West Spotlight: South Side Beaver wrestling
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South Side Beaver's Nathan Reckner, top, wrestles Chartiers-Houston's Pete Provenzano in the 126-pound weight class of the WPIAL Section 1 Wrestling Team Championships Jan. 25 at Freedom Area High School.
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South Side Beaver wrestling coach Jerry "Bear" McCoy is a firm believer that a loss can be beneficial ... if you learn from it.
He is hoping that's the case with Nathan Reckner's loss in last Saturday's 120-pound title match at the Grove City tournament.
Reckner, a junior and three-year starter for the Rams, lost, 23-5, to Brashear's Godwin Nyama, a PIAA place-winner who is ranked No. 2 in Class AAA in the state by Off The Mat Rankings.
"Nathan hadn't been taken down twice in a match all season, and Godwin took him down numerous times with the same move," McCoy said. "After the match, Nathan talked with Godwin about that move and the two agreed to find time to workout together before the postseason tournaments begin.
"It's a classy move by Godwin to want to help another wrestler. And it's a mature response from Nathan. He wants to learn from his mistake to become a better wrestler. Both can benefit in this situation."
Reckner took the loss in stride.
"When Godwin agreed to work out with me, that showed me he has respect for me and feels that working out with me would help him, also," Reckner said. "Every loss is a learning experience. I want to make the most of it and move on."
Reckner recorded four victories prior to his loss to Nyama, including an 11-2 major decision of Eisenhower High's Jeb Fedor-chuk in the semifinals. That victory was Reckner's 27th of the season and, more notably, the 100th of his career.
"Reaching 100 [career] wins was one of the goals I set for this season," said Reckner, who became the ninth wrestler in school history to join the century club. "Now I can concentrate on getting back to the state tournament."
Reckner earned a trip to the PIAA tournament last season after finishing first in Section 1-AA, second in the WPIAL and fourth in the Southwest Region at 112 pounds. He lost two of three bouts at Hershey and finished with a 36-8 record.
"I drew a returning state champ right off the bat," said Reckner, referring to Line Mountain's Zain Retherford. "I took him down right away, then realized what I had done."
It went downhill from there, as Retherford pinned Reckner in the first period. Reckner did rebound with a 10-2 victory in the consolation bracket, but then lost, 5-4, to Vito Pasone of Wilkes-Barre Meyers in his next match. Pasone went on to place seventh.
First Published February 3, 2012 12:00 am
