Hawks reconnect as a team after embarrassing end to ’21
Dante Frinzi and Tyler Kasak were driving home from a workout the week of 2021 PIAA Wrestling Championships.
Kasak, as usual, was chill. Frinzi, as usual, was tense.
“I specifically remember talking about how my bracket was looking,” Frinzi said, “and he just looked at me and said, ‘Listen, don’t worry about it right now. It’s a week away. You still have a week to perfect things, then go out there and wrestle when it’s time. Right now doesn’t really matter.’
“I look at him as a role model.” Kasak, a returning state champion for Bethlehem Catholic, and Frinzi, a two-time state medalist and Harvard commit, are good friends. They do a lot together in and out of the wrestling room.
The two upperclassmen are trying to bring that connection back to the Golden Hawks, something that was not there last year as much as it had been in previous years. COVID had plenty to do with that. It’s hard to bond when you can’t practice and compete on a regular basis, or hang out in and out of school.
But Kasak and Frinzi are not letting anything get in the way this season. There were times together at offseason tournaments. There were gatherings at Bethlehem Catholic football games, wrestlers’ houses and fishing holes.
The two are taking a page from a pair of former leaders.
“I try to follow Kenny [Herrmann] and Cole [Handlovic’s] footsteps,” Kasak said. “As an incoming freshman, I learned a lot from them as far as leadership. They brought us close together.”
Bethlehem Catholic is looking to rebound after an embarrassing exit to last year’s PIAA team tournament, a 29-26 setback at Central Dauphin in the Class 3A quarterfinals. It was the program’s earliest exit since not making the 2010 Class 2A event.
Golden Hawks coach Jeff Karam takes responsibility for the team’s shortcomings, but also sees it as a teaching moment for the returning wrestlers.
“As a coach and a staff, we were looking at things like, ‘Are we going to wrestle tomorrow?’ instead of holding the kids up to the standards we expect,” Karam said. “This year, we’ve made it a point with the younger kids of knowing what we expect, what we’ve done in the past.
“When we lost our last dual at Central Dauphin, the first two guys I spoke to were [Kasak and Frinzi]. I asked them, ‘What are you going to do? I think they are stepping up. [Cael] McIntyre, [Trey] Miletics, [Landon] Muth and [Luke] Thomas are other guys who are taking the bull by the horns.”
The lineup
In addition to Kasak and Frinzi, McIntyre was sixth in the state last season at 113, Andrew Harmon was seventh at 138 and Muth was eighth at 160.
The Golden Hawks have more
talent and depth in 2021-22. Karam rededicated himself to doing what he did for the dominant teams of the past.
“There were things last year I did as a coach that didn’t work,” he said. “I was more concerned
about ‘are we going to have a match’ instead of so many little things that you would worry about in previous years.
“I made a promise to myself coming off that [Central Dauphin] match that I was
going to get back to doing the little things, doing the little things right, concentrating on the attention to detail.”
Freshman Nathan Desmond, a Super 32 fifth-place finisher, is at 106 along with another solid first-year varsity competitor — Shane McFillin.
Desmond is ranked No. 7 nationally among incoming freshmen according to MatScouts, run by Easton graduate Willie Saylor.
Senior Charlie Pavis, a fifthplace regional medalist last season, is at 113 with freshman Cole Campbell — brother of junior Ashton Campbell, who is fighting for a spot at 120 with the likes of McIntyre.
Frinzi could be at 126 or 132. His freshman brother, Marco, could be in either spot.
So, too, is freshman Kollin Rath, a Super 32 seventh-place finisher ranked No. 9 nationally by MatScouts.
Kasak is at 138 or 145. Promising freshman Charlie Scanlon and sophomore Jake Dailey are also at those weight classes.
Harmon, who likely is out until January because of injury, is expected to be at 152 with Giovanni Bozzi. Muth and senior Trey Miletics, a regional third-place finisher last year, are at 160.
Thomas, who won 15 matches as a freshman then didn’t wrestle last year, is at 170 with promising freshman James Deluise.
Deluise, sophomore Dario Cruz or sophomore Auggie Warke, who won 17 matches last year at Pottsville, could occupy 189. Junior Nico Spezza is among several options at 215. Junior Elijah Thompson is at 285.
“I’m excited about the kids in the program,” Karam said. “They seem to be pretty tight right now. I definitely sensed that bond since Day 1.
“I’m excited to see what they can do, especially the good group of young kids. They are unproven, but I’ve been doing this for awhile. I think they have the capability to do some special things.”