Belle Vernon has no problem beating Exeter Twp.
HERSHEY – Not so long ago, gathering information on another wrestling team, especially one far away, meant either sending an assistant coach to a dual meet or digging out some old programs from previous PIAA Wrestling Championships.
Now, a coach can find out a lot simply by sipping a cup of coffee in front of a computer and punching in some search options.
That’s what Mike Doppelheuer did to prepare for Belle Vernon’s first-round opponent in the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament Thursday in Hershey against Exeter Township.
The Leopards registered eight pins on their way to a 57-17 rout of Exeter Township and will wrestle Council Rock South in today’s quarterfinals at 2 p.m. If successful there, the Leopards could meet Bethlehem Catholic, the top-ranked team in the state.
If the first round of this tournament was any indication, Belle Vernon better be prepared for anything. Kiski, the third-place team in District 7, showed what can happen in this event when the Cavaliers stunned Cumberland Valley, the District 3 champion, 35-31, with a pin in the last bout of that dual meet.
Belle Vernon got pins from Jake Dunlop (106), Logan Seliga (113), Tyler Seliga (126), Brock Godzin (138), Jarod Verkleeren (145), Mitchell Hartman (160), Austin Bell (170) and Milt Kobaly (182).
“This year, we wanted to have a nice easy first round,” said Belle Vernon head coach Mike Doppelheuer. “No injuries. They are battle-tested. We didn’t have to be battle-tested up here.”
Doppelheuer said all he know about Exeter Township was that the Eagles lost to Council Rock South.
“We knew they had a couple good guys,” he said. “When you go into a match where you don’t know too much about them, you depend on your guys to do their jobs. At this point, we keep (information) in house. Everybody is tight lipped. So you have to go out and do your job and not worry about anybody else.”
Belle Vernon scored 45 straight team points after Exeter got a pin at 120 and BV a pin at 126.
“It’s not much of a different team,” said Hartman. “We only lost two kids from last year. We don’t want to have any close matches. We expected to wrestle Bethlehem Catholic. This match was definitely closer than our WPIAL finals.”
Bethlehem Catholic, the District 11 champion, had no problem with Tunkhannock, the District 2 champion. Central Dauphin, the District 3 runner-up, is next for Bethlehem Catholic. Kiski will face Nazareth, the District 11 runner-up, in the quarterfinals.
“We’re going to worry about (Council Rock South),” said Doppelheuer. “We’ll do some homework and be ready to go.”