Wrestling, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Peyton Manning
Favorite team: Denver Broncos
Favorite memory competing in sports: Going to team states and wrestling in it.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Passing out during a match
Music on mobile device: Rap and Country
Future plans: Going to college
Words to live by: “Hard work pays off in the end.”
One goal before turning 30: Have a good job and a happy family
One thing people don’t know about me: I have two goats.
By Ed Morrone
Zach Lewis doesn’t say much, so Kurt Handel wasn’t sure how things might play out for the wrestler he describes as “quietly ferocious.”
Lewis burst onto the scene as a freshman at Quakertown, starting the year with the jayvee program before ending up in the varsity lineup after a wrestle-off in the latter part of the season. Lewis responded by posting an 8-5 record, winning the league tournament and placing sixth at districts. As far as first impressions go, Lewis aced his first big varsity test, and things were seemingly only looking up from there.
Then, sophomore year came around and Lewis found himself back in a familiar place: the jayvee squad, blocked from entering Quakertown’s starting rotation while stuck behind the team’s state qualifier. He saw some varsity time that season, going 12-5, but it was a dispiriting scenario following Lewis’ hot start as a freshman.
Handel said many kids in the same position would have quit, and because Lewis is such a man of few words, he didn’t broadcast how the demotion made him feel.
Was it difficult going back to jayvee after experiencing varsity success? Absolutely. But quit? No chance, not Lewis. He simply got back to work and let the results do the talking for him.
“It was definitely hard being back on jayvee again after coming out strong,” Lewis admitted. “But I never thought about quitting. I’ve always wanted to prove myself. I’ve been doing it my whole life. When that happened, I just worked harder than I ever have. I started wrestling and lifting more in the summer to be better, and it showed.”
As a coach, Handel knows how the minds of teenagers work more than most. When kids experience failure or setbacks, it sometimes forces them to shut down and withdraw. That said, the internal fortitude and perseverance within Lewis was too strong to break. If anything, the adversity was only going to make Lewis better in his final two seasons.
“It’s a harsh sport,” Handel said. “Some years it works, others it doesn’t. Zach could have quit, but he never felt sorry for himself. He takes success and failure in a similar stride. He’s very even-keeled, and that’s why he is so successful.
“Zach is a pretty laidback young man. He’s chill, for lack of a better word. He’s not a high emotion kid who is hooting and hollering. He chooses to lead by example. Each athlete has his own personality, and I always sum up Zach as quietly ferocious. When he has a little setback, he comes back with a fury.”
Quietly ferocious is just always the way Lewis has been. He said he comes from “a family, like me, that is quiet and not outgoing,” and the mental demand of the sport of wrestling fosters and solidifies that mentality even more. Considering Lewis has been wrestling since he was five years old, he and the sport are emotionally intertwined, just the way he likes it.
It’s that personality that allowed him to emphatically bounce back from the disappointment of his sophomore season. Finally armed with a secure spot in the varsity lineup, Lewis responded by going 30-14 over a full season, qualifying for Regionals in the process. For the first time, Lewis really got to see “just how good I could be.”
Junior year was a mere appetizer for things to come. Though a groin injury sidelined Lewis for a week or so around Christmas, forcing him to miss a couple of matches as well as the prestigious Liberty Tournament, Lewis finished his senior campaign with a 36-8 record. He won a tough match against Council Rock South, he earned a tough win and the team’s first dual meet win over the school in 10 years. For his career, Lewis ended 86-32 with 39 career pins, a number that Handel called “pretty significant.”
As a team this season, Quakertown qualified for districts and finished second, with some key Lewis wins leading the charge. That placement got them to states as a team, which the program hadn’t done since 2009. Though they came up short in Hershey, Lewis won both of his individual matches.
“And he was deserving of that outcome,” Handel said. “In this day in age, if kids aren’t in the varsity lineup at some point, they’ll quit because they don’t want to wrestle jayvee. Zach isn’t selfish, and when the chips are down, he doesn’t fold up. He doesn’t want to give up any points to his opponents, and he made us work at practice. He brought that to a room with a lot of underclassmen, and the younger kids took notice of his quiet, top-notch work ethic. I’ll really miss Zach. He and his fellow seniors were outstanding and the reason why we had such a historic season.”
Lewis, who wrestles at 132 pounds, keeps his emotions close to the vest, but even he admitted the experience at Hershey had a profound impact on him.
“It was really awesome, just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “It was the first time we were at states in a long time, and it was so cool to see my coaches and teammates so happy. And for me, to make it to states in my last year was an incredible accomplishment for me and my team.
“Before I went out, I was nervous and had some jitters to be on that big stage; but then I looked over at my coaches and they just smiled and told me to let it fly. That calmed me down, and getting those two wins and looking into the crowd after and seeing everyone cheer me on was so cool. I got to prove that I can win matches on the biggest stage.”
Before his time at Quakertown is over, Lewis still has one more sport to play as a member of the school’s lacrosse team. This is just his third year playing the sport, one he said he just does for fun as a means to unwind and come down from a grueling wrestling season. Lewis was a starting midfielder a season ago and hopes to be again as a senior as well as a faceoff specialist.
As far as Lewis’ wrestling future is concerned, he’s still debating if there’s more to come. Now that the season is over, he’s narrowed his college decision down to two: Lock Haven University and Messiah College. The latter would include a spot on the wrestling team, while Lock Haven would be more of an academics-first decision. Lewis has aspirations to become a Health and Physical Education teacher, and while both schools offer that as a major, he wants to be sure he puts his studies, and not wrestling, first. He went to a camp at Messiah last summer and has talked to the coach and members of the team multiple times and believes either place would be a good fit.
“That’s what makes it so tough,” Lewis said. “I don’t want to give up wrestling, but I’m also thinking about my future. It just depends if I can be successful in both my schoolwork and with wrestling. It’s a hard decision, and I’m still thinking about it.”
As far as becoming a teacher is concerned, Lewis just thinks it’s a natural fit. He loves the idea of working with kids, and the possibility of parlaying that career into also becoming a wrestling coach is incredibly alluring. After all, the sport has given him so much, and Lewis would love to take things full circle and give back to a community that has wrapped its arms around him for 13 years.
“I’ve always been an athlete and looked forward to gym class, so being a gym teacher is right up my alley,” he said. “I can get along with little kids, middle schoolers, high schoolers…I can bond with them, and also teach them about health.
“Plus, being a teacher can lead to becoming a wrestling coach, which I would love. Showing kids examples of my own career to get them to do better for themselves in order to succeed would be very fulfilling for myself.”
When he’s not competing, Lewis said he loves to fish and experience the outdoors with as many friends as possible. At home, he likes to unwind by spending time with his family and his two pet goats, Rick and Minnie. And yes, you read that right…goats.
“Whenever I tell people I have goats, they’re always like, ‘WHAT?’” Lewis said, laughing. “We’ve always had them, because my mom loves them. It’s different than having a dog, but they still come up to you and let you pet them. I guess they don’t do anything for us, but they’re our pets.”
Wrestlers are a different breed, and Lewis is no exception. He lets the sport and the ferocity it brings out of him define his character while saying little. Given the results he’s achieved on the mat the past four years, it’s hard to argue with how Lewis has done things.
After 86 wins and nearly 40 pins, what else even needs to be said?
“It’s just really taught me discipline,” Lewis said of his chosen sport. “Things come a little easier the harder you work at them. If you keep that up, it will show in your life. Like, when I’m looking for a job in the future, I know I can persevere through the challenge because of that discipline instilled in me.
“It’s hard to believe that it’s over. It went so fast, like a blur. I made so many friends with my teammates and coaches and I’ll never forget any of them. They all constantly pushed me and made me into the person and wrestler that I am today. The kids on the team pushed me inside and outside of the room. They came with me to the YMCA to help me cut off the last couple pounds the night before a big match or tournament, and the coaches did the same every practice. It had a big impact on me and showed me that hard work does pay off, as well as what it could become.”
