This year’s end-of-season awards went to the team’s co-captains. Dwayne Sampson '08 was this year’s recipient of the Frank Bissell ’33 Award. This award is presented annually to the sixth former who contributes most to the success of the team. Dwayne finished the year with a 16-8 record, placed in the top three of all regular season tournaments, and concluded the year with an 8th place finish at the state tournament. If it was not for an injury in January, his results could have been even better. Next year Dwayne will be wrestling for Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Steele Phillips '09 was awarded the Alumni Award based on his record, overall effort, and the way that he supported those young men around him. Steele finished the year 22-9 (4-1 in MAPL) and he placed in the top four at Northfield-Mount Hermon and Valley Forge Tournaments. He also ended the year with an 8th place finish at the State Tournament.

These two young men were given the challenge of helping a young team realize their potential and helped this team return to the upper echelons of prep wrestling. They certainly have created an excitement in the wrestling room, and any successes seen in the next couple of years can be directly linked to their hard work.

Two Blues wrestlers qualified for the 73rd Annual National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University. This is an event that Hill has won 17 times in its prestigious history. Additionally, 74 individual wrestlers have won the event while competing at Hill. Jay Knighton '10 and David Phillips '08 became the most recent wrestlers to try their hand at this exclusive event.

This year’s field included 124 schools and more than 600 wrestlers from 15 states. If you've never seen this event, it is unlike any other event in high school athletics. Great wrestling starts in the morning on Friday and continues until Saturday afternoon. All wrestlers participating in this event were place winners in their regional qualifying events.

Hill finished its regular season with some terrific individual results at the Pennsylvania Independent State Wrestling Tournament. This year’s event featured 32 prep schools from across the state. This is the last year that the tournament will feature the Philadelphia area Catholic League schools. They provide excellent competition and will be missed when they join with the public schools in the PIAA.

The team had a great showing through the first few rounds. All but two weight classes earned at least one win in their first two bouts. The Blues continued to battle as the competition toughened. We were led by the same core group that has excelled all year. Tyler Mueller '10 upset the fifth seed by a score of 13-5, propelling him into the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, he ran into eventual National Prep Champion Ian McLaughlin, and was knocked into the consolation round. Dwayne Sampson '08 pinned his way into the quarterfinals, with a victory over his opponent from Westtown. Jay Knighton '10 was the other Blues’ wrestler in the quarterfinals. He pinned his Haverford opponent in the first period in order to advance. Jay continued to wrestle well, defeating Mercersburg’s heavyweight in double overtime to advance to the semifinals. When the day ended, only five Hill wrestlers remained: Mueller (119), Sampson (125), Steele Phillips (130), Karl Wiszumerski (135), and Knighton (285).

Karl Wiszumerski '11 ended his terrific freshman campaign with a hard fought loss to the eventual 5th place finisher. The other four Hill wrestlers all earned a placement at the tournament. Steele Phillips '09 was unseeded when the tournament began, but far exceeded the tournament expectations. Steele earned a major decision over the eighth seed from Episcopal Academy. Steele then lost back-to-back minor decisions to finish in 8th place. Tyler and Dwayne had very similar results on their second day. Each lost close bouts that could have been wins on a different day. The result was 8th place for each of them as well.

Jay Knighton showed his toughness throughout the entire event. Jay began the day with a tough minor decision loss to eventual state champion Eric French. Jay rebounded quickly, hitting his next opponent from LaSalle Catholic with an arm spin in the first period. The young man, flying over Jay’s shoulder, was pinned shortly thereafter. In consolation finals, Jay was matched up with Episcopal’s heavyweight. The match was close throughout, and went to overtime. Since no points were scored, it went to a second overtime. Jay earned a reversal during his ride-out period. In the second half of this overtime, Jay cradled his opponent to earn two back points before surrendering a reversal. The result was a 6-4 victory and a third place finish at the state tournament.

Four wrestlers placed in the tournament and the team finished in 15th place overall. This is a marked improvement from the previous year. Additionally, the team was unable to wrestle David Phillips '08 at 152 lbs since he is a post-graduate. Dave had victories over three seeded opponents at this tournament. His possible points could have helped the team jump up another three or four positions.