Elk Lake wresting continues rebuilding process

BY JOHN LUND
Times-Shamrock Writer

Before the start of last year’s season, the wrestling room at Elk Lake High School was a little too empty and quiet for first year head coach Mike Noldy’s liking.

The team as a whole was young and inexperienced, resulting in an 0-5 record in Division 2 of the Lackawanna League.

However, this year is a different story.

The Warriors have almost doubled in size this season, and while they remain young, the team shows a new attitude and work ethic that will help toward building the program back up.

New assistant coach Rob Gagliardi, who recently coached for three seasons at Abington Heights, was also hired as the physical education teacher at Elk Lake, a move he said has allowed him to get more kids interested in wrestling.

“I get to have grades seven through 12 in class on a weekly basis, so I think that has definitely helped in getting the numbers up,” he said. “I think that a lot of kids who used to wrestle and then quit because the numbers are low and didn’t want to be a part of that are starting to make their way back to the program. The kids are excited and the numbers are growing and I think me being in the building has helped that.”

The Warriors are slated to have 12 of the 14 weight classes filled, a number that Gagliardi hopes will be filled in the future.

Some of the wrestlers who are returning this season are senior Blaise Cleveland, who qualified for regionals last season with a third place finish at districts, and sophomore Francisco Lopez, who finished sixth at the district meet.

Gagliardi also expects to see a leadership role emerge from sophomore Jake Hand, who, along with Cleveland, are two wrestlers he hopes can qualify for states by the end of the season.

“My first day here he was already asking me when we were going to be starting wrestling,” Gagliardi laughed. “He’s been a leader and working hard in the room. Blaise has also been pushing the guys hard.”

Gagliardi said that the team has started its first weeks of practices by getting back to the basics and making sure that the team was all on the same page.

“We’re starting off very, very basic,” he said. “When you look at wrestling, it has a lot of fancy moves and crazy styles, but everything is built off the basic moves.”

“It’s been a little bit of a learning curve for me and getting the terminology down with what these guys are used to, but I’ve been able to bring a different view of some of the moves and ways to execute them.”

And while the team continues to work toward where it needs to be, the goal for Noldy and Gagliardi’s team continues to be in finding success – both as a team and as individuals – for this season and in the years to come.

“We want to build the program to like it used to be within the next few years and get the team to the team dual tournament and a chance at states,” Gagliardi said. “That would be a great experience for the team. I want the younger kids to be able to push themselves and learn to work hard, be motivated and be dedicated. They’ll be able to take that with them throughout the school day and try to get the younger athletes to come out to the sport and start building the program.”

Cleveland, Hand and Lopez will be joined by senior Adam Curry; junior Connor Kojola, sophomore Brandon Traver and Blake Chew; and freshmen Chris Kinder, Juan Loboda, Clifton Steele, Tyler Tucker, and Jake Werle.

Schedule:
Dec. 6, Ram Duels at Wyalusing, A, 9 a.m.
Dec. 17, Scranton Prep/Valley View, A, 6 p.m.
Dec. 29, Kiwanis Tournament at Tunkhannock, A, TBA.
Dec. 30, Kiwanis Tournament at Tunkhannock, A, TBA.
Jan. 7, Mountain View, A, 6 p.m.
Jan. 10, Zurn-Bush Tournament, H, 8 a.m.
Jan. 14, Montrose/Western Wayne, A, 6 p.m.
Jan. 21, Lackawanna Trail/Blue Ridge, H, 6 p.m.
Jan. 31, NEB Dual Tournament at Northeast Bradford, A, TBA.
Feb. 20, Individual Districts at Kingston Armory, TBA.
Feb. 21, Individual Districts at Kingston Armory,