J-M’s Rhodes expects to field full lineup
Scott Rhodes enters his fourth year on the job at Jefferson-Morgan anticipating a full lineup and the opportunity to compete for the Class AA, Section 2A title. “Fielding a full lineup in AA is half the battle,” Rhodes said. “A realistic goal for us would be to win a section title. We also want to qualify for the team playoffs for the fourth straight year.”
The Rockets compete in section matches with Avella, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Washington and West Greene.
Rhodes’ assistants are Mike Lesko and Jeff Hathaway. The Rockets are in a co-op with Carmichaels, and have seven wrestlers from Carmichaels. Rhodes has about 20 wrestlers in the room on a consistent basis.
Two wrestlers from Carmichaels that will be in the starting lineup are seniors T.J. Harkins and Quincy Hathaway. Harkins will wrestle in the 152-pound weight class and Hathaway will compete at 160.
“All our guys from 152-215 are returning starters,” Rhodes said. “Our heavyweight, Brian Rush, was behind Zach Doman last year, but will make it into the starting lineup.”
Doman was a four-year starter for Jefferson-Morgan.
Sophomore Dustin Conti will take the mat at 171. Junior Joe Phillips is Rhodes’ 189-pounder and senior Tyler Perkins will go at 215.
The Rockets have youth in the lighter weights, as three freshmen will compete at 103, 112 and 119.
“We are pretty young in the lower weights,” Rhodes said. “Most of our upperclassmen are in the heavier weights. Most of our guys have been in the program.”
John Demaske will take the mat at 103, while Jason Miller and Ryan Zalor will go at 112 and 119.
Rhodes has been pleased with the effort in practice, and has the luxury of not having to do too much teaching since most of his wrestlers have experience.
“The guys have been coming back to practice, and that’s good because we have been working them pretty hard,” Rhodes said. “It can be tough when the season starts because it is on a Friday and the holidays are coming up.
“We don’t have to instruct too much. We do a lot of live wrestling and work on conditioning. They have the gist of what to do. We just want to perfect the basic techniques.”
Jefferson-Morgan has plenty of wrestlers that are close in weight and they have been really goin at it in the room.
“We have guys that really push each other in the room,” Rhodes said. “It really helps to have guys like that.”
In terms of individual success, Rhodes would like to take six wrestlers to the regional tournament.
The Rockets open their season on Dec. 10-11 with a tournament at Gateway High School. They host Washington in the first dual meet on Dec. 14 and have a dual-meet tournament at Franklin Regional on Dec. 18.