Hill advances eight to national preps
Blues’ Albert, Isabelle score silvers
MERCERSBURG >> It was a bittersweet kind of day for Hill School wrestling, who saw some success in terms of quantity but left disappointed in regards to quality.
Eight Blues qualified for next weekend’s National Prep tournament, thanks to top-six finishes at Saturday’s Pennsylvania Independent Schools wrestling tournament, but only two of those eight closed out their days with wins, leaving a sour taste in their mouths.
“It shows our progress at certain weights,” Hill coach Dave Hoffman said. “We just have to keep the perspective that this is just a qualifier and we want our best wrestling to be next week.”
Two Blues, sophomore Cole Albert (138 pounds) and senior Colby Isabelle (165), made the finals but came out on the wrong end of things.
Isabelle finished runner-up a year ago and took an early lead with a first-period takedown against Malvern Prep’s Brian Chamberlain. But Chamberlain escaped and blasted through for a double-leg takedown, and converted it into a pin moments later, 83 seconds into the bout.
“It’s motivation for sure,” Isabelle said. “If you take away the emotion, it’s definitely going to keep me motivated next week. It kind of sends me back to the drawing board and makes me work on that position and find answers for it.”
Albert made his debut at prep states, Friday, and used a pin Saturday morning to punch his ticket to the finals. There, he met three-time prep All-American, Spencer Barnhart of Malvern Prep, in his way. Barnhart was dominant in a 16-3 win.
“Cole Albert making finals as a six-seed is great,” Hoffman said. “He’s only a sophomore and has a really bright future ahead of him.”
Kade Davidheiser (126) and Rob Pavlek (132) earned third-place finishes, bouncing back from close semifinal losses.
Davidheiser, who hadn’t competed at prep states since 2020 thanks to COVID in 2021 and an injury as a junior, held on for a 7-5 win over Haverford School’s James McDonnell in the consolation final.
“It felt good to be back out with this group of guys,” Davidheiser said. “Obviously it was huge to wrestle-back, not just for me, but for the team.”
The Blues fell short of their goal of a top-three finish, finishing 10 points shy of third-place finisher William Penn Charter. Malvern Prep won the team title over Wyoming Seminary, ending a streak of 15 straight team titles.
Now, Davidheiser will look to return to the top of the podium, like he did at 113 pounds at the National Prep Open in 2021.
“The goal is to win,” Davidheiser said. “I don’t think I truly put my heart on the line (Saturday) and I have one week to work on it.”
For Pavlek, third was a small step in the right direction after a fourth-place
finish as a freshman.
“It was really important,” said Pavlek about wrestling back. “Coach Hoffman always tells the team to have the mindset of keep winning and keep scoring points. No matter what happened, just get the next best thing.”
Hunter Sloan (144) lost two matches by a total of three points, Saturday and finished fourth.
Kayden White (190), Dante Donaldson (215) and William Antippas (285) placed for the first time in their careers, taking sixth.
The eight Blues will compete at the National Prep tournament next Friday and Saturday at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.