I am so flattered by the great response I have received from alumni and parents following our first newsletter. I receive well wishes from alumni and parents nearly every day. I recently met Brian Folk ’86 when he stopped by a dual meet; believe it or not he was there to watch our opponent! As it turns out, one of their wrestlers happened to be a friend's son. Reginald Doherty ’55 attends practically every match, including those on the road. I spoke by phone to Andy Kaul ’51. Andy was here for Frank Bissell’s first years at Hill. Additionally, he was a three-time champion at the National Prep Tournament. He then went on to captain Michigan’s wrestling program. Andy told me a great story about wrestling for Michigan. At one point in his wrestling career, five of the eight wrestlers in Wolverines' starting lineup were Hill alumni. What a great compliment to Frank Bissell and Hill’s wrestling program.

I enjoy hearing stories from Hill alumni and would love to hear from more of you. Your memories of Hill wrestling are valuable to today’s generation of wrestlers. I'd like to share your stories by way of this e-newsletter with other alumni and our current wrestling families. Please feel free to e-mail your Hill wrestling stories to jyoung@thehill.org. 

We are actively recruiting a great class of wrestlers for next year. They have the potential to give us an immediate surge at the state and national level. We have found that the greatest recruiting tool is word of mouth. Our current parents refer great Hill student-athletes to us. If you have a neighbor or family member who currently is wrestling and would benefit from a Hill education, please talk to them about your own experiences. Feel free to give them my e-mail address and I will be happy to talk to them about the admission process.

The Blues attended the Cadet Invitational Tournament at Valley Forge Military Academy in January. While this was the 22nd year for the tournament, it was our first time attending the event. Of the 16 schools in present, 15 were teams we will see again at the state tournament. The other school present was Lawrenceville.

Our team looked impressive all day; this definitely was our best performance of the season. We had five wrestlers place in the top four, but more importantly, everyone entered won at least one match. Dwayne Sampson '08 (125), Steele Phillips '09 (130), Dave Phillips '08 (152), and Jay Knighton '10 (285) all earned third place finishes, while Tyler Mueller '10 (119) finished in fourth place.

Because of the strong overall wrestling, the boys continued to earn team points throughout the day. It was exciting to hear scores announced between rounds, because our score would fluctuate between third and sixth place. In the final round, we had seven wrestlers win their final bout. As it turned out, this was exactly the number needed to hold onto a third place tie with Chestnut Hill Academy. Right behind the Blues were Episcopal Academy, Lawrenceville, and Malvern Prep. Kiski won the event, with Westtown just behind them.

I could not ask for a harder working group of sixth formers. Dwayne Sampson '08 has been an excellent captain and placed in the top three of every tournament entered, and he has led our group of athletes from before the season started. He has been complimented nicely by David Phillips '08, BC Ko '08, and Dan Adjangba '08. These young men have worked hard to have a truly successful sixth form season.

However, the recent success that Hill has seen also is the result of a youth movement. Dwayne has been injured and missed the last two weeks in January. Dave has a great record, but has been held out of some tournaments and dual meets because of his standing as a post-graduate. Although they have worked hard, BC and Dan have been outmatched in many of their bouts. This has required the efforts of our underclassmen to stay in dual meets and place at tournaments.

Co-Captain Steele Phillips '09 has championed this cause. Steele currently has 19 wins and a mere six losses; additionally, 14 of these wins have come by pin, and Steele has placed third in all three tournaments this year. He is supported by fellow fifth former, Harold Kim '09, who has gone 13-10 at 103 pounds. Fouth former Tyler Mueller '10 has grown by leaps and bounds this season. Tyler currently is 16-9 in the 119 pounds weight class, and has been supported by several other fouth formers. Most impressive to this point is heavyweightJay Knighton '10. Jay currently is 18-6, and also has placed in the top four in each tournament we’ve entered. I have been impressed by how much better Jay has wrestled in each tournament. He continues to improve his technique and becomes more comfortable every time he steps on the mat. The PA Independent State Tournament will be an exciting challenge for Jay.

Recently Darnell Morrow '10 has emerged as the team's 145 pounds wrestler. Despite his lack of experience, Darnell has found a way to win his matches. Darnell is 9-4 in his short time on the mat. I am hopeful that with hard work he will continue to develop. Karl Wiszumerski '11 currently is the only third former in the starting lineup, and he has proven that he can compete with any prep team we see. Karl is 17-8 this year, and placed fourth at the Northfield Mount Hermon Tournament. With added strength and experience, Karl may emerge as an elite wrestler in the future.

Adam Kunkle '10, Byron Muhlenberg '10, Zheng Chen '10, and Bob Dougherty '11 are more young wrestlers who have contributed to Hill’s success this season.