NTL WRESTLING: CANTON HAS HIGH HOPES FOR THIS SEASON (2022-12-26)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
They may be coming to the party late, but the Canton wrestling team is looking to crash it. Another long football season has force the Warriors to push back the start of their season until after Christmas, but they’re not worried.

Canton’s been down this road before - late start to the season, talented roster, high expectations - and they’ll be able to lean on that experience once they begin the grind that’s called the month of January.

“Last year was my first go around, so I was kind of calling people,” said Canton coach Lyle Wesneski. “I was calling those guys at Southern (Columbia), and said, ‘how do you handle it,’ and they gave me a lot of good advice. So, this year it wasn’t uncharted waters for us.”

While most of the team was on the football field, Wesneski did have six wrestlers on the first day of practice, and that allowed them to help grow on the mat.

“They’re all my little guys, you know,” said Wesneski. “We had three, four coaches in here, we had a lot of one on one. And we just really broke down the technique in all phases of the sport, and gotten as much as we possibly could. We didn’t want to overkill, you know, because there’s only five or six of them. We worked hard, and I think it’ll pay dividends down the road. I really do.”

The heart of the team, though, was on the football field, and they reported in the middle of December.

Wesneski knew they’d have some nagging injuries and sore bodies, while a few couldn’t go right away, so he didn’t want them to jump into the deep end right away, but he also knows that January is coming.

After their opening tournament this week they will have 10 dual meets, two tournaments, and one duals tournament next month.

“January is crazy busy,” Wesneski said. “Once we get going, we don’t have many practice dates in the month of January, which is good and bad. It’s hard to come back and work on things you need to fix when you only have one practice a week, but they’re an older group.”

The Warriors Return state medalist Riley Parker, state qualifier Hayden Ward, and regional qualifier Bailey Ferguson, amongst others. In fact, they bring back eight wrestlers in all that won 20 matches or more.

Parker will be working to improve upon his sixth place finish last year.

“It gives you a little bit of extra confidence going into the season,” said Parker, who was 34-13. “But it also gives me another goal to go even further.”

Parker plans on working extra hard at conditioning this season as he toggles between 172 and 189.

“I’m kind of right in the middle of each weight,” he said. “I kind of like being able to pick where I want to go, and get a feel for where I’m best at.”

Hayden Ward led the team in wins last year behind a 43-9 record, but came up 1-point short of making the medals in two different matches, losing in the quarters and in the blood round by sudden victory.

The senior is hoping to be able to get over that hump this year.

“Everyone down there’s really good competition, and it’s going to be tough down there. You just have to expect to be in a battle every match.”

Hayden will be in the meat grinder once again this year, likely wrestling at 145, or even at 139, though he could bump up during duals.

“Normally though middle weights are pretty tough, but those are the two weights I feel most comfortable at,” Hayden said.

Starting late is tough, especially for Hayden, whose been kept out even longer than his fellow football players, but he feels they’ll be able to get going.

“Last year was a little bit rough, but this year we have a little bit more experience,” he said.

Ferguson went 34-15 a year ago, and took third at districts before coming up short of states at regionals. He wrestled regionals with a torn labrum, and still nearly made states.

“You’ve got to give the kid credit, he went out there with one arm, and tried, and finished sixth,” said Wesneski. “He’s just salivating to finish the deal.”

Ferguson feels things will come together for him this year as long as he works hard.

“You’ve definitely just got to grind,” he said. “You’ve just got to be in the weight room, you’ve got to train hard no matter what. I’ve got a lot of good partners, we’ve just got to get through.”

Ferguson expects to be at 152 pounds again this year, and is confident that he can make the next step and get to states.

“You’ve just got to go and wrestle like you’re wrestling anyone else,” he said. “You’ve just got to go out there and have fun.”

Fellow senior Brenen Taylor was one of several Canton wrestlers who came up just short of regionals a year ago.

Taylor went 26-17 on the year, and he, along with heavyweight Mason Nelson (28-14), junior Hudson Ward (29-14), lightweight Cohen Landis (29-13, and sophomore Holden Ward (24-12) will be looking to improve this year.

After losing in the state semifinals Taylor came down that following Monday in order to put it behind him.

He and Parker will be toggling between 172 and 189 during the season.

“Coach Wes says it every year, if wrestling was an easy sport, everybody would do it,” said Taylor. “There’s no such thing as a true easy weight class. I’ve just got to keep my nose to the grindstone, work hard, and fight my best fight.”

The two of them have been going at in in the mat room since they were five years old, so it’s fitting that they’ll be side by side in the line-up.

“It’s great to have that versatility, of ‘hey, Ri, this kid is stronger, we’ll put you at 189, or Brenen, we need you down here at 172 tonight,” said Taylor. “So that’s where we’re going.”

Hopefully, they’ll be going to Hershey as a team this year after taking third at the District IV Duals a year ago. They return pretty much their entire line-up, and even add in a strong freshman in Carson Rockwell.

“We’ve got a good line-up this year,” said Ferguson. “We’ve just got to do what we do best.”

It won’t be easy, though, as every week Wesneski looks there’s a tough team. Benton and Montgomery finished 1-2 last year, while Warrior Run is an up-and-coming team, along with NTL foe Towanda. And that doesn’t include traditional powers like Montoursville and Southern Columbia.

“It’s going to be a meat grinder, just like it always is,” said Wesneski. “Come February, we’ve got to peaking. We’ve got to be ready.”

Only two teams move on this year instead of three.

“So that makes it an even steeper hill to climb for everybody,” Wesneski noted.

And in the individual tournament the past two years Canton has run into a bit of a road block at districts. Most teams, even good ones, kind of do - District IV is one of the best districts in the state - but Wesneski hopes this year they’ll get more kids through.

“I always say you never lose, you learn,” he said. “And we learned from our mistakes. Some of the younger kids who got to Williamsport, their first time there, they look at the crowd, they get tensed up, they get nervous. You know, they think they’re in great shape, and then when you’re nervous, you get tired. They’re like, ‘I was gassed,’ and it was their nerves.”

Wesneski knows this might be one of the best line-ups in Canton wrestling history, particularly from the Wards in the middle to the upper weights with Taylor, Parker, and Nelson - not to mention the return of Michael Davis, who missed last year with an ACL tear.

He feels they line-up well with the weights they need to be at, and that the sky is the limit.

“I always preach all the time, you’ve just go to live the lifestyle,” said Wesneski. “If you live the lifestyle, the sport will come.”

ROSTER (Grade)

Lyle Vermilya (10)

Joe Luner (10)

Carson Rockwell (9)

Cohen Landis (11)

Cayden Miller (11)

Holden Ward (10)

Hayden Ward (12)

Zack Colton (10)

Ethan Stiner (12)

Dominic Carman (11)

Ryland Sakers (11)

Aydin Holcomb (10)

Hudson Ward (11)

Brayden Wesneski (11)

Bailey Ferguson (12)

Hunter Wesneski (12)

Brenen Taylor (12)

Riley Parker (12)

Michael Davis (11)

Mason Nelson (12)

Gage Pepper (12)

SCHEDULE

Dec. 29 - at MyHOUSE Trojan Wars

Dec. 30 - at MyHOUSE Trojan Wars

Jan. 3 - vs NEB, 7 p.m.

Jan. 4 - vs Wellsboro, 7 p.m.

Jan. 5 - at Williamson, 7 p.m.

Jan. 9 - at Sayre, 7 p.m.

Jan. 10 - vs Athens, 7 p.m.

Jan. 11 - at Wyalusing, 7 p.m.

Jan. 13 - at Mid-Winter Mayhem, 9 a.m.

Jan. 14 - at MId-Winter Mayhem, 9 a.m.

Jan. 17 - at Towanda, 7 pm.

Jan. 21 - at Bison Duals, 8:30 a.m.

Jan. 23 - at Troy, 7 p.m.

Jan. 24 - at Montoursville, 7 p.m.

Jan. 25 - vs NPL, 7 p.m.

Jan. 27 - at Ultimate Warrior

Jan. 28 - at Ultimate Warrior