The rundown
The wrestling squad has been putting some quiet work in, with some wrestlers finding themselves in the mix for states/regionals championships. States at Hershey on March 5-7 are approaching fast, with an Upper Merion wrestler participating. The girls, who are just waiting on states, have put on a pretty solid outing to close out this season’s campaign.
Boys season recap & postseason hopes
For the boys, this season contained its ups and downs. They finished 7th amongst the PAC led by (SR) Jowell Jones’ 29-8, (SO) Logan Naumovitz’s 28-15, and (JR) Justin Aquilani’s 22-10. Of those 3, Naumovitz and Jones competed in regionals this past weekend. The team placed 14th in districts which is not where they wanted to be at this point in the season. Naumovitz is set to faced a Junior from Boyertown in his first match, who finished 2nd in the section AAA tournament. It was Naumovitz’s first regional match, where there was a lot of promise and potential shown this season.
Jones entered the season looking for his 100th career win with an extended post-season run. Now, he sits at 120+ wins, participating in his first states competition. There is no reason he can’t make some noise in the 172 weight class, and make a run at states in Hershey.
Girls season review
The girls’ season is a week ahead of the boys, with regionals just finishing this past Sunday. Unfortunately for the Vikings, no girls will be advancing to Hershey for states. That does not mean that the girls had a bad season, or even a down season at that. The girls opened their season at the Pottstown invitational, where they placed second of twenty teams, and never looked back. From then, the girls went 8-2 in all matches, and 4-1 in league play. That one loss was to Upper Perk in late January, who went on to barely win the PAC, leaving the girls in a close second.
Regionals was a close battle that ultimately didn’t go the Vikings way. 4 Upper Merion wrestlers made it to the championship quarterfinal. There were no light matchups to advance to states with the top wrestlers all aiming for limited spots. In the quarterfinals is where the girls’ run came to an end, with all 4 losing close matches to talented wrestlers.
A season to be proud of
Ultimately, both boys and girls Vikings wrestling teams had strong seasons with plenty to be happy about. Whether it’s the girls 2nd place in the PAC, or Jones’ chance at a run in states. Jowell looks to bring even more glory to what has been nothing short of an impressive season for the Vikings.
