Vanguards seeking something big from ‘special kid’ Catka
The 2016-17 wrestling season brought several impressive performances, but Upper Darby’s Brian Kennerly, who compiled a 38-0 record and the PIAA Class 3A state title at 220 pounds on his way to Daily Times Wrestler of the Year, stood out among the rest.
Kennerly put together a dominant senior season, but there are a plethora of wrestlers returning this season ready to build upon previous strong campaigns.
Here are some of the top returning wrestlers in Delaware County...
When head coach Tom Ellis inserted a freshman to compete in the 195-pound matches, some would have been skeptical about his decision, but there was something special about Catka.
“We knew that we was a special kid and very talented,” Ellis said. “We weren’t really blindsided by what he accomplished last year.”
Catka put together a 34-7 record with all seven losses coming to state qualifiers. He had success at every level, from finishing second in the Ches-Mont League championships to third at districts to fourth at regionals and ultimately a trip to states. Catka did not think the success he had last year was initially possible but his head coach saw what he was doing on the mat and continued to push him.
“When I spoke to Coach Ellis and started putting in extra work, I knew I could go pretty far,” Catka said. “He told me to believe in myself and that I could accomplish whatever I wanted to do if I put my mind to it.”
He set the Sun Valley freshman record for wins and pins (13). Ellis truly began to see the potential in his young freshman when he went up against South Philadelphia’s Miles Lee in December. Lee, who finished fifth at states, won a major decision, 15-7, but it revealed a lot of what would eventually take Catka to a memorable season.
“Last year was only his fourth year wrestling so it wasn’t his technique,” Catka said. “It was more of his physical stature. He was very lean and only carries about six percent body fat, so he’s physically imposing.”
Catka spent the offseason training with Greg Hagel, the new head wrestling coach at the Haverford School. Now up to 220 lbs., Catka has also been competing in 285-pound matches and holding his own. Heading into his sophomore season, he’s learning to be in a new weight class and that has only amplified the expectations he has for himself.
“Work even harder and go farther,” Catka said. “My goals are set even higher this year and I’m looking to make some noise.”
When thinking about his match against Blair Academy’s Nick Incontrera, Orr is able to put his junior season into perspective.
Incontrera, who was the top seed at last year’s National Prep Championships, came into the match as the favorite but that didn’t affect Orr’s outlook on the match. He defeated Incontrera, 4-2, in a consolation bout and, in the process, earned All-American honors. Orr capped off his season in impressive fashion and that win has been his driving force heading into his senior season.
“Toward the end of the year, I knew I was prepared to make a run,” Orr said. “At states, I didn’t perform at my best and ended up taking fourth. I still qualified for nationals but I knew I had to fix some things. I did what I had to and took down the number one seed.”
In three seasons, Orr compiled a 115-28 record, including a 46-8 mark last year. Last year was the culmination of a lot of time and effort. As a freshman and sophomore, he was still growing into his body and struggled to stay within his weight class. Coming into his junior year, Orr had a chip on his shoulder to prove he could contend with the top wrestlers, not only in the area but in the country and head coach Damon Kuzemka said that was the next step in his maturation.
“He came into the year with a lot of hype. During his ninth and 10th grade year, he was undersized at 120. He won a lot of matches but when he would go against the top guys, he was at a big disadvantage.”
Kuzemka noted a match with Germantown Academy’s Chris Kim at last year’s Beast of the East tournament. Orr lost that match, 7-2, but he enacted revenge on a bigger stage against Kim at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools tournament. The head coach also attributed Orr’s success to focusing his time in the offseason solely on wrestling.
“He didn’t really begin to wrestle full-time until his sophomore (year),” Kuzemka said. “That was when he began doing it outside of the wrestling season. There wasn’t any regularity before that. He would do a tournament here and there, but the spring after his sophomore year was when he started doing offseason work and focusing on wrestling all yearround.”
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