School: Hatboro-Horsham
Wrestling
Favorite athlete: Jim Laky
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Wrestling in the semifinals at states
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was a kid, I screamed, ‘I have to go to the bathroom’ the entire match because I was losing.
Music on iPod: Lupe Fiasco, Kid Cudi (rap, hip hop, reggae)
Future plans: Attend a four-year college majoring in biomedical engineering
Words to live by: ‘Do it big for little Nicky.’
One goal before turning 30: Buy a house to live in somewhere south
One thing people don’t know about me: I love snowboarding but haven’t been able to in four years because of wrestling.
By Alex Frazier
Matt Harkins has already left his mark at Hatboro-Horsham
But he’d like to raise the bar a little higher.
While many wrestlers are happy to win their 100th match before they graduate, Harkins notched his 100th last year on Jan. 28 beating Upper Darby’s Matt Dunn, 6-4.
With that behind him, he rolled on to establish a new career wins record at Hatboro-Horsham this year.
With 109 wins coming into the season, he needed just 10 to top the record of 118.
That came on Dec. 18 at the Abington Duals when he pinned Wissahickon’s Will Berardelli in 1:41.
“That was a sub-goal,” said Harkins. “I knew I’d be able to do it if I didn’t get hurt.”
His ultimate target is 150 wins. Entering the post-season he is 141-21, so realistically, he could surpass that mark as well, probably at regionals.
“He got 141 wins over the weekend, which is phenomenal at Hatboro-Horsham,” said coach Glenn Kaiser. “It’s unheard of at our place.”
Harkins has also put together four 30+-win seasons.
As a freshman he was 37-8, as a sophomore 36-4 and as a junior 38-7. So far this year he is 30-2.
His ultimate goal, however, is to be the first Hatboro-Horsham wrestler to win a state title since Dennis Miriam did it in 1975. Miriam, in fact, is the only Hatboro-Horsham to win states.
“He has lofty goals and he works hard,” said Kaiser.
Harkins started wrestling when he was five.
“My dad signed me up one year,” he said. “He was never a wrestler. But he figured because I was small, I’d be a better wrestler than a basketball player.”
Harkins has what would be called an unorthodox style. While he does have certain moves he tries to set up, it is often in scrambles that he excels.
“He loves to get into the scrambles, score big points and look for the fall,” said Kaiser. “We tried to change him. But we’ve been unsuccessful. It seems to work for him.”
“That’s my strong point,” said Harkins. “I’ve been told I have good hips. You can’t practice a scramble; it’s something you’re naturally good at. Lucky for me. It’s a big help.”
With so much experience behind him, Harkins came into high school with some high expectations. He made it to regionals as a freshman but was eliminated in the wrestlebacks by Central Bucks South’s Mike Mathis.
“I was definitely upset,” he said. “There were a lot of good kids in my weight class that year, but I knew I had three more years to go, so it wasn’t that big of a disappointment.”
“His freshman year he was part of a great team, so he got to learn from (guys like) Robert Gribshaw,” said Kaiser. “He didn’t get to states, which was a pretty big disappointment.”
Sophomore year he came within a match of states, losing to Monsignor Bonner’s Nick Bongard 6-4 in the consolation semifinals. He rallied to avenge a loss to Council Rock North’s Shane Longstreth for fifth place, but that was little consolation for missing states yet again.
“I knew I could have done more that year,” Harkins said.
Last year he finished second in regionals to finally make the trip to Hershey, where he finished fourth, going 3-2.
“Definitely last year he was focused,” said Kaiser.
“I worked harder last year than I did my freshmen and sophomore years,” he said.
One major component of that was working out with former teammate Joe Coughlin on Sundays.
“After sophomore year, I knew I needed more than just my season practice to get me to states,” he said.
Kaiser has noted that Harkins doesn’t particularly shine in routine meets.
“He’ll wrestle down to the level of his competition,” said Kaiser, “but when it’s time to step up, he does that. That’s his character.”
For example, King of The Mountain is one of the toughest tournaments in Pennsylvania, and Harkins is a three-time place winner.
“Not many people around here do that,” said Kaiser. “He’s done well on the big stage.”
In regionals last year, he came up with a big 12-4 major decision against a top-flight wrestler in Unionville’s Joe Bonaduce to make it to the championship finals, where he lost to top-seeded Matt Malfaro of Boyertown by just two points, 11-9.
The loss was hard, but he had at last gotten the monkey off his back.
At states he also rose to the occasion, beating Blue Mountain’s Brandon Choate in the quarterfinals to guarantee himself a place on the podium. After losing to the eventual champion Nico Megaludis in the semifinals, Harkins met up with Bonaduce again, this time edging him 8-7.
Ironically, that set up a re-match with Choate for third place. Choate had his number this time, winning 11-5.
“He had a great post-season run last year,” said Kaiser. “That was phenomenal, especially at states. He’s come through in some big matches for us.”
“I probably do better in situations that matter,” admitted Harkins.
Harkins is also a captain of the team this year.
“Matt leads by example,” said Kaiser. “You have to have captains like that. As a captain he makes everybody feel OK even if they get blown out in a match. Matt can put it in perspective. They still giggle on the bus on the way home.”
Harkins has still not made a college decision. He is strong academically with a 3.05 GPA and is ranked 120 of 450 in his class.
He was a three-time all-academic selection in both the district and the state.
His college options include Drexel, where he has already been accepted, Penn, Penn State and Bucknell.
He plans to major in bio-medical engineering.
“I had original plans to go to med school, but I think I’ll fall back on engineering,” he said. “It’s not as long. I enjoy science. It’s basically the only subject I like to learn in school, so I figured I’d enjoy doing it.”
Nor has he determined whether he will continue wrestling.
Part of his college decision may be predicated on how well he does this post-season, although he says it won’t.
“How I do isn’t going to affect it, it’s going to be if I miss it or not,” he said, “and if there are any scholarships.”
After being involved with the sport exclusively for so long, he is feeling a bit burned out.
“It’s tiring,” he said. “I’d like to eat food on a normal basis. It’s mainly the weight cutting. That’s the worst part.”
He may even take a break this spring and play tennis, “just for fun.”
Having already won three sectional titles, he is shooting for his fourth this Saturday, and the following week he will be aiming for his third district championship.
And maybe even an Outstanding Wrestler award. He already has two this year, one at the Ralph Wetzel Tournament and another at the Abington Duals.
While Harkins should breeze through sections this weekend, his road will become tougher in the next three weeks. At districts, he will be in the same weight class as Pennsbury’s Josh DiSanto (35-0), William Tennent’s Kevin Flack (25-2) and Council Rock North’s John Dutrow (24-8). Flack finished eighth at states last year, while DiSanto and Dutrow were both 1-2. All three are sophomores.
Harkins is ranked fourth in the state by Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings entering the post-season.
“I’m getting excited,” he said. “It’s my last run at it. My expectations are to win everything. A lot of my family and friends are saying ‘a future state champ.’ I have a lot of pressure on me from everybody.”
No matter how it turns out, Harkins will have a scrapbook full of memories.
“I think he’s had fun the past four years,” said Kaiser. “I don’t think he cares if he wrestles at the next level or not.”
