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PCT wrestlers feature grit, toughness

With a roster that returns three top-eight regional finishers from last season’s squad and a NCAA Division III national qualifier from two seasons ago, first-year coach Pennsylvania College of Technology wrestling head coach Dalton Rohrbaugh has plenty of reason for optimism.

“Overall, I am extremely excited for this team to compete. I think we will turn heads and show we can compete with the best of the best,” Rohrbaugh said. “We have some great wrestlers, no doubt, but we will also win matches we ‘aren’t supposed to’ on paper because of the grit, toughness and conditioning we will bring to competition.

“These guys are doing things the right way on and off the mat and not complaining about a single thing, picking each other up when it gets tough and being the true definition of a team. Staying healthy will be a key point, but if we can do that, then the sky is the limit.”

The Wildcats open their season on Friday and Saturday at the Ithaca College Bombers Invitational, where they finished sixth in a 12-team field last season.

Experienced returnees include sophomore Kaden Ware of Brooklyn, Connecticut, who placed sixth at 133 pounds at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships in March; senior Noah Hunt of Muncy, who was eighth at 141; and sophomore Travis Green of Manchester, Maryland, who was eighth at 165. For the season, Ware was 33-12, Hunt, who has placed at regionals three years running, was 31-12, and Green was 36-17.

While Ware again is listed at 133, Hunt is listed at either 141 or 149, and Green at 174, to start the season.

Rejoining them is 184-pounder Isaac Cory of Montoursville, who was 18-4 as a freshman and finished among the top 16 nationally, along with being named to the d3wrestling.com all-freshman team. He was ranked fourth nationally and first in the Mideast Region by the National Wrestling Coaches Association early last season before a season-ending injury.

“Isaac has worked very hard over the last year to overcome a handful of setbacks. He has worked steadily with our phenomenal athletic training staff and has not missed a single minute of practice or any other workouts this year. He is another who is eager to get back and prove what he couldn’t last year, that he is one of the best in the country,” Rohrbaugh said.

While those four may be headliners, the team’s roster of 40 includes sophomores Luke Heimbach of Boyertown at 125, TJ Martin of Honesdale at 149 and Nicholai Brotzman of Marietta at 285. Heimbach was 20-20 last season, Martin was 35-18 and Brotzman was 29-18 with 21 falls in 32 minutes, 59 seconds, putting him among the top five in D-III for most falls in the least amount of time.

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