Thanks to our continued partnership with Univest Financial, SuburbanOneSports.com will once again recognize a male and female featured athlete each week. The recognition is given to seniors of high character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams or who have overcome adversity. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of March 19, 2024)
Sarah Oleary had an identity long before she stepped onto the basketball court at Abington High School. It was really quite simple - she was Lizzie Oleary’s little sister. There was certainly nothing wrong with that. After all, Lizzie had left behind quite a legacy, leading the Ghosts to two District 1 title games and a district title in 2017 while scoring 1201 points, earning all-state and going on to play at the University of Delaware. The only thing wrong with that identity was that it did nothing more than create a giant shadow to live under when Sarah entered Abington’s program as a freshman three years after Lizzie graduated. “It was definitely a lot of pressure because obviously she’s an amazing player,” Sarah said. “I always felt like I was in her shadow, but at the same time, I knew I was my own person, and I knew we were going to be different players. I was always reminded by my family and some coaches that obviously we’re not the same person, and it’s okay if I’m not everything she was and not scoring a thousand points like she was.”
Sarah found herself biding her time to earn a spot on the varsity, and she did not see meaningful varsity minutes until her senior year when she was named a captain and was a fixture in the starting lineup. “It was definitely hard at times,” Oleary said of following her sister. “It was good at some points too because then I had more exposure. People know my name, so that was nice, especially with recruiting. Overall, it was something I had to overcome, and it was something really difficult, but once I realized we’re not the same person – I’m my own player and I’m okay with that, it was actually pretty easy to go on.”
Allison Lawson had a front row seat to Oleary’s high school career as the junior varsity coach who this year was named the varsity coach. “That girl will go a thousand miles for you – that’s Sarah,” Lawson said. “She will dive on the floor, she will do all the little things. Even outside of basketball – when we did team activities, she was always the one that headed everything, made sure everybody got there. If somebody needed a ride, she made sure the younger girls had rides. She’s great.” As a senior, Oleary contributed as a leader on and off the court. “Sarah was always a team player, she wasn’t always a leader,” Lawson said. “She was a silent leader this year. She wasn’t very vocal on the court, but her actions and the things she does make her a leader.”
Oleary’s former coach also had high praise for the senior. “I can empathize with her - I had a brother who was a Division 1 basketball player, and I followed him in high school,” said former girls coach Dan Marsh, who took over the helm of the boys’ team this year. “It was absolutely difficult to follow somebody like Lizzie. Honestly, Sarah handled it very well. She always told me she wanted to carve her own path, she worked hard, she never complained, and she made her teammates better by her work ethic and her wanting to carve her own path. I was very happy for her that she was able to earn a starting spot this year and have a good year. It’s always good to see when hard work pays off.”
Oleary will continue her basketball career at Washington College, committing to the Maryland school last October. She also considered Marymount and Gwynedd Mercy “I always knew I wanted to play in college at a very young age,” Oleary said. “My Fencor coaches were extremely helpful in getting us as much exposure as possible and putting us in the right tournaments each weekend. I’m so excited. Being able to continue as long as I can - I knew that was something I wanted to do. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Off the basketball court, Oleary was part of a business club called DECA, which prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in high school and college. She is a member of the LINK Crew, which is comprised of upperclassmen who help freshman transition to the high school. An excellent student who is taking two AP classes this semester, Oleary plans to major in business with a goal of one day working for a professional sports team. “I just want to keep sports in my life,” she said. “I love watching sports, I love going to sports games. I would love for it to be basketball, but it can be any sport. I just need to have that in my life for as long as I can.”
To read Oleary’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/sarah-oleary-00111463
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of March 19, 2024)
For further proof that big things come in small packages, consider the case of Quakertown’s Mason Ziegler. The 121-pounder recently brought home bronze from the state wrestling championships in Hershey a year after claiming silver. “Right before my match (for bronze), it’s when the emotions of it being my last high school wrestling match sort of hit me,” said Ziegler. “I was trying to keep myself together and keep myself from not crying. It was just another wrestling match, until it wasn’t. I didn’t really realize that until about 20 minutes before my bronze medal match.”
His coach, Kurt Handel, was among those deeply affected by the moment. “He ended up losing in the semifinals,” said the longtime wrestling coach. “He was pretty heartbroken. His dad carried him off the mat. They have such an incredible bond, such an incredible relationship. I don’t think I’ve seen it in my 29 years of coaching. His dreams were shattered. He had about one hour to get himself together and wrestle in his next match against a super tough kid. He got himself together and won a 1-0 match. That, to me, was just a gut check. It shows how mentally and physically tough this young man is. He was able to rebound from such a major letdown and such adversity. He was able to get himself together and wrestle one of the top kids in the state. I told him, afterwards, that it was one of the most courageous things I’ve seen him do in his four years with us.”
Those four years include 167 wins, which is a program record. Ziegler is also a three-time regional champion and a four-time district champion, all firsts for Quakertown. But this snapshot of his wrestling career does not even begin to encapsulate the whole student-athlete. “On top of all that, he’s just a great kid,” said Handel. “He’s a role model to the younger kids. It’s not about him. It’s about making the whole Quakertown program better. He’s that once in a lifetime type of athlete that you get to coach.” With his dad, Dan Ziegler, a state runner-up for Saucon Valley in 1996, Mason Ziegler set the bar high for himself. “The goal, for the longest time, was to get the state gold and become a state champion,” said Ziegler. “The main reason for that was to show my dad that I was better wrestler than he was. It was just a competition type of thing, but I have a really special bond with my dad. My dad is my best friend. He has been my coach forever. He has guided me through my whole career. He has not only helped with my techniques in wrestling, but also the mindset. He just really helps me, and I am very lucky to have a dad like that.”
The younger Ziegler’s wrestling career goes back to the same Quakertown Youth Wrestling Club where many of his teammates cut their teeth. Ziegler can’t drive the point home enough about what a long and strange trip it has been from being a kid who couldn’t buy win to being his school’s all-time winningest grappler. “It’s been a gradual process for me,” said Ziegler. “I didn’t really have much success until high school. After my third year of wrestling, I had zero wins. I went undefeated in losing. My dad said that something I could do to get better was to do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups and 40 pull-ups every day. From third grade on, I’ve done that.” Going to practice? All part of the fun. “I look at it as the best part of my day, going to wrestling practice and seeing my friends,” he said. “It’s not something that I have to do, it’s something that I want to do.” It didn’t go unnoticed. “He led by example, but he found his voice,” said Handel. “He became more comfortable with telling the kids, ‘Hey, you’re not doing this right. You need to do it this way.’ He became more of a vocal leader by halfway through his junior year. Since then, he has been a leader by example both through his voice and his actions.”
Ziegler earned a scholarship to continue his wrestling career with the storied Lehigh University program that recently had five top seeds when the NCAA brackets were recently released and has had numerous All-Americans. “I’ve been told, for a long time, to take pride with everything that I do – whether it’s doing chores around the house, practicing my wrestling moves and in the classroom,” said Ziegler, who plans to major in finance with an eye toward being a financial adviser and then a business owner. “You have to take pride with everything you do because you have to do things all the way. If you don’t do it all the time, then it doesn’t really happen.”
To read Ziegler’s complete story, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/mason-ziegler-00111461
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