HS WRESTLING: Tide freshman has breakthrough

Feb. 26—Parrish McFarland kept telling his coaches he wanted to ride out Nazareth senior Andreo Ferraina.

Leading 2-0 in the third period of a 126-pound semifinal at last Sunday's District 11 Class 3A Wrestling Championships, the Pottsville freshman stood two minutes away from the finals and a guaranteed trip to regionals.

So he went to work on top and kept Ferraina from escaping or reversing for the entire two minutes. McFarland earned a decision over a 2020 state qualifier to become Pottsville's first freshman district finalist and extend his season at least one more week.

"It was pretty exciting," McFarland said after practice Wednesday. "I didn't think I'd be in the finals as a freshman. All the hard work in the practice room with good practice partners and extra training paid off."

McFarland lost by technical fall to nationally ranked Tyler Kasak of Bethlehem Catholic in the finals.

This was a decidedly young District 11 3A tournament. Just nine seniors made the finals, with five juniors, 10 sophomores and two freshmen placing in the top two. McFarland and Nazareth's Sean Kinney, the 285-pound champion, were the only freshmen in the finals.

"His confidence level was high," Pottsville coach Gary Keener said of McFarland's mindset at districts. "He didn't care who he was wrestling, where he was in the bracket. He controlled a lot of the (semifinal) bout.

"We talk about leading the dance, and he's been leading the dance since Day 1 this year."

Saturday, McFarland will be at the Charles Chrin Community Center near Easton to compete in the Class 3A Northeast Regional. He's the only local wrestler to qualify for the 3A field. McFarland (20-2) will open against District 12 champion Sean Herron (7-5) of LaSalle College High School. They met Jan. 23 in a dual meet, and McFarland pinned Herron in 1:50.

"I'm always nervous before my first match, but I clear my head and just wrestle," McFarland said. "I feel pretty confident. I'll go out, have fun and wrestle like I know how and do my job."

McFarland also plays football for the Crimson Tide. This past season he had eight carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns. He was also credited with four tackles. McFarland has a dream to make it to the NFL and/or continue on in college wrestling.

In his eighth season in the Pottsville program, McFarland has competed in many of the state and national youth tournaments available. He's done well but had a major breakthrough last week at districts.

"Parrish has been here since the beginning," Keener said. "He's a great kid. ... He's polite, saying 'Thanks, Coach, for today.' He has a smile on his face. He's a great student and a pleasure to coach."

Reset button

Nine regional qualifiers reached their respective district finals but had to settle for silver medals. Pottsville's McFarland, Tri-Valley sophomore Jake Scheib (189), Tamaqua freshman Gabe Erbe (106) and senior teammate Nate Wickersham (215), North Schuylkill senior Danny Grigas (120), Lehighton junior Lukas Ferguson (126), Hamburg senior Parker Davidson (120), Jim Thorpe senior Derek Hunter (285) and Halifax junior Bryce Enders (189) — as well as all other regional qualifiers — get to wipe the slate clean this weekend. Everybody will start the tournament on equal footing at 0-0.

After a week of addressing mistakes and cleaning up technique, some wrestlers kick into a higher gear at regionals. Sometimes, they even surpass what they had done in prior postseason tournaments.

Take Enders, for example. Last season, he went 6-4 combined at sectionals and districts, taking fourth at sectionals and fifth at districts. A week later, Enders lifted his level, going 5-1 to place third and qualify for the state tournament.

This week, the top five placewinners in the Southeast AA and top four in Northeast 3A will extend their seasons.

Hawk pride

Hamburg's senior class has done a whole lot of winning as a team and individuals. The Hawks, though, had a rough dual-meet season this winter, going 7-5 and not qualifying for the reduced District 3 Class AA Team Tournament.

When they got to individual districts, their hammers pounded the competition. The result was three gold medals, a silver and a bronze — and Hamburg's third straight District 3 Class AA team title. The Hawks overtook Boiling Springs 110.5-101.5, with senior brothers Dalton Gimbor (152) and Bailey Gimbor (160) beating Bubblers in the finals.

They also won with bonus points. Hamburg went 15-4 as a team with seven pins, three technical falls and five decisions.

Senior Brant Mason won the 172-pound championship and joined Hamburg's 100-win club in the process. The Gimbors and senior Kyle Vernon had reached the century mark last season. Davidson has 97 wins in his bid to become the fifth from this senior class to reach 100.

Hamburg junior 215-pounder Tristan Baer has emerged as a strong contributor, improving his record to 16-3 with a third-place performance at districts.

Hamburg coach Glenn Miller has talked about building a challenging schedule to get his wrestlers ready for the Road to Hershey. The Hawks moved up to Section I of the Berks League this season and suffered close losses to Wilson West Lawn, Exeter Township and Daniel Boone. Outside the league, they fell 36-28 to District 6 power Mifflin County and 35-30 to District 3 top-tier program Cedar Cliff.

Future plans

Congratulations to Tamaqua head coach Jim McCabe on being voted the District 11 Class AA Coach of the Year.

Despite limited numbers, the Blue Raiders have been consistent at the district level, placing fourth three years ago and third each of the past two seasons.

While McCabe and his wrestlers are battling through a pandemic-shortened season at the varsity and junior high levels, the coach has plans for his younger wrestlers, too.

"The biggest problem is that the young kids really didn't get to learn the full experience," McCabe said. "Next year is going to be almost like a freshman year to anybody that was new to the varsity team this year.

"And as soon as the school allows us to have the offseason practices, it's not only the junior high and the high school, we have to recuperate the elementary program because they didn't have a season at all because there were no facilities," he added. "We lose five or six great wrestlers from this senior class, and it doesn't stop there. We have to keep working to get better."

Looking ahead

In most seasons, the next step after regionals is the PIAA Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.

As we all know by now, this isn't most seasons.

To adhere to COVID-19 protocols and keep the fields down to eight wrestlers per weight class, East and West Super Regionals will be wrestled next Saturday, March 6.

The Class 3A East Super Regional will be held at Quakertown High School. The top four placewinners there will join the top four from the West Super Regional to make the final eight for the PIAA Championships on Saturday, March 13, in Hershey.

The Class AA East Super Regional will be held at Pottsville's Martz Hall. The top four placewinners there will join the top four from the West Super Regional to make the final eight for the PIAA Championships on Friday, March 12, in Hershey.

Lipsky is the wrestling beat writer for The Republican Herald. Contact the writer: blipsky@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6012: @boblipskyRH on Twitter