GARCIA READY TO SHOW WHAT HE HAS LEARNED
Holden Garcia saw the light last March.
Then a freshman at Notre DameGreen Pond, Garcia experienced the brightness of Hershey’s Giant Center for the first time in an individual competition.
The lights were different, more powerful than Ironman and Beast of the East. The national fields at those tournaments are greater than the PIAA Wrestling Championships, but there is something about the state tournament in Hershey.
Garcia reacted like many first-timers do.
“I think I was a little timid in my blood-round match last year,” he said. “That’s another thing I wanted to focus on this year: to let it all fly, go out and compete no matter what round it is.
“That lit a fire inside a little bit. It provides a little motivation to get better and better every day.”
Garcia’s two losses in last year’s state tournament were to experienced competitors who left Hershey previously with state medals — Trinity’s Patrick DeMark and Biglerville’s Blake Showers.
He lost in the 2020 Southeast Regional events to those seniors — 6-2 to DeMark and by fall to Showers. He closed the gap in the PIAA tournament — 6-5 to DeMark and 4-2 to Showers — but still came up short.
Garcia (14-0) takes his second chance in Hershey in Friday’s PIAA Class 2A tournament. The 160-pounder faces Forest Hills senior Ryan Weyandt (26-5), a 2020 fifth-place finisher, in the quarterfinals.
The Crusaders sophomore has been stellar this year with 10 bonus-point victories, but he has proved the last two weeks that he can grind out the close decisions that derailed his freshman campaign. Garcia has not allowed an offensive point in nine postseason matches.
“We talk about goals all the time,” Notre Dame-GP coach Matt Veres said. “They want to be state champs, but it goes in steps.
It’s all part of a process.”
Garcia’s process started with an extensive offseason weightlifting program in an effort to get stronger and fill out his frame. The physical development is noticeable after he competed last year at 138 pounds.
The Crusader also has taken advantage of the talent in the room, which has been critical this season with the absence of any regular-season competition outside of the team’s five Colonial League matches.
“All those big tournaments really help you get a grasp on where you stand throughout the whole country,” Garcia said. “It’s a good starter for the season. You work on what you did bad in those tournaments for the postseason.”
“[Missing out on] Powerade was hard to get past. But we had to come back in the room that next Sunday and keep working hard.”
Notre Dame-GP was to compete at Powerade in suburban Pittsburgh, but positive COVID-19 cases at the school — outside the wrestling program — shut down team activities.
Garcia is not the only Crusader sitting on a fire that started on the Friday of last year’s state tournament. Junior Brandan Chletsos and senior Brett Ungar suffered semifinal losses before battling back to take third place.
Those two, like Garcia, are unbeaten this year and dominated opponents to this point. They are facing significant obstacles Friday in their path to a PIAA title.
Ungar has Bishop McCort freshman Mason Gibson (19-0) and Reynolds senior Gary Steen (27-1) in his way at 120. They are ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the country according to Easton native MatScout Willie Saylor. Ungar is 12th.
Chletsos has Forest Hills junior Jackson Arrington (26-0), who is ranked 15th nationally, at the opposite side of the 132-pound bracket.
If Notre Dame-GP had a typical regular season, Garcia, Ungar and Chletsos would have faced many national-level competitors, maybe even those lurking in the shadows Friday in Hershey. But the Crusaders got in five dual meets while their future foes had much more of a normal season and are battle-tested.
Thank goodness for the Crusaders having high-level talent in the room.
“That Friday night feeling we had [last year], it was tough,” Veres said. “I know it’s burning in their minds.
“They all are self-motivated. They are doing the right things. I couldn’t ask more of these guys.”
This trio is expecting more of themselves Friday. They are ready to ease the pain and release
the burden of Fridays past.
It will take every ounce of energy and every bit of what they learned this season in the room, however, to do that.