And that tougher schedule is paying dividends not from just a team standpoint, but individually as well. The Mounties are 10-1 following Tuesday’s dual against Hughesville in which the Mounties secured a 38-24 win. The Mounties are also 4-1 in the Mid-Penn this year, the lone loss coming to Benton, which was just by six points.

But back to that schedule being tougher.

“We added some bigger tournaments this year to prepare because we know when we get to sectionals, districts, just wrestling in District 4, no matter where you go you’re ready to go you’re wrestling someone state ranked, state placewinner, state champion,” Gerber said. “So to try to prepare that and be in those environments throughout the season is starting to pay off for us right now.”

The Mounties competed this year in the Darren Klingerman Invitational at Bloomsburg, hosted their own South Williamsport Mountaineer Invitational in which they took first and competed at the Mid-Penn Duals in which they went 2-1 and lost to state-ranked Montgomery, 54-10.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville's Jakob Charles wrestles South's Cole Gerber at 189 during a high school boys wrestling match at Hughesville on Tuesday.

South Williamsport also wrestled at the Southern Tier Memorial Tournament in New York earlier this month and finished in fifth place and just got done last weekend competing at the North Star Duals and swept the competition vs. Greater Johnstown, Forest Hills and host North Star, holding all three opponents to 18 or fewer points scored.

It’s building confidence in the wrestlers and helping them get better overall. Among them is junior Jonah Caputo. After a seven-win campaign last year, Caputo is 15-12 this year and has nearly as many wins this year as his first two seasons combined (17). Each bout, each win, is giving Caputo confidence as the postseason looms.

“As the season’s gone on (he got confidence). We upped the level fo the schedule, so he’s gotten into more of those you get into the third period, its a 4-3 match, you’re down a point, you got to figure out a way to get to a takedown or a score,” Gerber said. “He’s starting to figure out those things out. As we get closer to the postseason, it’s exciting to see him build upon that and work on that.”

Caputo took fourth at the Central Sectional as a freshman, but didn’t place at districts, and last year he was a fifth-place sectional finisher and just missed out advancing to districts. On Tuesday, Caputo had a hard-fought 3-0 decision win against Hughesville’s Ethan Wodrig and prevented Wodrig from securing points late in the third period to shift the bout.

“He keeps growing and improving and wants to learn more every single day,” Gerber said. “He’s a hard working kid who’s going to put 100% out there every single time so it was great to see him pull out that win for us.”

DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Montoursville's Gage Wentzel is second all-time in Montoursville history, moving past former Warrior standout Garrett Hoffman (167). Wentzel is now nine wins shy of tying Gavin Hoffman for the program’s all-time wins mark of 176.

And that schedule the Mounties wrestled this year has all the roster prepared and ready for the postseason. And up next is the District 4 Duals, which Gerber and his wrestlers know will be tough. Not to mention featuring state-ranked teams like Montgomery, Montoursville and Mifflinburg.

“We’re just excited to see who we get, go out and wrestle and go 100%,” Gerber said.

And that’s how South has been wrestling all year, and having success while doing so.

TAKING OVER

Over this past offseason, Hughesville boys wrestling coach Troy Charles stepped down. And once that opening appeared, Jesse Rocco knew he wanted to take it over. There’s history at Hughesville in terms of wrestling success and talent, and Rocco wanted to be the one to take over for Charles and continue building off Charles’ successes.

PHOTO PROVIDED Montgomery’s Carden Wagner earned his 100th win with a tech fall on Friday at the Coal Cracker Invitational. Pictured with Wagner are his dad Micah and one of his coaches Jason Guffey.

“I was in the junior high, a volunteer assistant then head coach for a year or two, when I heard Troy was leaving it was something I wanted to step up into. I knew the guys, I knew the program. It’s not very often you get to move to a new area and take over a program like Hughesville,” Rocco said. “The history is amazing here, we’re going to try to get back to that. Troy did a great job of making those steps for the team and I’m hoping I can kind of continue where he left off and keep bringing the team new heights.”

Rocco is doing well in his first season at the helm. After Tuesday’s loss to South Williamsport, the Spartans are 8-7 and had a handful of close losses that could have gone the other way, such as losing by just two points to Northeast Bradford, one to Bloomsburg, 14 to South, 13 to Southern and 15 to Warrior Run.

Rocco is glad to see his wrestlers battle and not give up easy wins. Against South, the Spartans fought in each match and had all but three contested bouts go six minutes.

“That’s something we’ve been stressing: that 1% better where you fight off your back and don’t just give up,” Rocco said. We got a young team and got to learn those lessons now. it’s a shame on senior night we couldn’t come up with a win, but there’s more matches this year.”

HONORING THE PAST

PHOTO PROVIDED Montgomery’s AJ Kroft picked up his 100th win thanks to a pinfall victory at the Coal Cracker Invitational on Friday. Pictured with Kroft are his parents, Christopher and Becky, and coaches Denny Harer and Garrett Shnyder.

Tuesday wasn’t just senior night for Hughesville’s boys wrestling team, it was also a night in which the Spartans honored two former teams. Hughesville celebrated the 50th anniversary of its 1976 team and also the 30th anniversary of its 1996 team.

Plenty of members of both teams were in attendance and received a worthy ovation from the Hughesville home crowd.

The 1996 team went a perfect 19-0 and cruised past opponents with only four matches being decided by fewer than 20 points. The team’s motto was “Winning is our business, and business is good.”

That 1996 squad won the CSC league title and claimed a District 4 title. The 1996 team featured state placewinners Josh Biber (130, third), Royce Eyer (119, fifth) and Jason Houseknecht (145, fifth). Eyer would also claim a state medal the following year at 135 by taking sixth.

The 1976 squad won the West Branch title and featured state placewinners Eric Booth (second, 185, 1976), Don Reese (first, 98, 1976) and 1978 bronze medalist Richard Umstead (138, third, 1978).

A SOLID LINEUP

The Warriors have a long storied history of talented wrestlers and this year’s roster now features three 100-win athletes in Harvey, Teli Bobotas (156) and West Virginia commit Gage Wentzel (168). It speaks a lot to the talent that Montoursville has.

“Teli has been one of the most entertaining and enjoyable athletes we have coached. Reaching 150 career wins is a remarkable achievement, and knowing he will continue to build on that total makes it even more rewarding to witness,” Montoursville coach Matt Yonkin said.

Bobotas has 28 wins this year and is a three-time state qualifier, although he’s still searching for that elusive first state medal.

Having three 100-win wrestlers on the same team? That’s something Yonkin more than is happy about too from a leadership perspective.

“Having leaders like these three on the team is invaluable. They consistently demonstrate and reinforce the standard within our program,” Yonkin said. “Their leadership and legacy will continue to influence and inspire the next generation of athletes who follow in their footsteps.”

ONE OF

MONTOURSVILLE’S BEST

On Thursday, Wentzel beat Warrior Run’s Max Wirnsberger by decision, 8-5. Two days prior, he earned a 17-1, 4:28 tech fall win against Montgomery’s Raiden Felix. That came three days after a 4-1 decision over Altoona’s Gavin Ciampoli, a 4:30 pin vs. General McLane’s Peter Sadchikov, a 29-second pin against Williamsport’s Makai Williams, a 19-4, 5:14 tech vs. State College’s Teag Sanderson and a pin over Cranberry’s Alex McLaughlin.

Wrap all that together, and it puts Wentzel at 168 wins.

That win Thursday put him at second all-time in Montoursville history, moving past former Warrior standout Garrett Hoffman (167). Wentzel is now nine wins shy of tying Gavin Hoffman for the program’s all-time wins mark of 176.

“Gage has had an outstanding career. After finishing as a state runner-up last year, he used that experience as motivation to elevate every aspect of his performance,” Yonkin said. “His drive extends beyond becoming the school’s all-time wins leader to improving upon last year’s state finish. That focus and work ethic will pay off as he continues his wrestling career at West Virginia University.”

100-WIN CLUB

Montoursville standout Hayden Harvey became a 100-win wrestler as he claimed his 100th career victory this past weekend at the Bison Duals in Clearfield. Harvey, a junior, is 27-2 this year and sits with 103 career victories and counting after Thursday’s dual vs. Warrior Run.

“This is a significant accomplishment that Hayden will one day fully appreciate,” Yonkin said. “At the same time, it represents just one step toward much larger goals. As a junior, he has tremendous potential ahead of him and will continue to build upon this number.”

Harvey has won at least 35 matches each year as he went 35-15 as a freshman and 40-11 as a sophomore. He’s well on his way to put up another 40-win season this year as he’s coming off a state tournament berth last year after taking third at regionals.

An additional three more area wrestlers recently become 100-win standouts at their respective schools. That included a pair from Montgomery in Carden Wagner and AJ Kroft.

At the Coal Cracker Invitational on Friday, Wagner picked up an 18-3, 1:18 tech fall against Kennett’s Ramirez Hermenegil for his 100th victory. Later in the day, Kroft pinned Jim Thorpe’s Joshua Mantilla at the Coal Cracker Invitational for win No. 100. The two became the 24th and 25th wrestlers in Montgomery history to become 100-win standouts.

Earlier this week, Williamson’s Hunter Simonds earned his 100th victory. He became the 10th wrestler in Williamson history to reach 100.

Jon Gerardi is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette. He can be reached by email at jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.