HERSHEY: No disrespect to previous wrestling teams that have come through Milton Hershey, but this year's team is different.
Head coach Jimmy Taylor notices it, too.
There is an intense work ethic in the room. Goals have been set, and there is a heightened sense of urgency and purpose to meet those marks.
The Spartans took all of it on the mat Thursday and unleashed it on Camp Hill. The effort showed in the results, as Taylor's crew captured nine matches and earned a 39-23 Capital Division triumph.
“Last year, we lost a lot of kids,” Taylor said. “We had a lot of work to do.
“When we had open gym in May and June, there wasn't a time we didn't have 20 kids. We had 23 kids go to camp at Maryland.
“Every year, we set goals for them. This year, they came to me and asked if they could set the goals. They want to win the division.”
The Lions sprinted out to a 9-0 lead on Brandon Tomeo's fall in 2:51 over Hector Sanchez and Haris Basic's 7-2 decision over Spencer Gallitz.
Tymere Eaton (285) got Sparty on the board when he pancaked George Wilson at 285, but the Lions fired back at 106. Sam Horowitz-Soyos remained unbeaten with a 58-second pin of Nick Terwint and kept his team out front 15-6.
That seemed to spark the Spartans, especially David Wells (113) and Mitch Clark (126), who could be the stud of this lineup.
Wells built a 15-2 lead on Aamir Ghazaly before scoring a fall at 5:28. Clark locked up a cradle and the match 37 seconds in against Blake Behney.
“We pick each other up,” Spartans 160-pounder Christopher Santana said. “We didn't put our heads down when it was 6-0.
“Our mentality is that we don't care who we wrestle. Coach taught us that. We are going to go out and do our best.”
It was good enough.
Lions 120-pounder Tristan Hanshaw (120) earned a decision, and the match was gridlocked at 18 at the halfway point. But then the Spartans exploded by winning six of the last seven matches to pull away.
Oliver Delgado-Martinez (132) and Charles Waple (145) bracketed Lions ace Alex Gallaher's (138) tech fall with a pair of close decisions — Delgado-Martinez downed Chris Davis 11-7 and Waple beat Tita Nyambi 10-8 — to give the Spartans a 24-23 edge.
Deshawn Harris latched in a vice-like cradle on Seth Kodner in the 152-pound bout that wasn't going to be broken. The official slammed the mat at the 3:14 mark, and the Spartans were in good shape 30-23.
“It was a chance for my team to go up, and I knew I needed a pin or at least a major,” Harris, a sophomore, said. “I just went for it.
“It was a sense of relief to get that distance. Camp Hill is a tough team, but I had to go out and do it for my team.”
Santana followed suit.
The Spartans junior put the Lions on life support with a first-period takedown and reverse into back points in the third for a 6-0 decision over Will Smith at 160.
“I felt pretty good after Deshawn's and Chris' win, because we had a couple seniors coming up,” Taylor said. “Winning 126 and 132 was also big for us.
“With the postponements last week, we only had one match and didn't know what to expect. We bumped up, and the kids were unselfish.”
It paid off, and Eric Shirley (170) and Rafael Rodriguez (182) scored decisions to provide the final margin of victory.
“Milton Hershey has a really good team,” Lions head coach Chad Gallaher said. “We had some sophomores get dinged up in the middle, just some inexperience.
“We got some really good wins at 220 and 120, but it wasn't enough. We gave up some pins where I thought we would go the distance, but we were competitive. That is always my goal, and I liked the effort out of some of our kids.”