By T.J. Turrisi
March 14, 2010 — HERSHEY — Six minutes was just too long, so Union City senior Jared Burger decided not to wrestle that long.
Burger pancaked St. Pius X’s Josh Rogers for a 46-second pin to claim the third-place medal at 215 pounds on Saturday. Burger’s 3-1 loss to Seneca’s Matt Mongera in the semifinals Friday knocked his aim off course. But only slightly.
“Losing in the semifinals to the kid I beat six times, it hurt,” Burger said. “But I was like, it’s my senior year and I have to come back strong. I think I proved it.
“My goals were real high this year. I didn’t achieve my goal, so I just had to knock it down a notch.”
Friday, an invigorated Burger took a 13-7 decision over Brian Hooks of Commodore Perry to advance to the third-place consolation.
Against Rogers, Burger realized on an early restart that he could overpower the Winged Lions’ senior and southeast region champ.
“I popped my foot on the edge of the mat, but I just went right back into it because he left it open,” Burger said. “It feels awesome. It’s a great accomplishment for myself. I still think I am the best 215-pounder.”
Burger finished his season with a 48-2 record.
While he has not made a firm decision, there’s a chance Burger could be back on the mat wrestling for a local college in the future.
“Wrestling’s my sport,” he said. “I play football during the fall, but I love wrestling. I’m talking to Mercyhurt-North East; I’m talking to Thiel, Edinboro.”
“He has a lot of potential,” Union City coach Ed Margie said. “He could improve still on technique, but he’s a strong kid. If a college coach sees his physique I would think he could go far.
“He’s one of those kids that doesn’t like to lose. You’ve got something that’s unteachable and that’s what makes them better as they go. He could go far if he chooses to go that route.”
Teammate Shane Rankin took sixth place at 112 pounds, officially marking the first time in school history for two wrestlers to place in the same season.
Burger’s third-place medal ranks second all-time to state runner-up Chris Clark in the 1970s.
Rankin, a three-time state qualifying junior, ended with a loss by fall to Colt Cotten from Benton in the fifth-place consy. His record for the year was 45-5.
The end of the tournament was a little disappointing for 35th-year leader Margie, but in the grand scheme of things he was extremely pleased.
“They had outstanding years, both of them,” Margie said. “When you lose, you always want to be better. The only kids that are going to feel good are the 14 that win the whole thing.
“We wrestled a great tournament all the way up to the semifinals, we just lost some heartbreaking matches there. I just think with this tournament, more than any other tournament, that if you wrestled this two or three times on different weekends you would get different outcomes. All the weight classes are strong.”
Cochranton sophomore Matthew Bryer is the lone Class AA wrestler bringing a medal back to Crawford County. Bryer placed eighth at 125 pounds, losing his second match of the weekend to Biglerville’s Laike Gardner, 6-4.
Other District 10 wrestlers placing in the top eight and receiving medals were Reynolds’ Mason Beckman (1st, 119) and Dylan D’Urso (3rd, 125), Austin Matthews (8th, 130) and Luke Taylor (8th, 145), Greenville’s Cody Copeland (3rd, 140), Northwestern’s Ian Chiesa (5th, 140), Sharon’s Jordan Moss (2nd, 145) and Lewendo Teague (4th, 171), Fort LeBoeuf’s Jeremy King (4th, 152), Grove City’s Wesley Phipps (3rd, 160), Hickory’s Tyler Gargano (7th, 160), Commodore Perry’s Stephen Ceremuga (1st, 189) and Brian Hooks (6th, 215) and Seneca’s Matt Mongera (2nd, 215).
