is.”

Ultimately, both teams knew, because of how recently the teams met, the Wednesday dual meet would be a nail-biter and the team that made the fewest mistakes would probably be the team that emerged victorious.

“It’s a good hard-fought match. PAC-10 wrestling, what can you say?” Bechtel said. “This is the way it goes.”

Follow Tony Fioriglio on Twitter @TheTonyFiorigli.

Needless to say, coaches have been forced to shuffle their lineups.

Included in the bunch were Upper Perkiomen’s Tom Hontz as well as Methacton’s A.J. Maida, who were wheeling and dealing throughout Saturday morning’s Pioneer Athletic Conference match.

For the record, Hontz came up with the better hand, or enough of one for a narrow 35-29 decision of the visiting Warriors in what has become one of the most competitive series in the PAC-10 in recent years.

The rivals split the 14 individual bouts right down the middle, but Hontz’s trump card — or cards — were two forfeits (against just one), a pin, two technical falls, and a major among the seven wins ... just enough to hold off the Warriors yet again, close out one very big week, and remain in the PAC-10 title chase by improving to 2-1 (9-4 overall).

“Everyone knew we had to work hard not to give up any pins today,” said Upper Perkiomen’s Dan Jordan, who used a takedown and near-fall in the final seconds of his match at 126 pounds to post one of those technical falls. “We just didn’t want to give up any big points.”

With three starters on the mend and off the mats, the Indians obviously couldn’t afford to surrender the bonus points. And, for the most part, they didn’t.

Methacton (1-2, 10-4) did get a pin from Tracey Green in the opener at 285, did get a technical fall from Joe Staley at 132, and did get a forfeit from Mike Baccaro at 195. But the remaining four wins were all regular decisions.

Not enough to counter the hosts’ productive efforts.

“You always want to be on the offensive,” Jordan explained. “You always want to score as many points as you can.”

But, as Jordan alluded to earlier and as Hontz reiterated, there are those other matches ... minimizing the losses.

“You just have to wrestle six minutes,” Hontz said. “Even if you’re out-gunned or out-matched, you have to go for six minutes. You have to wrestle tough. That’s hard at times.”

But both Owen Leister and Casey Cook persevered Saturday.

Methacton trailed just 22-14 at the halfway mark before Wolfgang McStravick’s pin at 145, Young’s thriller at 152 and Kyle Fellman’s major at 160 restructured Upper Perkiomen’s lead to 35-14 with four bouts remaining. Everyone in Methacton’s closing foursome was favored, too, but after Leister gave up just three in a 7-2 setback to Paul Russo at 170 and Cook gave up just three in a 9-5 setback to Devin Bradley, the 15-point deficit with only two bouts left was more than the Warriors could make up.

“We’re doing a better job (of staying off our backs),” Hontz said. “We seem to keep losing bodies (due to illness and injuries), but guys keep coming up with answers for us.”

Something Maida hasn’t lost sight of.

“Sometimes we go up against teams, especially Upper Perkiomen, where we’re giving up 12 points as soon as we see (the other team’s) singlet,” Maida said. “We can’t afford that. We have to get that mental confidence.

“There are situations when we want six (points) but can’t get it. (Other teams) have guys go out and get (the six points). But you have to give Upper Perkiomen’s kids credit for going out and being fighters. They’re just not going to give up the extra points.”

The Warriors were able to stay in contention by the halfway mark thanks to Green’s pin, Staley’s technical fall and Rupp’s 12-9 decision at 138 ...which appeared to be a major until Upper Perkiomen back-up Colby Carino’s five-point burst in the waning seconds erased the bonus points.

“Our kids are working hard, and I thought they came out and competed today,” Maida said. “But those kind of matches (like Rupp’s) are the kind we want the win with bonus points, not just stay close.”

“With all our injuries, honestly, we weren’t looking forward to this week (wrestling Boyertown on Wednesday and Methacton on Saturday),” Hontz said. “So coming away with two wins ... I’m just ecstatic.”

NOTES
Devin Bradley avenged a pin by Cook at last year’s District 1-AAA North Tournament with his 9-5 decision on Saturday. ... Barring any additional setbacks, Upper Perkiomen’s annual showdown at Owen J. Roberts (Saturday, Jan. 26) could determine if the Indians can grab no worse than a share of the PAC-10 title. ... Methacton is now 0-5 against Upper Perkiomen since joining the PAC-10.

Both accomplished those goals and then some as they each swept undefeated through their respective pools to earn a spot in the championship match against each other. Then – in a preview of their upcoming Pioneer Athletic Conference battle in 10 days – Methacton earned the first-place trophy with a 35-22 win.

Joe Staley, Mike Baccaro, Tahar Ferradji, and Tracey Green each went a perfect 5-0 on the day for the Warriors (9-3), who also defeated Malvern Prep (53-21), West Chester Henderson (42-21), Glen Mills (60-16), and Monsignor Bonner (58-16) along the way.

Patrick Bohn and Jasheel Brown were both 5-0 for the Trojans (12-3), who knocked off Oxford (76-6), Avon Grove (59-9), Bensalem (43-19), and Notre Dame (45-28) to reach the final.

“We all knew that we shamed ourselves on Thursday (in a 49-12 PAC-10 loss at home to Boyertown),” said junior 132-pounder Staley, who got the championship match started with a pin in 41 seconds. “We knew we had to come in and show we can wrestle.”

“The effort wasn’t there (on Thursday),” said Warrior coach A.J. Maida. “The effort was there (on Saturday). I would argue we’re not a very good team right now. Our goal is to be a good wrestling team by the time February and March come around. Maybe this was a step in the right direction.”

After the quick pin by Staley, Pottstown came back to take its only lead of the match at 9-6 on an 11-6 win by Bohn and a pair of 5-0 decisions by Brown and Darien Hain. Then the Warriors ran off six wins in a row – topped off by a 42-second pin by heavyweight Tracey Green – for a 31-9 advantage. Even then, Pottstown stayed alive right down to the second to the last bout with a major decision by Logan Pennypacker and a forfeit. But Eric Straup, who only needed to avoid being pinned, wrapped things up for the Warriors with a 16-7 win at 120 pounds.

“Everyone knew they had to step it up,” said Staley. “There were a couple times I think we could have gotten more points. We had something to prove today.”

Trojan coach Brad Bechtel was not only happy with his wrestlers who have gotten off to good starts this season and continued to do well on Saturday, but also with those with lesser records coming in who contributed to the team’s success.

“All in all, a good day,” said the Trojan first-year coach. “Third up in Jim Thorpe and second here … the guys are improving every week. There were a couple matches where we could have gotten guys on their backs. But there were a lot of good individual matches, some really good challenging matches. Some guys who didn’t have that good a record did well.

How can you not be proud … 4-1? My focus is to get into district duals.”

Maida said he was given the option, after winning the pool, to wrestle somebody other than a team from his own league in the final. But he wanted his team to take on the best possible opponent, and that was Pottstown.

“You always like to see somebody different,” said Maida. “But, very honestly, Pottstown is a better team than we are, and we put the challenge to the kids. We wanted to see a better team. They have some outstanding wrestlers. They have good young kids and outstanding senior leadership and Brad is doing a fantastic job. Hats off to those guys. They have a pretty good thing going.”

“This is good to tell us how we’re going to do in a couple weeks (on January 16) against them,” Staley added. “The lineups will be different, but it tells us how hard we need to work.”

Staley upped his season record to a team-best 18-2, with Green right behind at 17-2.

“I worked hard in the summer,” said Staley. “I work with Dan Damato. He’s a good practice partner. I watch my matches a lot to see if I can improve on my mistakes.”

NOTES
Logan Pennypacker, Mason Pennypacker, Bryant Wise, Sebastian Shiffler, Hain, Jordan Ekstrom, and Alex Humma all compiled 4-1 records for the Trojans, as did Sayer Campbell Damato, and Devin Bradley for the Warriors. … Humma, who lost only a tough 3-2 decision to Methacton’s steven Stanjnrajh on a late reversal in the 195-pound bout, had no wins coming in. … “He came in today and he really wrestled well,” said Bechtel. “We asked him what he ate for breakfast this morning.” … Bohn remained undefeated for the season at 15-0 while Hain and Wise each suffered their first loss. … Bensalem senior Mike Pritchard earned his 100th career win and was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

And why not? The Bears beat up, battered and bruised the Warriors en route to a surprisingly easy 49-12 win.

But it wasn’t losing to Boyertown that had Maida hotter than a July bonfire, it was the way his team wrestled, acted and responded to the early-season challenge.

“I don’t mind losing to a good team,” Maida said moments after his team was manhandled. “Sometimes you can learn something in a loss. But you don’t learn anything falling down and rolling over on your back.

“Boyertown embarrassed us in our own place, but we also embarrassed ourselves by our behavior on the mat and by people acting like they shouldn’t be acting.”

While it likely would have taken an Act of Congress for Methacton to upset Boyertown, the match was looked at by the Warriors as a gauge as to just how close they were to that level of wrestling that represents the PAC-10’s elite these days.

According to Maida after the match, the distance may well be longer than the distance from Fairview Village to Gabelsville.

“Right now, they’re a good team and we’re not,” Maida said. “The effort wasn’t there, across the board, and that’s my fault.

“Maybe I have to change the way we’re doing things.”

The Bears grabbed control of the match early, beginning with Jordan Wertz’s 4-0 whitewashing of Tahar Ferradji at 220 pounds and freshman sensation Jordan Wood bumping up to heavyweight to slip past Tracey Green via a third-period escape, 1-0.

By the time Garrett Mauger won by fall at 113, the visitors were on top, 18-0, and the Warriors had yet a to score a single point on the mat.

Things went from unsettling to uh-oh when Boyertown’s Dylan Wertz rallied from an 6-2 deficit to top Eric Straup, 10-8, at 120. Even after giving up two sets of near-fall points in the third, Straup appeared to have righted the ship with a reversal to seize an 8-6 lead late. But Wertz used a late reversal and back points to pull out the win.

“We started things off on the right note,” said Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca. “We knew they had tough kids up top, and we figured they’d be battles up there, and they were.

“But I was very pleased with the way our kids wrestled. They were aggressive, showed good mat sense, and they were able to capitalize on some things.”

Trailing 27-0 after a Eddie Kriczky fall at 126, Methacton finally got on the board when Joe Staley hung on to top Dante Colonna at 132. But the Bears went right back to work at 138 when Reuben Maldonado erased a 2-0 deficit after one period and cruised to a 16-2 victory.

“We’re up, 2-0, after the first period and we lose, 16-2,” Maida said. “That’s got nothing to do with wrestling, that’s just being tough, and we have to be tougher.”

The Warriors’ fortunes did not improve over the final few bouts, and afterwards Maida vowed things were going to change.

“We’re just going to work on being better, and maybe change the way we do some things,” Maida said. “We can’t let something like this happen again.”

At first Baccaro may not have understood the seriousness of diabetes, but he sure understood the injections.

“I was scared to death of needles,” he recalled. “I asked if I had to take (the insulin) every day, and when they told I did, well, I didn’t like that at all.”

Baccaro overcame that fear, much like he’s overcome many of the challenges that await him on the mats.

Just 5-foot-4 and 115 pounds in seventh grade, Baccaro began to grow. He hit a growth spurt following his sophomore year at Methacton.

“That’s when I started hitting the weight room,” he explained. “I felt I had the technique, but I really needed the strength to go with it. So ever since I’ve been lifting in the morning with (Maida), and then again at night with my dad (at a local fitness club).”

The turnaround was noticeable last winter, when Baccaro qualified for districts and finished up 25-11.

But even that wasn’t anywhere near good enough for him.

“I just choked,” he said. “I really expected to get to regionals, and when I saw how many of the kids I beat during the year ended up at regionals ... I was really mad about that. I wanted to get back into it right after regionals because not being there, and seeing all those other kids there, was ridiculous.

“I knew my strength helped me become 10 times better than the year before, but I had to get back to lifting to improve my strength even more. And I wanted to work on my conditioning, too. I was confident with what I had moves-wise, but I needed to work on everything.”

No one could question his offseason work ethic ... and few have been able to question his wrestling thus far.

Baccaro was second in last week’s season-opening Nazareth Invitational. Saturday, no one managed to take him into the third period. He’s 7-1, and determined to improve that mark significantly and wrestle well into the postseason ... or into February and March.

“Mike has put in a ton of time,” Maida said. “He wanted to start back with everything right after (regionals) last year, especially in the weight room. He didn’t want to wait around. We put in a ton of stuff for him and the kids to do, and he wanted it all.

“But the big thing now with Mike is his leadership. He understands why we ask high school kids to do what we want them to do. He agrees with our methods, and he’s extremely vocal. He does a great job connecting with the kids.”

And it really showed Saturday, when Baccaro helped the Warriors defeat Annville-Cleona, Berwick, Daniel Boone and Donegal before dropping their finale to host Exeter by a 34-33 — the exact same score as a year ago when the Warriors won by the one-point margin.

“That last (loss) is on all of us, especially me,” Maida said. “I could’ve done some different things with our lineup.

“But our kids still have to work on closing matches, work on staying off their backs. We could’ve been 5-0, but maybe (the loss) will help. You always need some adversity to work through.”

Just ask Baccaro.
*
Methacton also got a 5-0 day from Joe Staley (four pins and a major) at 132 pounds and from Tracey Green (285). Teammates Eric Straup (120), Colin Peters (126) and Devin Bradley (170) were all 4-1, while Tahar Ferradji (220) was 3-1. ... Daniel Boone (3-9), capping a busy week that earlier included a split with Berks Conference rivals Muhlenberg and Exeter, went 1-4 on the day — falling to Annville-Cleona, Methacton, Red Lion and Warwick, while defeating Donegal. Head coach Matt Shutt got a perfect day from Jordan LaHaise (152), while Nick Limone (160) and Shayne Buckwalter (182) were both 4-1. Owen Powell (106). Tyler Richard (138), Christian Fernandez (145) and Dalton Kerr (195) each contributed three wins for the Blazers.