Teamwork still most important
Wrestling is a one-on-one sport. But Eric Albright and the Lions learned the importance of camaraderie.
By DAN CONNOLLY
Daily Record/Sunday News
The seven surviving Red Lion Lions stood in a circle during warmups.
They joked, laughed and punched calculators in their heads.
Red Lion held a 5.5-point lead over archrival Dallastown heading into the title round of the District 3 Section IV tournament, the last competition of the high school season featuring full teams.
The seven Lions made the finals; so did six Dallastown Wildcats. Three separate matches would pit Lion vs. Wildcat. How many overall would they have to win to capture the title?
Before the Red Lion kids could contemplate the Pythagorean Theorem of Wrestling Scoring, though, senior Eric Albright simplified the math.
“Let’s go 7-for-7, “said Albright, “All of us win.”
Here was the team’s best wrestler, the kid going to Penn State on a partial wrestling scholarship, making a decree. The other guys nodded.
“That’d be cool, “said a smiling Keith McDonald, Red Lion’s standout 189-pound senior.
Albright pointed to sophomore Jerrid Hartman, the only Red Lion underclassman to make the title round, and said, “That means you.”
Hartman released a nervous grin.
All last week Albright, the team’s 125-pounder, had partnered with the 119-pound Hartman, beating him up with a purpose.
“You are Albright-trained. Ooooh, “cracked senior Josh Hartman to his little brother.
Albright smiled. Then he said the team-appropriate thing ” on the final day of being a team.
“No, I’m Jerrid-trained.”
* * *
Wrestling is all about individual performance, about testing yourself, about pushing yourself to the absolute limit.
Albright does that daily.
With his leftover drive, he pushes his teammates. Especially his little brother, Chris, the team’s freshman 103-pounder.
“Sometimes he shows him a little bit of tough love in the (wrestling) room, and Chris doesn’t like it too much, “laughed Red Lion head coach Biff Walizer. “But it has helped Chris out.”
Walizer remembers earlier this season when Albright was absolutely bashing Chris. The other Lions were running around the wrestling room or jumping rope near the school pool during Walizer’s “20 minutes of motion “toward the end of practice.
But Albright had Chris on the mat, tossing him around with move after move.
Finally the freshman jumped up, seething, frustrated. He stormed toward the door, and his brother yelled after him:
“This is what you need to get better.”
The next day, as “20 minutes of motion “was about to start, Jerrid Hartman asked Chris Albright if he wanted to go upstairs to the pool and run.
“Nah, “Chris Albright said, rolling his eyes. “I’m gonna wrestle my brother.”
* * *
Albright writhed sideways on the South Western High gym floor. His legs were outstretched in front of him, wiggling like he was about to lock into an opponent. His hands were cupped around his mouth. In a perpetual scream.
This is what happens when he watches Chris wrestle.
“I got more nervous this year for his matches than for mine, “Eric Albright said. “He’s fun to watch, and it gets my attention off my matches some, and then I’m up shortly after that.”
Albright’s problem, he’ll tell you, is that he thinks too much. He psyches himself out. And then he gets frustrated and abandons his game plan. That’s why he’s never won districts in three appearances. That’s why he’s never medaled at states.
This year, though, he’s found the perfect stress-breaker: his brother. The kid cracks him up. Helps keep him loose.
“It’s definitely great having him on the team, “Albright said. “(Chris) is sort of the clown.”
In turn, Chris Albright keeps learning from one of the state’s best high school wrestlers, something that’s accelerated his development.
“I can tell a big difference in me just having him on the team this year, “Chris Albright said. “Sometimes, he gets frustrated with me, but I don’t blame him.”
* * *
The older Albright has spent most of this season bottling his own frustration, keeping it from boiling over.
It’s a challenge for an easygoing guy who has to transform himself on the mat.
This year, he’s tried not to overanalyze. He hadn’t lost his cool. And he was 31-1 heading into his sectional final against Spring Grove’s Brian Polashuk.
Polashuk, though, had his own strategy for the match. He didn’t attack. He didn’t leave himself vulnerable to make mistakes. Instead, he wrestled defensively, kept the score close, kept Albright frustrated.
And eventually, while Polashuk was balled on the mat not allowing his opponent any leverage, Albright snapped.
He lifted his knee and smashed it into the back of Polashuk’s head. Not once, but twice.
While the officials penalized Albright a point for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Spring Grove fans rained boos.
Later, Albright and Polashuk got tangled on their way out of bounds and Albright pushed his hands against his opponent to stop his momentum. The Spring Grove fans, seeing the push, screamed louder.
They also booed when Albright’s hand was raised after the tight 7-4 win. And again when Albright accepted the gold sectional medal, his fourth.
The fans didn’t realize they were booing a mild-mannered, introspective kid with good grades and a normally polite demeanor. At least when he’s not competing.
“When you step on the mat, you have to flip a switch and become a different person out there, “Walizer said. “And when he steps on the mat, he wants to dominate.”
To his credit, Albright ignored the derisive crowd at sectionals. He apologized to the officials for his unsportsmanlike move.
And then he waited for his teammates to wrestle.
* * *
The Lions again stood in a circle on the South Western mat.
This time, the entire varsity was there. The seven finalists, the three other district qualifiers, and the wrestlers whose season had ended in defeat.
It would be the last time the group would be together like this.
Ten of the 14 starters will wrestle this weekend in districts. They’ll be lucky to send a handful to states in mid-March.
So this was it for the team. And it hardly could have ended better, with five champs and two runners-up. Complex math wasn’t needed.
The showing was good enough for the sectional championship, the goal ever since the regular season ended in a three-way tie.
“This is sort of for bragging rights, “Albright said.
When the school’s name was called as champion, the circle of Lions erupted. Walizer accepted the sectional plaque, then passed it to his wrestlers. Parents clamored for a picture. The group huddled.
Walizer took a spot toward the back with his arm around McDonald.
And kneeling in the middle of the front row, sharing the weight of the plaque, were the Albright boys.
The promising freshman and star senior.
Smiling together.
Reach Dan Connolly at 771-2062 or [email protected].
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