Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Hunter Neely
School: Bentworth
Year: Senior
Sport: Wrestling
Neely’s week: A returning section and WPIAL champion, Neely recorded a pair of pins, including a fall in 4:20 with a cradle to beat McGuffey’s Jeff McConn in the 145-pound finals of the Section 2-AA championships. The wins improved Neely’s record to 28-1 this season, heading into this weekend’s WPIAL championships at South Fayette High School.
“I came in with a lot of confidence, hoping to do what I did all year,” said Neely. “I wanted to make a statement.”
Tough bracket: Neely’s WPIAL title last season came at 126 pounds, beating top-seeded Stone Kepple of Derry in the semifinals before knocking off second-seed Justo Hernandez of South Allegheny in the championship.
But he couldn’t rekindle the magic the following weekend at the Southwest Regional. He lost to Mike Novak of Mt. Pleasant, 1-0, in the quarterfinals then lost a rematch with Kepple in the consolation bracket, 6-3, keeping him from a trip to Hershey.
This year, his WPIAL bracket looks daunting with PIAA champion and unbeaten Mike Carr of South Fayette and Freedom’s Kody Komara, a fifth-place PIAA finisher at 132 pounds last year.
Neely wasn’t backing away from the challenge at 145 pounds.
“Probably second, behind Carr,” said Neely of where he expects to be seeded. “Komara got beat by Carr, so he can’t be seeded second. I think I’ll see Komara in the semifinals and Carr in the finals.”
If Neely sounds confident, it’s with good reason. Neely’s lone loss came to Penn-Trafford’s Cameron Coy, a state runner-up last year and the state’s top-rated 145-pound wrestler in Class AAA. He’s taken on and beaten all of the other competition this season to run his career record to 119-30.
“I wrestled Komara in eighth grade. I’ve never wrestled Carr,” Neely said. “I was watching Komara the last year. Two years ago, he wrestled a pretty good kid on our team, Jake Rothka. I still remember, he was pretty good on his feet.
“I’m trying to get in condition. That’s been the main thing. I want to score a lot of points.”
The next champ: Bentworth hasn’t had a PIAA champion since Francis Mizia won a title at 160 pounds in 2012.
Neely would like to be the next. He feels it’s an attainable goal, despite being in a tough weight class.
“Possibly, if I keep my confidence level up and get in condition,” Neely said. “We’ve been practicing as much as possible and going hard at it. The injuries, the bumps and bruises, they’ve been set aside. I’m a senior and I can’t let anything hold me back.”
Two-sport star: Neely also is a standout baseball player at Bentworth and said that is actually his favorite sport.
Wrestling’s postseason cuts into the time he can spend getting ready for baseball, but he’s OK with that this year.
“As much as I’m ready for this to be done, I’m really not because I’m a senior and this year’s going really well for me so far,” Neely said. “Even regionals cuts into when the official practices start.”
Neely hasn’t decided whether he’ll go on to college and continue competing.
“I’m getting some stuff from colleges but I’m not sure if I’m going to school or not,” he said. “I haven’t decided. Maybe trade school.”
That makes each time he steps on the mat or into the batter’s box a big deal.
“It’s a big difference,” said Neely. “I want to make sure I get the most out of everything I do.”
Compiled by Dale Lolley