Collin Gaj has learned not to take his time on the mats too seriously, with stellar results over the past two seasons.
Beginning this week, the Quakertown Panther had a 10-0 record with seven falls, recently winning the 145-pound title at the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic. The sophomore also captured the same weight class at the X-Calibur tournament at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
In Bethlehem his team finished in sixth place from the 32-team bracket with 132 points, one spot ahead of rival Council Rock South, who was seventh with 120. Council Rock South sophomore Gavin Cole won the 152-pound bracket. Teammates junior Connor Lenahan and sophomore Ben Brillhart both placed third in the 107- and 139-pound weight class respectively.
Quakertown junior Calvin Lachman won the top finish in the 215-pound weight class, and fellow junior Mason Ziegler was the runner-up in the 121-pound bracket.
As for Gaj, it was another enjoyable outing.
“I went into the tournament with the same mindset my coaches have instilled in me since Day One,” boasted Gaj. “I was told to go out and have fun, and that’s what I did.”
Like Gaj, Cole also had a pleasant experience.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Cole. “It felt good to come out on top of a tournament that I didn’t have a lot of success at last year. I still have a lot I want to accomplish this season, but I am happy with how I wrestled this weekend.”
For Gaj, the Bethlehem tournament was an opportunity to add another accomplishment to his resume, one he didn’t last season.
“Wrestling becomes easier for me when I go out and have fun,” he added. “Winning was almost a relief since I was sick last year and missed out on the tournament, so it was nice to check that off the list.
“I always want to go out and win, but at this point in my career I am just trying to improve for the next level. Winning the tournament was definitely nice, but it is not my end goal for the season.”
Finishing fourth at states last season, Gaj has a different goal in mind for this season with everything seemingly in place.
“I plan on finishing on top of the podium at Hershey,” he said. “The season is going good. I’m wrestling at my natural weight, so I am not cutting any weight. I feel the best physically and mentally that I ever have.”
“Collin has grown and matured a lot this offseason,” said head coach Kurt Handel. “He is a leader in our room, as the team coveted him to be one of our team captains.”
Handel has watched his team respond quickly after defeats to Council Rock South and Pennridge.
“They were two tough losses and nail biters,” said Handel. “We came back with a fifth-place finish at the X-Calibur and then here with this tournament. We went 6-0 on the second day at Bethlehem.
“Collin went out and handled his kid in the finals, and Calvin eked it out. Mason lost a very close match to the defending state champ. We were very proud of what we did. It was a banner day.”
Junior Isaac Williams took fourth at 114 and senior Zach Borzio also was fourth at 160. Borzio went over the 100-win mark for his career and now has 102 victories.
The Panthers wrestled Abington Wednesday (results unavailable at press time), and then prepare for the Parkland Duals Saturday. Handel noted that Ziegler has been accepted at Lehigh, Lachman is entertaining Penn, Columbia and Dartmouth, and Gaj has ACC and Big-10 schools looking at him.
However, Gaj is still looking at the big picture for this year.
“As for the team, the coaches are doing a good job preparing us for a big push at our first District One title,” he said. “I think we’re going to get it done this year.”
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