Associated Press
HERSHEY, Pa. – Returning PIAA state champion and three-time place winner Matt Fisk of Wyalusing said he made it point this year to be in the best physical shape of his life.
“I push myself hard every day when I’m training so I don’t gas in the third period, “said Fisk, a senior.
There’s only one problem: His matches almost never make it to the final two minutes.
One of a handful of wrestlers who can win a fourth PIAA medal at the 2005 PIAA Wrestling Championships this weekend at the Giant Center in Hershey, Fisk could also make PIAA history.
With three victories this weekend, Fisk can break the long-standing record for career scholastic victories by a wrestler from a PIAA school, the 173 victories compiled by former Meadville wrestler Doug Stanford.
Stanford had a 173-14-1 record when he graduated in 1984, an era of no limits on the number of tournaments in which teams and wrestlers could participate.
Fisk will enter Thursday’s opening round of the Class AA tournament with a career record of 171-9, having set the record for career wins among District 4 wrestlers in last week’s Northeast Region Tournament at Williamsport.
Fisk’s assault on the record for career victories is just one of two huge items this weekend. The other is the potential meeting of two-time state champions at 152 pounds in Class AAA: Greensburg-Salem’s Donnie Jones and Northampton’s Joey Ecklof.
The win record is not foremost on Fisk’s mind. Repeating as state champion is, and he said he has just the game plan for doing that.
“You’re either prepared when you go out on that mat, or you’re not, “said Fisk, who has committed to Lehigh University. “What you do during a match is determined by what you do before you step out there.”
To that end, Fisk not only trains consistently hard to get his body in peak shape, he also takes a strong mental approach to his wrestling.
“Every opponent I have, whether he’s 2-14 or 41-0, I look at him as standing in the way of my goal, “Fisk said. “We can be friends on the mat, but for that time we’re wrestling, he’s the enemy.”
His enemies don’t remain in battle too long. Fisk said only one of his 40 matches this year has gone to the third period.
“That’s because I have so many people pushing me hard, “Fisk said. “I think I have the best coach in the country (his father, Walt Fisk). He happens to be my dad, but he gets the most he can out of me.
“Heck, my grandparents have been in there pushing me to do my best since I was a little kid, “Fisk said. “They never miss a match.”
Much of the pre-tournament focus has been on the potential meeting between Jones and Ecklof, two wrestlers who were preceded by successful brothers.
Two of Jones’ older brothers won PIAA Class AAA championships, Vertus at 171 pounds in 1995 and Greg at 160 pounds in 2000. Donnie Jones won at 130 two years and at 140 last year.
Ecklof’s older brother Jeff won a pair of PIAA Class AAA championships, claiming the 125-pound title in 2001 and the 145-pound championship in 2003. Joey Ecklof won titles at 135 in 2003 and at 145 last year.
Both are fully aware of each other’s presence, but both know they would have three matches to win before meeting each other.
“There’s always someone who wants to beat you and there’s always something that can get in the way, “Ecklof said. “You can’t let your guard down and think about a match that hasn’t happened. You have to beat the guy in front of you, not the guy three matches down the road.”
Jones said: “If we both do what we’ve done in the past, it will happen. But it hasn’t happened yet. I have a lot of matches to wrestle before that one occurs.”
Team championships are also up for grabs this weekend.
In Class AAA, Connellsville, which wrested the PIAA dual meet championship away from four-time champion Easton, qualified five wrestlers, three fewer than Easton and District 1’s Upper Perkiomen and one fewer than two-time defending champion Northampton.
In Class AA, Northern Lehigh, the 2005 PIAA dual meet champion, qualified eight wrestlers, but District 10’s Reynolds advanced nine wrestlers, including former PIAA champion Matt Dunn. Three teams – Brandywine Heights and Schuylkill Valley of District 3 and Burrell of District 7 – advanced six wrestlers apiece.
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