Ex-Mars wrestlers waiting in the wings
ADAMS TWP— With a young team enduring growing pains this season, Mars wrestling coach Don Cooley needs only to point at a wall.
A board on that wall lists the only Planets wrestlers to reach the state tournament:Adam Smetana, Dave Pisarcik, Steve Perri and Pete King.
Two of them, Smetana and Pisarcik, are still going strong at Penn State and Purdue, respectively.
"Both of those guys stopped by the room during the (holiday) break to talk to our kids,"Cooley said. "They show up wearing their Penn State and Purdue jackets and our kids think that's pretty cool.
"I definitely use those two as motivation for our other guys. They're examples of where hard work can take you."
Smetana graduated from Mars in 2005 as the program's all-time victory leader with 88, including a 66-7 record his final two years. He wrestled at 119 pounds his senior year.
Pisarcik came closest to a state championship, winning his first 48 matches as a senior in 2006 before dropping an 8-6 decision to Sharon's Kellen Harris in the Class AA189-pound title match.
Pisarcik finished 78-11 in his high school career.
However, both are stuck behind stellar wrestlers on the college level.
Smetana is a redshirt sophomore at Penn State and competes in the 125-pound weight class. He is behind Brad Patacky, a redshirt sophomore from Clearfield who nearly made the U.S. Olympic team last year.
Patacky is 15-4 so far this season. Smetana is 3-3.
"You go up against a guy like Brad every day in practice and you can't help but get better,"Smetana said. "Anyone else around our weight, I can handle OKin the room.
"I'm behind Brad right now in terms of time on the mat. I feel like I'm closing the gap, though. I'll just keep working at it."
Smetana redshirted during his freshman year, then missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in July of 2007."I tore my shoulder out for a second time and had to have my rotator cuff and labrum fixed up,"he said. "I couldn't wrestle for a year and seven months — not that I was counting."It feels good just getting out on the mat again. My shoulder's holding up fine."Pisarcik hasn't wrestled at all this season. He's at 184 pounds and is behind sophomore A.J. Kissel, who was 25-17 at Purdue a year ago and is 15-5 so far this season.After seeing action at heavyweight as a freshman — going 4-12 overall, 0-7 in Big Ten duals — Pisarcik was redshirted last year."Halfway through my freshman season, our heavyweight got hurt and the coaches asked me to fill in," Pisarcik said. "I had to bump up a couple of weight classes, but it was a good experience for me."I'll keep competing with A.J. for mat time. I'm not planning on switching weight classes. I'm not going to run away from anybody."Smetana might switch weight classes if Patacky stays in front of him."I want to start somewhere at some weight before I'm out of here," he said.Cooley remains confident the two Mars graduates — the first from the program to attain college scholarships — eventually will make their marks on the college mats."They'll break through," he promised. "Those are two guys who will stick to it. They'll persevere. They're not quitters."
