Iron Horse Wrestling Academy @ The P.I.A.A. Tournament  

Day 1 Thoughts (3/06/08)
By Jeff Breese

Last summer parents and club members often heard how important it is to wrestle in the summer. You heard how you could improve from Coach Stout. You heard pleas to compete in the summer from yours truly. You heard about the fun and useful skills you could develop from Coach Perri.

For a change why not hear about summer wrestling from two of our club members? Nick Bonaccorsi and Matt Wilps were two of our most devoted club members over the summer. Today they will compete in the P.I.A.A. tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey, the crown jewel of Pennsylvania high school wrestling. Following their Wednesday night workout, I was able to get Bonaccorsi and Wilps to speak about how summer wrestling effected their high school season.

“It definitely helped my technique and my hip awareness out tremendously,” Wilps said. “I think it helped a lot in opening my eyes to the rest of wrestling.”

Along the road to the state tournament, Wilps, the 189-pound Chartiers Valley senior, compiled a 36-4 record. He placed fourth at the PowerAde tournament, won a section title, and was a W.P.I.A.L. runner-up. Wilps also captured All-American status at last summer’s Junior Freestyle National Championships. He will open the tournament against defending state champion and Northeast Region runner-up Nate Eachus (33-6) of Hazelton.

Bonaccorsi, the 152- pound freshman from Bethel Park echoed the importance of summer workouts. “You can make such a big gain on people over the summer because when they are not working you are.”

Bonaccorsi added, “I felt like I had an advantage because I’ve been wrestling all summer. Especially, early in the season when people were just getting started, I was already ready to go.”

The journey to Hershey for Bonaccorsi included a 33-6 record, a section title, and third place finish at the W.P.I.A.L. tournament. His first round opponent is Northeast Regional champion, Chris Servian (32-7) of Pleasant Valley.

Since, Bonaccorsi and Wilps have achieved one of the goals that many young wrestlers strive for; they have earned the right to give some advice to the younger members of the club and both jumped at that chance.

“Keep wrestling over the summer, workout. Strength is everything. These kids are strong. If technique is the same, strength wins. So, keep working out,” Bonaccorsi said.

Wilps added, “Go to Fargo (the Cadet and Junior Freestyle and Greco National Championships), do the Freestyle and Greco training. It definitely helps out. Just working out over the summer and not getting rusty.”

Bonaccorsi and Wilps are examples of the success that can come from summer training. Continued coverage of their results at the P.I.A.A. tournament will be posted on the Iron Horse Academy web site. For more immediate coverage of the tournament, go to www.wjpa.com for a live radio broadcast.