Pennsbury Wrestling

Yardley News By Joe Gleeson Though many scholastic athletes dream of joining the elite in their given sport, few ever reach such a lofty height. On Saturday, Jan. 2, Joe Bergen, Pennsbury's 215-pound grappler did just that. He became only the 32nd area wrestler to earn 100 career wins. The feat in itself is laudable and places Joe in the ranks of such late area greats as Ed Curran, Scott Stay, Brian Sellers, Kip Keifer and Mike Pirozzola. The total list reads like a Who's Who in the history of Lower Bucks wrestling with Council Rock's Rocky Mantella leading the pack with 144 victories. What is particularly noticeable about Joe's entry into the wrestling all-stars is that he is one of the few heavyweights in the group. At first glance, what may seem unimportant, gains in significance when you consider Joe's first two years at Pennsbury. As a burly boy who never competed in any weight lower than the 189-pound class, the freshmen neophyte faced many an experienced, upper class opponent. Logic would seem to favor the veterans. Joe recognizes the odds that were stacked against his hitting the century mark in wins. "It felt great getting my hundredth win. Going into this season, I had 83 wins so I knew if I stayed healthy, I'd eventually get it. What made it especially great is that if you look at the guys in our area with a hundred wins, most are in the lightweight classes. Heavier guys wrestle much older kids their freshman and sophomore year. As a freshman, I only had 16 wins. A lot of freshmen coming in chalk up 25 or 30 wins." What especially gratifies Joe is logging victories while a member of the Pennsbury team -- a perennial powerhouse in wrestling. Joe's big win placed him with former Falcon greats, Brian Sellers, Chuck Connor, Kip Kiefer, Joe Bowman, Paul Sujdak, Pat Frain and Scott Miller. That means that close to one-third of the elite Lower Bucks 100-plus win club are products of the Pennsbury program. "It is real special wrestling for Pennsbury. Since my freshmen year, I think we've only lost three meets. It's quite an accomplishment to wrestle for this team. We're known both statewide and on a national level. We have around 70 kids wrestling every year and have been doing it since around 1940." Last year's results serve as ample support for Joe's appraisal. Pennsbury finished the year with an overall 27-1 record. They were 11-0 in the SOL. The Falcons were Section One tournament champs and District One Dual meet Tournament champions. They finished the season ranked 38th in the nation and second in the state. Getting to the top requires real dedication. For Joe, it's a labor of love. While also a star defensive end on the football team, Joe's passion is wrestling. "Its different than any other sport. It really builds character, self-control, and discipline. I personally think its one of the toughest three sports out there. It's a fight with rules. You're in a fight every match. When you're out there, it's just you and the other guy. There's no one to hide behind." The requisite discipline includes a good deal of personal sacrifice. "The toughest part is practice. For example, we practiced over vacation at 8:30 every morning. During Christmas time, when other kids leave school for two weeks, we technically didn't get a break. We even had a practice Christmas Eve." Where practices are physically demanding, actual meets can sap a wrestler's mental energy. You tend to live each match both before and after they actually take place. Joe is no exception. "Before a match I go through in my head what I am going to do to beat the other kid. I visualize what I'm going to do. I imagine the other guys as a robot and I decide what will work or not. I think about the match afterwards. If I lose, I can't even watch it on film. I get so mad and start throwing the remote. If I lose, it's usually by a point or two so I get so mad because it's usually one little thing I could have done." Obviously, Joe could rerun films of his hundredth victory over and over again. The big moment came at the expense of Council Rock North's Tom Edinger. Appropriately enough, Joe's 215-pound bout was the first on the card. "I really like that. I like mixing up when you are going to wrestle. As for my opponent, I didn't know much about him. I knew he was a tough kid and wouldn't roll over. Once I took him down a couple of times, I felt I had the match locked up as long as I stayed smart." The 12-4 decision brought Joe's season record to 17-2. More importantly, the victory assured Joe a solid place among the best grapplers in the history of Lower Bucks Wrestling.