Senior Night Pinned Down on the Mat

The Pennridge Rams faced off against the Pennsbury Falcons on February 9, 2021. It was the Pennridge Rams senior night. Despite the loss, the celebration was memorable for five of the six seniors. The energy in the stands was exciting, even with the number of spectators being limited. On their senior night, the three captains were Marquez Brockington, Nate Manuola, and Luke Wahlers. Brady Hudgins, a freshman on the Varsity team, says, “We are really one unit, especially thanks to the seniors setting that expectation. We work hard but enjoy every second while at wrestling thanks to the camaraderie we all have”. This shows how much the group works as a team, even with individual matches. Each wrestler has to wear a mask the entire time while competing and follow the guidelines set in place by the Suburban One League Committee.

The first senior wrestler is Marquez Brockington. He has been wrestling since second grade. He wrestles in the one hundred sixty-pound weight class. Marquez competed against Aiden Velez. Brockington and Velez competed for three periods and by decision, Velez won against Brockington 8-3. Marquez plans to join the United States Air Force after he graduates high school. 

The second senior wrestler is Tyler Drumbore. He has been wrestling for four years. He wrestles in the one hundred eighty-nine-pound weight class. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to compete during his senior night because of his injury. Tyler got injured earlier in the season against North Penn. He went to the doctors who told him that he sprained his LCL. He is going to the doctor in the near future to get an MRI to make sure nothing is torn. Currently, he is stuck wearing a brace. Tyler plans on attending a trade school for carpentry after he graduates high school. 

The third senior wrestler is Nate Manuola and he has been wrestling for eleven years. Nate wrestles in the one hundred twenty-pound weight class. Nate went up against Jared Kelleher. Manuola and Kelleher battled on the mat for three periods and by decision, Manuola won 10-5 against Kelleher. Manuola stated, “It feels great to be out competing. I regret taking two years off for baseball and I wish I stuck with wrestling during my sophomore and junior years”. After high school, Nate plans on attending a community college to start and then eventually transferring to a university.

The fourth senior wrestler is Kevin Nicholson and he has been wrestling for six years. Kevin wrestles in the one hundred seventy-two-pound weight class. Kevin didn’t compete on his senior night. His plan after high school is to work. He would like to thank his coaches for teaching him how to wrestle and teaching him tons of good life lessons. 

The fifth senior wrestler is Ethan Smith and he has been wrestling for four years. Ethan wrestles in the one hundred sixty-pound weight class. Unfortunately, Ethan was not at this match and did not compete. He plans on majoring in either entrepreneurship, engineering, software engineering, business LLC, sales, or angel investor after high school. His words of advice to his teammates are to never stop hustling.

The final senior wrestler is Luke Wahlers and he has been wrestling for eight years. Luke wrestles in the one hundred seventy-two-pound weight class. Luke is a highly experienced wrestler. He wrestled at Faith Christian Academy during his freshman and sophomore years where he went 21-36 before transferring to Pennridge his junior year. As a senior, he went undefeated, 9-0. Overall, his high school wrestling career was 44-43. Luke competed in the final match of the night and wrestled against Alizah McArdle. Wahlers was able to pin McArdle down in just two minutes and thirty-two seconds. 

The Pennridge Rams still have a few matches left this season and hope to finish strong. A huge congratulations and wishing the best of luck to four of the wrestlers on the team as they will be competing in Districts on February 20, 2021. The four wrestlers include Cole Coffin (freshman), Ryan Gallagher (freshman), Sam Kuhns (freshman), and Luke Wahlers (senior).