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Eisenhower emerges as threat for Muncy wrestling

By MITCH RUPERT mrupert@sungazette.com There was a moment in late January when Muncy coach Denny Harer spoke of Gaveyn Eisenhower almost as a warning. You know, one of those warnings where a person looks at you through the top of their eyes to make sure you get the point. Harer’s sophomore backup middleweight had just earned a major decision against Hughesville as the Indians cruised to a victory and the 11th-year head coach calmly spoke of the impact Eisenhower could have in Muncy’s lineup. At that point in the season, Harer was using Eisenhower only when necessary, as a way to shuffle the lineup and get better matchups for the likes of Coleman Good, Dan Hall and Noah Gush. But almost as if he had a crystal ball in front of him, Harer said just wait. There was a lot of potential in Eisenhower if he could just get his weight down to 140 pounds to be eligible for the 138-pound weight class. Last Saturday at Hughesville High School, Eisenhower made his coach look prophetic. He went 3-1 at 138 pounds to finish third at the District 4 Central Sectional to earn his first bid to the District 4 tournament, which begins Friday at Williamsport High School. Not bad for someone who wrestled only 14 matches during the season. “Not a lot of people know about him because he’s behind a couple hammers,” Harer said on Jan. 21. “Once he gets in the lineup, it’s going to be nice to have him there.” Eisenhower defeated returning district qualifier Evan Williams in the 138-pound third-place match to finish off a day in which he firmly entrenched himself as a name to watch at districts. Sure, those filling the bleachers of the Magic Dome may not know much about him, but his past opponents sure do. He enters the tournament with a 13-5 record, but half of those wins went for bonus points. He wasn’t just a warm body Harer threw to the wolves during the dual-meet season to get the most points out of other wrestlers. Harer put him on the mat to win. And his confidence in Eisen­hower exuded after that January major decision win against Hughesville. At the time, Eisenhower was following his descent plan to get to 140 pounds and the hope was he would be there in time for the District 4 Duals tournament, giving the Indians another wrestler it could count on in what was going to be a tight tournament. Unfortunately, his descent plan allowed him to weigh in at only 140.1 pounds when district duals rolled around. He was in the lineup only once during the tournament and that was in the preliminary round against Hughesville when he took a forfeit at 145 pounds. For Eisenhower, waiting patiently for an opportunity to get a starting spot was tough. But he knew his patience would eventually pay off. “It was kind of rough. It was very rough,” Eisenhower said after receiving his third-place medal Saturday. “But you have to work hard and wait for your moment. And when that moment comes, you have to take it.” Consider the moment taken. Eisenhower opened sectionals with a 9-2 win over Loyalsock’s Jacob Waltz, who ended up a win short of districts. After falling to Benton three-time state placewinner Mike Stuart, Eisenhower picked up a fall to secure his spot at districts. But he wasn’t done, he beat Williams, 6-4, to finish third. It was a long day, one in which he had to work all week to make sure happened. The cut to get to 140 pounds wasn’t easy for Eisenhower. He ate a steady diet of ice cubes during the week to try and maintain his weight and had to run off nine-tenths of a pound before weigh-ins to make sure he was ready when he got on the scale. “It’s hard to maintain the weight. To know you have to cut weight, then you go to school and have to watch everyone eat around you, that’s the hardest part,” Eisenhower said. “I was eating ice cubes all week. Ice cubes were my best friend for the week.” But by the end of the day he was feeling great. He put some food in his stomach and he finished his fourth match of the day, a tough six minutes against Williams, strong to win the consolation final. Now, he said, this week will be about maintaining a good weight so he doesn’t have to cut a bunch of weight come Friday. “After all this hard work, I’m not going to let it go to waste,” Eisenhower said. “My first match I was out of energy pretty much the whole time. But after that first match I was energized the rest of the day.” Eisenhower goes into the district tournament with his confidence at an all-time high. He’s ecstatic with the performance he was able to put on just one year after competing for the junior high team. “This is an amazing feeling,” he said. “I always felt I could do this if I could just find a spot.”

There was a moment in late January when Muncy coach Denny Harer spoke of Gaveyn Eisenhower almost as a warning. You know, one of those warnings where a person looks at you through the top of their eyes to make sure you get the point.

Harer’s sophomore backup middleweight had just earned a major decision against Hughesville as the Indians cruised to a victory and the 11th-year head coach calmly spoke of the impact Eisenhower could have in Muncy’s lineup. At that point in the season, Harer was using Eisenhower only when necessary, as a way to shuffle the lineup and get better matchups for the likes of Coleman Good, Dan Hall and Noah Gush.

But almost as if he had a crystal ball in front of him, Harer said just wait. There was a lot of potential in Eisenhower if he could just get his weight down to 140 pounds to be eligible for the 138-pound weight class.

Last Saturday at Hughesville High School, Eisenhower made his coach look prophetic. He went 3-1 at 138 pounds to finish third at the District 4 Central Sectional to earn his first bid to the District 4 tournament, which begins Friday at Williamsport High School.

Not bad for someone who wrestled only 14 matches during the season.

“Not a lot of people know about him because he’s behind a couple hammers,” Harer said on Jan. 21. “Once he gets in the lineup, it’s going to be nice to have him there.”

Eisenhower defeated returning district qualifier Evan Williams in the 138-pound third-place match to finish off a day in which he firmly entrenched himself as a name to watch at districts. Sure, those filling the bleachers of the Magic Dome may not know much about him, but his past opponents sure do.

He enters the tournament with a 13-5 record, but half of those wins went for bonus points. He wasn’t just a warm body Harer threw to the wolves during the dual-meet season to get the most points out of other wrestlers. Harer put him on the mat to win.

And his confidence in Eisen­hower exuded after that January major decision win against Hughesville. At the time, Eisenhower was following his descent plan to get to 140 pounds and the hope was he would be there in time for the District 4 Duals tournament, giving the Indians another wrestler it could count on in what was going to be a tight tournament.

Unfortunately, his descent plan allowed him to weigh in at only 140.1 pounds when district duals rolled around. He was in the lineup only once during the tournament and that was in the preliminary round against Hughesville when he took a forfeit at 145 pounds.

For Eisenhower, waiting patiently for an opportunity to get a starting spot was tough. But he knew his patience would eventually pay off.

“It was kind of rough. It was very rough,” Eisenhower said after receiving his third-place medal Saturday. “But you have to work hard and wait for your moment. And when that moment comes, you have to take it.”

Consider the moment taken. Eisenhower opened sectionals with a 9-2 win over Loyalsock’s Jacob Waltz, who ended up a win short of districts. After falling to Benton three-time state placewinner Mike Stuart, Eisenhower picked up a fall to secure his spot at districts. But he wasn’t done, he beat Williams, 6-4, to finish third.

It was a long day, one in which he had to work all week to make sure happened. The cut to get to 140 pounds wasn’t easy for Eisenhower. He ate a steady diet of ice cubes during the week to try and maintain his weight and had to run off nine-tenths of a pound before weigh-ins to make sure he was ready when he got on the scale.

“It’s hard to maintain the weight. To know you have to cut weight, then you go to school and have to watch everyone eat around you, that’s the hardest part,” Eisenhower said. “I was eating ice cubes all week. Ice cubes were my best friend for the week.”

But by the end of the day he was feeling great. He put some food in his stomach and he finished his fourth match of the day, a tough six minutes against Williams, strong to win the consolation final.

Now, he said, this week will be about maintaining a good weight so he doesn’t have to cut a bunch of weight come Friday.

“After all this hard work, I’m not going to let it go to waste,” Eisenhower said. “My first match I was out of energy pretty much the whole time. But after that first match I was energized the rest of the day.”

Eisenhower goes into the district tournament with his confidence at an all-time high. He’s ecstatic with the performance he was able to put on just one year after competing for the junior high team.

“This is an amazing feeling,” he said. “I always felt I could do this if I could just find a spot.”

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