Wrestling
Favorite athlete: Jordan Burroughs
Favorite team: Phillies
Favorite memory: Winning freestyle national championship in wrestling
Music on iPod: Rap and country
Future plans: Win a national title while wrestling at Lehigh University and study business
Words to live by: “Anything is possible through the power of hard work and faith.”
One goal before turning 30: Win the Olympics
One thing people don’t know about me: I used to be pretty shy and I’m a pretty quiet person.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Considering that Scott Parker lists Rap and Country as favorite music genres, it is unlikely he has ever heard a rather rare Bruce Springsteen song “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come).”
Yet, if a movie were ever made about the Pennridge wrestler’s glory days, the opening scene would undoubtedly go back to the beginning with the song – featuring the refrain “from small things, mama, big things one day come” – playing in the background.
Parker was a small thing, at age 5, and was not getting much enjoyment out of youth wrestling. Although he had barely given the sport a chance, he was set to tap out.
“I was ready to quit,” he recalls. “I hated it. I cried during every practice.”
His youth coach – Phil Bardy - was having none of that. He gave Parker an award – for what, Parker does not recall – and it was enough inspiration to keep him going.
That spark led to a fire that has yet to be extinguished.
Enter the big things and the big dreams.
By high school, Parker made noise as a freshman and placed fourth in the state as a sophomore and third as a junior.
His goal was to cap it all off with a state title.
That dream died hard on the mat in Hershey, Pa., last weekend in a fluke ending in overtime of the 120-pound state championship match that left Parker with a second-place finish.
Dan Goetter – his coach, friend and mentor – tried his best to console Parker after the 3-1 loss to Greater Latrobe’s Luke Pletcher.
The lone Ram wrestler to ever win a state title back in 2005, Goetter handed a different type of title to the Lehigh-bound Parker.
“I told him he is the best wrestler ever from Pennridge,” said Goetter, who went on to wrestle at North Carolina before his career was derailed by injury. “I just said that I may have the gold medal, but he is a better wrestler than I ever was.”
Goetter reminded a distraught Parker that he defeated a two-time state champion -- Parkland’s Ethan Lizak -- to reach the final against Pletcher, a sophomore with two state titles already to his credit.
But Goetter knows Parker well enough to understand that his words were going to ring hollow.
“It was probably too soon,” said Goetter, who had two other wrestlers – Kordell Rush (106 pounds) and Ben Ross (126 pounds) bring home medals. “It will sink in, eventually, but it’s going to be a tough pill for him to swallow.
“It was tough. I just tried to tell him that he’s a fantastic kid and fantastic wrestler. His career isn’t over. It’s really a stepping stone to college, but he is very disappointed right now. He wanted that state championship since he was a little kid. He finished fourth, third and second in three years. That’s nothing to sneeze at, but I know it’s always going to bug him.”
After a few days of reflection and replaying the match in his head, Parker has gained a healthy measure of objectivity.
He thought about his inner-motor and what drives it, and evaluated from that perspective.
“I always just wanted to make a name for myself,” he said. “And I know you can only do that through hard work.
“I just wanted people to remember who I am.”
Which begs the question if he believes that goal was achieved.
“I still need more time to think,” he said. “These last couple of days, I’ve just realized that some things weren’t meant to be.
“It’s just time to move on.”
As he moves on, Parker knows he has plenty of people in his corner. His parents, Scott and Mary, were supportive throughout his high school and club career.
“Even when they didn’t have the money, they found a way to make it happen,” said the middle child of three (his younger brother, Matt, reached regionals as a freshman and is a workout partner while older sister, Stevi, a soccer player at South Carolina, “set an example” for him in athletics).
And then there is his extended family of teammates and coaches -- including his first, Bardy.
“He comes to every tournament, and I talk to him all the time,” said Parker. “He has always been there.”
As for Goetter telling him he was the better wrestler of the two, thus relinquishing the unofficial title of the school’s best-ever wrestler, Parker is also processing that notion.
“It means the world to me that he would say that,” said Parker, who has already begun his rigorous offseason workout regimen. “I don’t really believe that. I didn’t win a state title. He is the guy. I couldn’t have asked for two better coaches (than Goetter and assistant R.P. Norley).”
For Parker, a 4.0 student, a strong academic school like Lehigh is the perfect place to pick up the pieces and follow his dreams.
Parker says it has the “triple crown” – excellent academics, a notoriously strong wrestling program and a prime location.
“It’s only 35 minutes away,” said Parker, who plans to major in business and one day work on Wall Street. “I couldn’t ask for a better school. I can’t wait to get started.”
Goetter admits to being excited about it as well.
“The best part of it is that I get to go up there and watch him wrestle whenever I want,” the Rams’ coach said. “They have a great program. He’s going to be a fantastic college wrestler.”
Goetter was a volunteer coach at his alma mater when he initially saw Parker wrestle in eighth grade. The following year, they began their varsity journey together.
“I came in when he came in,” he said. “We have become very close. It’s going to be sad to see him go.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better kid to coach. He was always the hardest working kid in the room – the first in and the last out. He was a leader by example, and a great teammate.”
Goetter’s hope for Parker is that he takes “the pain he felt” and turns it toward pursuing his goals of an NCAA title and an Olympic gold medal.
Parker may have held his head low for a few days, but his eyes are back on the prize.
“It was hard for the season to end like that,” he said. “It’s still devastating and I’m still feeling depressed, but I also know that there is a bigger plan for me.
“My goal was to win states, but also to win a national title in college and an Olympic medal. I know through hard work, those things are possible. That’s how I’ve always lived my life, and that’s how I’m going to continue to live it.”
