By Alex Frazier
For Council Rock South’s Josh Dziewa and Council Rock North’s Jamie Callender, the last 10 days of wrestling season were a whirlwind.
During that span, the two premier wrestlers of Southeastern Pennsylvania competed in the PIAA State Championships, the Pennsylvania-New Jersey All-Star match and the Dapper Dan Classic, which pits the best of Pa. against the rest of the country.
What a post-season it has been for Dziewa.
After a disappointing first two years at states as a freshman and sophomore (1-4), Dziewa got it done this year after sitting out a year of ineligibility when he transferred to Council Rock South from Pennsbury last year.
“I felt like I was a lot more prepared,” he said. “I felt like everything I had done leading up to that was accountable for it. Before matches I was thinking these guys weren’t doing the stuff we were doing this summer, like throwing sledgehammers and flipping tires. The stuff we went through, I knew it was my time.”
His closest match at states came in the semifinals where he edged Nick Catalano of Canon McMillan, 1-0.
The match wasn’t exactly as close as the score would indicate.
“The kid was wrestling very defensively,” said Dziewa. “He wrestled on the edge of the mat, so every time we got into a little mix-up, he would crawl out of bounds. I felt like I dominated the match.”
In the finals it took him just one minute, 28 seconds to deck Shawn Greevy of Cumberland Valley to claim the 135-pound title.
“I was so relieved,” said Dziewa. “I couldn’t believe that’s how it ended. The past two years have been a complete mess. Bad things have happened. To finally get a good ending was very satisfactory.”
The Thursday after states, Dziewa competed in the Delaware Valley Officials All-Star Challenge against an all-star team from Central New Jersey.
Dziewa won 14-10 over Sam Emburger of Monroe to help the Pa. All-Stars to a 23-21 victory.
“My main reason for doing it was I could get a few extra pounds off so I could make weight for the Dapper Dan,” he said “It was a sloppy match.”
Dziewa was taken down in the first period and responded with a five-point move that put him up for good.
“It was just a matter of me rolling around for six minutes,” he said.
On Friday, he hit the road again, this time to Pittsburgh to compete in the very prestigious Dapper Dan Classic. The Dapper Dan invites the best seniors in the state to take on the best of the US.
While the Pa. All-Stars didn’t fare too well, losing 30-13, Dziewa contributed four team points with a 14-5 win over three-time Michigan state champ Ryan Nieman.
He had wrestled Nieman in Fargo last summer at Junior Freestyle Nationals and “beat him up pretty bad.”
For his performance, Dziewa was named Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Wrestler.
“It was like I had a perfect sundae ending with whipped cream and a cherry on top,” said Dziewa.
Even after missing a season of wrestling, Dziewa said it was all worth it.
“Once again it just proves what Council Rock South training will prepare you for,” he said. “Since that (transfer) happened, I won a state title, I’ve won Fargo, I’m going to the University of Iowa. I think I’ll take those three for a year.”
Next year Dziewa will attend Iowa, about the best wrestling college in the country and major in health/physical education.
Before then, he plans to compete in the Junior World Trials in Cleveland in late April and the National Duals in Virginia Beach before heading off to college.
“A few more tournaments will fall into place, but as of right now, I’m just looking forward to going out to Iowa in July and start training,” he said.
•••
After finishing second last year at states, Callender made it to the top of the podium this year, defeating a familiar foe, Springfield Delco’s Andre Petroski, 7-5 in overtime. Just the week before Callender was triumphant 11-6 in overtime in the regional finals.
The two had wrestled six times in the past three years.
Following states, Callender also was selected to wrestle on the Pennsylvania All-Star team.
He defeated Franklin’s Brian Stapleton 9-3.
“It was definitely more laid back,” said Callender. “It was fun and there was no pressure, but I definitely didn’t want to lose.”
Callender said he enjoyed wrestling on the same team with other wrestlers he usually wrestled against.
One of those was Pennsbury’s Kevin Bree, whom he met for the first time at sectionals.
“He’s one of the funniest guys I ever met,” said Callender.
Besides helping team Pa. win the match, Callender was presented the Sportsmanship Award.
“I was honored to be on this team,” he said.
Two days later on Friday. Callender was flown to Pittsburgh for the Dapper Dan.
His opponent in that match was another familiar face, Mike Evans of Blair Academy. He had wrestled Evans in the finals of the Beast of the East and lost 5-2.
Evans, who ironically enough will be rooming with Dziewa at Iowa next year, pinned his way to the finals of the National Prep School Championships, where he won 6-1.
Evans gave Callender just his second loss of the year in an 8-5 decision.
Callender gave up two takedowns in the first period, but rode Evans for one minute and 40 seconds in the second until he was reversed. He trailed 6-1 into the third when he took Evans down twice.
“He has my number, I guess,” said Callender.
Win or lose, Callender was happy to be there.
“It was awesome to be a part of it,” he said. “They really take care of you.”
Before his team took the mat, an all-star team from the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League took on an all-star team from New York.
“There were a lot of No. 1-ranked kids there,” said Callender. “It was fun to watch.”
Callender will be wrestling next year at Drexel where he will major in business engineering.
He plans to take a little time off before preparing for the next level.
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