Nazareth’s Crowell, Kinney share strong bond
Dave Crowell and Sean Kinney were driving to Harrisburg during the early spring of 2022 for a banquet in which the PIAA wrestling champions were being honored when … bam!
A bird hit the windshield of Crowell’s 2021 Dodge Ram truck. Kinney was startled.
“I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Kinney said. “I had never seen that before. Of course, he did.”
The 70-year-old Crowell and 19-year-old Kinney come from different generations and have vastly different levels of experiences. But they share a unique connection.
Kinney family travel rule No. 1: One drives while the other three sleep.
Travel rule when Sean Kinney, the younger of Annette and Tim Kinney’s two sons, is with Nazareth wrestling coach Dave Crowell: Continuous conversation.
Kinney and Crowell talked about the bird incident, then returned to conversation about whatever was on their minds, almost none of which had to do with wrestling.
“Early on, there was just something that meshed,” Crowell said. “You can’t put your finger on it. We share a lot of the same values. We appreciate the same things. We get irritated at the same things. We talk about all those things.
“We always have something to talk about. It’s like my wife and me. It’s never quiet. It’s always been easy [with Kinney].”
It has never been easy wrestling Kinney. He is 32-1 this season, 118-5 in his career. The four-time District 11 Class 3A champion is bidding this weekend to becoming the 12th Northeast Regional four-time champion — first heavyweight — before working toward his third PIAA title.
It can be equally challenging to converse with Kinney.
“If I don’t know people,” he said, “I don’t talk much. I probably came into Nazareth’s wrestling room [the first day of my freshman year], shook his hand, weighed in
and walked away.
“Now I come in and sit next to him.”
Crowell has had unique and lasting bonds with many wrestlers from his stops at Easton, Wilson and Nazareth. None have been or will be deeper than the one he shares with Kinney.
Kinney grew up worshipping his older brother, Timmy, who is a redshirt senior offensive lineman at East Stroudsburg University.
The two were raised to work hard, respect others and never draw attention to themselves because of athletic success.
Kinney made a brief gesture with his hand after the Easton match two years ago. If you blinked, you didn’t see it. But he knew what he was in for the minute he went home because of it.
“We raised them to just be good humans,” Annette Kinney said, “to be humble and kind.”
Kinney walked at an early age because he wanted to keep up with his brother. He learned to swim sooner because he wanted to be with his brother and his friends. He began playing football because his brother did.
It’s a family tradition. Tim Kinney is in Lycoming’s sports hall of fame after a stellar football career there. Timmy Kinney was a two-year all-EPC lineman and then an all-PSAC lineman last fall.
Sean developed into one of the area’s all-time best linemen. But, unlike his brother, he also loved wrestling. He double-bracketed at youth level tournaments at age 7. He often ran home two miles from private lessons.
Timmy, who fractured his leg in his only year wrestling, played basketball and baseball in high school.
Sean Kinney was a fouryear starter for coach Tom Falzone’s Nazareth football team. He was a leader and a reliable anchor throughout his career.
“He was a calm, cool leader who always allowed his play to do his talking for him,” Falzone said. “No challenge or opponent was too big for Sean. He played the game the right way and earned the respect of players and coaches across the area.
“It has been a pleasure to watch him throughout his years on the turf and the mat.”
Kinney’s varsity wrestling success was delayed because of COVID. Nazareth managed only one dual meet in the 2020-21 season, against Northampton. Kinney did not wrestle. Crowell opted to bump up his 172-, 189- and 215-pounders rather than use the freshman who won a wrestle-off with returning starter Matt Burton for the 285-pound spot.
Crowell was not overly impressed with what he saw from Kinney in the practice room.
“I watched those two practice every day,” Crowell said. “They didn’t exactly set the room on fire. What you see now was not what you saw three years ago.”
Crowell’s move paid off as Nazareth beat rival Northampton 32-29, when Jake Doone won the final bout by decision.
Kinney never complained about Crowell’s decision, though he would have been irritated if the Blue Eagles lost that dual meet. He always was about the team first and enjoyed building bonds with his teammates and coaches.
Nazareth needed pins from its three finalists in the last three weight classes to win the team title at the 2021 District 11 Class 3A individual tournament at Parkland. Drew Clearie (189) and Chase Levey (215) did their parts, leaving the freshman Kinney to finish the job.
Kinney delivered the fall in 2 minutes, 52 seconds to push Nazareth to the top. He went on to reach the state final in a loaded bracket before losing to returning champion Nate Schoen of Selinsgrove in overtime.
He has lost just three times since then. His list of friends has grown exponentially. His relationship with Crowell has grown stronger.
Nazareth practices end with a session in which wrestlers share details about themselves. They talk about their heroes, highlights and heartbreak.
Kinney talked as a freshman about his grandfather dying on the day of his first football playoff game.
“That was not easy,” he said. “It was the first time I opened up.”
Kinney grew as a person and athlete under Crowell’s tutelage. When Crowell spoke, he and his teammates listened.Whentherewastime before,duringorafterpractice, Kinney talked to Crowell.
What made that bond unusual was that Kinney did not need a father figure. He had a solid foundation at home with two loving, supportive parents.
The two just hit it off because of common beliefs and feelings. Their similar sense of humor made it easy for them to pick things up after not seeing each other for stretches of time.
Kinney’s commitment to wrestling lasted 3 ½ months. He was dedicated to football the rest of the year. But he’d stop by the wrestling room in the fall on his way to football practice to check in with Crowell. He took in all one of the state’s most successful coaches had to offer regarding life lessons.
“Sean grew up in a mature environment,” Crowell said. “His parents did that. They did a magnificent job raising him. With his skills, he is one who could be way different than he is. But his humility, his team orientation, all those things are the gold standard to me of what any athlete should be.”
Kinney was leaning toward wrestling in college after his sophomore year because he was a two-time state finalist and didn’t have any football offers.
That changed the next year. So, too, did his plan. He was set on playing football at the next level. That didn’t change, though one college wrestling coach nearly swayed Kinney back.
Penn State’s Cael Sanderson, one of the sport’s greatest coaches of all time, jumped in the recruiting fray late. He texted and called Crowell and Kinney.
Sanderson stood with Crowell on the sidelines this fall at a Nazareth football game. Crowell’s relationship with the Nittany Lions leader began when Sanderson first came to Penn State. It was a few months after Crowell’s son, David, transferred there from Pitt to wrestle. The two coaches have maintained a relationship since.
Sanderson told Kinney to let him know if he came to Penn State for a football visit. When Kinney took an official visit, Sanderson gave him a two-hour tour of the wrestling facilities before the football visit began, then stayed with him and his parents for the entire football visit.
The PSU wrestling coach even offered to work things out so that Kinney could play both sports there.
“If there is one place I would wrestle,” Kinney said, “it would be Penn State. I’ve been a Penn State fan my whole life. I’ve been a Cael Sanderson fan my whole life. It was wild having him at one of my football games. It was pretty cool having him by my side the whole day on my football visit.
“The other Penn State football recruits, their heads just snapped when they saw him.”
Kinney is headed to Lafayette in the fall to play football. Crowell is excited for the opportunity Kinney has there. He also is dreading not having him in the wrestling room next winter.
The two struggle to define the relationship. So, too, do Kinney’s parents.
“He’s like a surrogate father,” Tim Kinney said of Crowell.
“There are no words,” Annette Kinney added. “It’s something special. They have very similar personalities. They don’t talk about themselves.”
Crowell does not hesitate to talk about Kinney, calling him arguably the best athlete in Nazareth’s storied history.
In typical Kinney fashion, he countered quickly: “Nah, Sammy [Sasso] and Jahan [Dotson].”
It is hard to argue with any of those three. It is clear, however, that Kinney is in the conversation.
It’s also a guarantee that the next time you see Crowell and Kinney, they’ll be talking. About what, only they know. But they’ll be talking for as long as life allows.
And that doesn’t figure to change after this season.
District 11’s 4-time regional champions Class 3A
1. Jack Cuvo (Easton) 19821985
2. Brad Silimperi (Nazareth) 1987-1990
3. Whitey Chlebove (Whitehall/Northampton) 19911994
4. Christian Franco (Whitehall) 1999-2002
5. Jeff Ecklof (Northampton) 2000-2003
6. Tim Darling (Nazareth) 2004-2007
7. Jordan Oliver (Easton) 2005-2008
8. Zach Horan (Nazareth) 2008-2011
9. Corey Keener (Blue Mountain) 2009-2012
10. Ethan Lizak (Parkland) 2011-2014
11. Sammy Sasso (Nazareth) 2015-2018
Class 2A
1. Chris Wentz (Northwestern) 1974-1977
2. Matt Gerhard (Catasauqua) 1981-1984**
3. Lee Todora II (Salisbury) 1985-1988
4. Mark Cesari (North Schuylkill) 1986-1989
Class 2A/3A
1. Luke Karam, Bethlehem Catholic, 2013-16 (two titles in each class)
*According to lehighvalleywrestlinghistory.com ** District 11’s only four-time PIAA champion