Pound for pound, the best
Waters shook off tough start
Faith Christian sophomore battled back, won 2nd title
Adam Waters’ personality off the mat is a relaxed one.
“Yeah, I’m pretty chill,” the Faith Christian sophomore said.
That chillness was tested this season when he endured a few things he had not the previous year when he was a PIAA Class 2A champion.
It started with knee surgery late in the fall that left him behind in his progression once the season started.
Waters was 44-1 as a freshman. He lost two of his first seven matches as a sophomore, then lost twice in a month to the same wrestler in tournament finals.
He could have pressed the panic button, pressured himself into trying to be perfect. Instead, he worked hard in the practice room, found extra training in clubs, sought out individual workouts and stayed chill.
Waters won a second consecutive state title at 172 pounds by being equally dominant when it mattered. He is The Morning Call All-Area Class 2A wrestler of the year.
“He never let himself be shook by all that [went wrong],” Faith Christian coach Ben Clymer said. “He had not lost that often, but he didn’t [lose trust]. He didn’t lose focus. He didn’t get rattled.”
After losing to St. Joseph Regional (N.J.) standout Ryan Burton in overtime in the Escape the Rock final, Waters won his last 21 matches — including the final 12 by either technical fall or pin. He allowed one point in his four state tournament matches.
The season didn’t start out the same way. He was not in wrestling shape following the surgery, but Faith Christian’s schedule waits for no one. It opened with a dual meet at national No. 1 Wyoming Seminary followed by the Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament in Ohio.
Waters lost twice in a span of four matches there, one in overtime and the other 3-2. He eventually finished fifth.
The sophomore wasn’t the only one getting back from offseason injuries/surgeries, so the individual results and performances were less than expected.
Clymer said he and the Lions leaned on a philosophy Nazareth coach Dave Crowell uses in which he likes it when wrestlers are not at their best early in the season.
“We were not clicking, not firing on all cylinders,” Clymer said. “But that’s when you begin to build toward that peak. You have to get them into that mindset. Adam led us through that. His biggest motivation was that things were not smooth.
“That’s when you have to be humble, to let all that fuel you and you learn from it.”
Waters cruised into the Beast of the East final a couple weeks after Ironman, only to lose to Burton for the first time on a takedown in the final 15 seconds of the third period.
The Lion was better, but still not all the way back.
Waters again had little trouble reaching the Escape the Rock final before Burton got him again with a takedown on the edge of the mat in overtime.
Another loss, another lesson, another step in the growth process.
Waters often carried a big chip on his shoulders after losses, was tough to approach in the moment. It was a sight familiar to Clymer.
“When he lost in the past, even earlier this year,” Clymer said, “he would come at me. There was a time when I lost, all I would see was red.
If I had not had that experience to draw on, I would not have been able to react well to what he was doing in that 10-minute window after a loss.
“We’ve both been humbled by that. He’s grown with regard to his Morning Call reporter
Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com