Future’s bright, but Hamburg still focused on 2020
Wait ‘til next year. That’s a familiar cry that comes from fans when their team loses in the playoffs and comes up short of the ultimate goal.
Although the Hamburg wrestling team achieved quite a few of its goals this season, Hawks fans have plenty of reasons to be enthused that next year could be even better.
The Hawks will have all but three wrestlers back from a team that went 192, won its first Berks Wrestling League title, captured its second straight District 3 Class 2A championship and finished among the top eight teams in the state.
Hamburg did that with a junior-dominated lineup led by three-time Berks County champions Dalton Gimbor and Bailey Gimbor, who already have earned their 100th career wins. The Class of 2021 includes Kyle Vernon, a 2019 county champ who is closing in on 100 wins.
Throw in Brant Mason and Parker Davidson, juniors who likely will reach the 100-win plateau early next season, and Hamburg has a solid foundation to build even bigger dreams for 2021.
“We do have a young team,” Mason said. “Next year we’re going to be coming back just as strong, if not stronger.”
The Hawks will return more experienced, hungrier and — thanks to a change of divisions in the Berks Wrestling League — more battledtested by the end of next season.
Hamburg has opted to move up to Division I in the Berks Wrestling League and will be facing Exeter, Wilson, Gov. Mifflin and Daniel Boone instead of a number of teams that struggle to put a full lineup on the mat.
That will help the Hawks get ready to battle Bermudian Springs and Boiling Springs in the District 3 Tournament and the likes of Burrell and other perennial powers at the state tournament.
The Hawks went 2-2 at this year’s PIAA Team Wrestling Championships, making it to the final day of the three-day tournament and coming up one bout short of defeating Burrell in the consolation quarterfinals.
“This is where we should be,” said coach Glenn Miller, the 2019 District 3 Class 2A Coach of the Year. “We should be competing here.”
Miller, a former Hamburg wrestler, has big goals for his alma mater, and at age 28 the fire to help get the most out of each wrestler. That’s why he’s pushing the Hawks into Berks I even through they could have stayed in the smaller division based on enrollment.
Yes, wait ‘til next year isn’t just a hollow cry to make the Hamburg wrestlers and fans feel good about a tough ending to their great season. There truly are a lot of reasons Hamburg can expect to build on its achievements, even with the graduation losses of Nick James, Ayden Kauffman and Jacob Phillips.
But Miller isn’t quite ready to look forward to next year. With the individual postseason starting Friday, he still is focused on 2020 goals, such as repeating as champions in the District 3 Wrestling Championships and getting as many wrestlers to the state tournament as possible.
“We still have goals we’re chasing down this year yet as a team and individually,” Miller said. “We’re going to keep working on that and here soon we’ll start thinking about what we’re going to be doing in the offseason. Then we’ll start thinking about next year.”