Scotties have solid foundation
Mike Wildey enters his first year as head coach of Southmoreland’s wrestling team, but the former Scottie has been with the program for many years.
“I wrestled at Southmoreland and I have been with the program in many capacities since then,” Wildey said. “We have some hard working kids that want to be competitive.”
Wildey’s top returner is senior Jordan Kitta, who was eighth at the Class AA PIAA Individual Championships last season at 189. Kitta is tentatively scheduled to wrestle at 195, which was added for this upcoming season as the weights for high school wrestling were significantly changed.
Kitta is not the only Scottie that had success as senior Derek Walters returns to wrestle between 120 and 132. Walters was a WPIAL and Regional qualifier.
Joey Beltz (120-132) and Dalton Barbus (170) are two seniors that Wildey will count on to win big matches.
“These guys made the team playoffs last year,” Wildey said. “They have talent in the lineup. Obviously, you would like to have more kids, but you work with what you have.”
Freshman Austin Griffths will wrestle at the new weight of 106. Griffths comes into high school with past wrestling experience.
“He works hard and will be competitive,” Wildey said. “He wrestles a lot.”
Southmoreland is looking forward to the Chartiers-Houston tournament that begins the season on Dec. 9-10 and also to hosting the annual Christmas tournament.
“We jump right in the fire with the Chartiers-Houston tournament,” Wildey said. “It will teach the guys with less experience what wrestling is about real fast. The Christmas tournament is very big for us. We want to do well in front of our home fans.”
Wildey’s assistants are Justin Poole and Jeff Beal.
“They have both been to Hershey, so they know what it takes to get to states,” Wildey said. “They are great for the program. We have some younger guys that will take some bumps, but we will continue to work hard and be competitive. We want to make the playoffs and keep improving from there.”