Subject: CVCA Wrestling Pre-Season Story

Something new. That has been the trademark of the CVCA wrestling program for each of the last few seasons. The upcoming 1999-2000 season promises to be no different.

Two years ago the team moved into a newly constructed wrestling building. That season culminated with the programs first state champion, a state runner up and a ninth place finish at the state tournament.

Last year head coach Dave Bergen welcomed new assistant coach Joe Boardwine to the staff. The program again reached new heights with a fifth place finish at the state wrestling tournament on the strength of two state champions and a state qualifier.

The new wrinkle for the upcoming season is the hiring of Boardwine as a full time teacher at CVCA. The immediate results of this move can be measured in numbers as a combined total of close to 60 students attended the initial high school and junior high wrestling meetings.

"One of the goals for this season is to get our numbers on the high school squad up from 15 to about 25 or so," said Boardwine. "By being at the school full time I have been able to invite a lot of guys out for the team. Interest is very strong right now due to our recent successes and it doesn’t hurt having a likable world champion on the team," added Boardwine.

"We will also attempt to increase fan support from the CVCA student body," continued Boardwine. "We are trying to make our schedule more ‘student body friendly’ by scheduling more home events. The first of these will be a home preview with Streetsboro that will be held during the school day. We will also have two one day round robin team events at home in January. We hope to have a great turn out for our January 29 event which will feature a CVCA/Walsh dual meet," continued Boardwine.

"On an individual basis we look for our CVCA wrestlers to excel in mental toughness, 100% focus of effort and spiritual growth. We want our wrestlers to be doers of what the Bible says and not just hearers. I honestly don’t care what our win and loss record is if each of our wrestlers accomplishes each of these three things," concluded Boardwine.

The horizon is ablaze with possibilities for the upcoming season as Bergen and Boardwine welcomed the most talented CVCA team yet to preseason conditioning in October.

Matt Smilek is the probable starter in the 103 class. Last spring Smilek won his weight class at the inaugural Ohio junior high state championships. This past summer he was a Junior Olympic all-American.

Junior Paul Charvat will hold down the 112 class. Last year Charvat posted a 31-17 record, placed 6th at the prestigious Medina Invitational and won a sectional title.

Returning state, national and world champion Harry Lester, a junior, will probably split time between the 119 and 125 pound weight class. Lester will be going for his third state title this year and is on pace to become only the 10th four time state champion in the history of Ohio high school wrestling. This past summer he won three national titles in three different styles (Greco-Roman, freestyle and collegiate) as well as the Freestyle Cadet World Championships in Lodz, Poland.

Unfortunately, Lester sustained a broken ankle while playing defensive back in CVCA’s last football game and will probably not compete until January. In spite of the injury head coach Dave Bergen remains positive. "Harry, like all of us, is in the hands of God. We don’t see his injury as a major set back," offered Bergen.

Junior Brett Smilek will most likely compete at the 130 class. Smilek was 23-14 last year and was a district qualifier. During the off season he won the Middle Atlantic Eastern National Championships.

The 135 and 140 classes will be represented by junior Brad Sanderson and freshman Matt Sammons. Boardwine is high on Sammons who he describes as "a hard nosed young kid who will make a considerable impact on the CVCA program before he is through."

Senior Jarrad Turner, a state qualifier last year, will wrestle at 140 or 145. Turner was 5th at the National High School Open in June.

Sophomore David Jenison should see a lot of action at the 145 and 152 classes. Last year Jenison had to wrestle up two weight classes but was still able to net 6 victories.

Junior Rob Vitarella will be looking to make his mark at the 152 class. Vitarella was a spot starter last year winning 5 bouts along the way.

Junior Ben Garmier will wrestle at 160 or 171. Garmier posted a 10-16 record last year as an undersized 189 pounder.

A key newcomer to the squad is junior Chris Smolk who transferred from Rootstown. Smolk, who will compete at the 171 class, posted a 33-7 record last year and qualified for the state tournament.

Junior Andy Ucker and senior Josh Kinnett will battle it out for the varsity 189 slot with the loser of the weekly wrestle-off filling the 215 class. Last season Ucker was a district qualifier.

At the 275 class sophomore Paul Borbely will most likely get the nod. Borbely is a transfer from St. Vincent - St. Mary where he won a varsity letter as a freshman and placed in a few tournaments. He will be challenged in the practice room by senior Nate Gurnish (6’6" - 287) who will be competing in wrestling for the first time since 8th grade. An additional big man on the roster is Blake Butler (6’4" - 244). His family moved to Ohio when his father got a job as a defensive coach for the Browns.

The Royals again will have one of the toughest schedules in the state. In addition to the home dual tournaments they will make stops at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, Medina Invitational and Top Gun Tournaments which are some of the toughest in the nation.

"If you can place in any of these tournaments you have an excellent shot of at least qualifying for the division 3 state tournament. That’s why we compete in them, to find out where we stand early in the season so that we can correct mistakes in time for the post-season," commented Bergen.

This season should be an exciting one for the Royals. As for next year we will wait to see what innovation the program will make in order to become even more competitive.