Seneca Valley youth wrestlers who qualified for states include, front row from left: Riley Smith, Jackson Habel, Carter Temple, Decklan Murcko and Jimmy Long; back row: Dominic Mignanelli, Grey Rothrock, Branson May, Bryce Bereksazi, Jaxon Stevens and Zac Lockman. Not pictured: Mimi Skowronski and Cooper Beres. Submitted Photo

Seneca Valley junior high wrestlers who reached the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling tournament include, from left: Riley Smith, Tommy Wuycheck, Zach Hill and Landon Davis. Not pictured is Dean Sauers. Making the Keystone tournament were Oren Musser, Jimmy Bidoli, Jack Sherman, Sauers, Wuycheck, Davis, Smith and Hill. Submitted Photo

JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley varsity wrestling has met with an abundance of success over the years, both individually and as a team.

But the vast majority of the wrestlers who have helped the Raiders become consistent winners began shedding blood, sweat and tears in the sport long before they reached the high school level.

The district’s youth and junior high teams usually turn in very good seasons, but achieved a notable distinction this year.

The programs combined to send 20 wrestlers to a pair of state championship events — the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling and Keystone tournaments, both held in March. It’s the most grapplers SV has ever qualified in one season.

“It’s great to know what’s coming down the pike,” said SV varsity head coach Kevin Wildrick. “To have that amount of depth, that’s good news for wrestlers who will end up being the core of the varsity team a few years from now.”

The youth program, including wrestlers from kindergarten through sixth grade, qualified 12 for states. Making PJWs, held in Pittsburgh, meant at least reaching the final of the Area 7 tournament while wrestlers had to place in the top six at Southwest Regionals to reach the Keystone tourney in Erie.

Zac Lockman earned a berth into both events and came away with a pair of fourth-place finishes. Mimi Skowronski finished second and Jackson Habel eighth, respectively, at PJWs.

“This is a very competitive area for wrestling and it’s quite an accomplishment just to qualify for states,” said SV assistant youth coach Rocky Habel. “For young kids to go out onto a mat in front of hundreds of people, parents yelling and cheering, that takes a lot of courage.

“Wrestling does a lot for a kid’s confidence.”

Habel should know. He began wrestling in second grade and competed for Reynolds High School, a highly-successful program in Mercer County.

SV’s youth wrestlers were also crowned tournament champions out of 24 teams at the Western Area Wrestling Association event, recently held in Chester, W.Va.

Raiders who earned titles there included Branson May, Carter Temple, Charlie Carothers, Cooper Beres, Decklan Murcko, Jaxon Stevens, Micah Baker, Owen Shaffer and Lockman.

“There’s a lot of energy around our program right now and I’m excited about the momentum,” Habel added.

Eight of the Raiders’ junior high wrestlers reached the state level. Zach Hill placed fifth at Keystone (top eight at regionals qualified) and sixth at PJWs (top three at Area 7 qualified). Riley Smith was sixth at Keystone and Tommy Wuycheck eighth in the PJW tournament.

“The kids on our team saw guys like Dylan Chappell, Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Antonio Amelio and Chanz Shearer be extremely successful for varsity and they know that the precedent has been set,” said junior high assistant coach Drew Smith. “They are extremely eager to move up and contribute for the high school team and they’ve shown through their effort that they want to keep the tradition going.”