North Allegheny girls wrestling coach Dan Heckert has confidence in his squad despite the potential rebuilding season that is before them.
“We’ve had a lot of turnover from last season,” said Heckert. “We have seven new girls, and we lost eight due to graduation and girls not returning.”
Amidst all of the turnover, the offseason was a bit of a struggle.
“We didn’t have a good, cohesive offseason of spring and summer and everything like that because we lost so many girls,” said Heckert. “So very much a rebuilding year here for us.”
The offseason turnover resulted in the Tigers losing 141 of their 207 total wins from last season, including Leyna Rumpler, who went 35-2, reached the state finals and is now wrestling at Baldwin Wallace.
Heckert is relying on his returners to spread the culture to the newcomers.
Anna Kovacic (Jr.), Lorelei Bungard (So.), Maya Scott (Sr.), Ava Anthony (Jr.), Heidi Radford (So.), Sophia Folks (Jr.) and Ava Frailey (Jr.) are the returners for the Tigers.
When asked about newcomers who are looking to make an impact on the team this year, Heckert said, “Carly O’Connell and Alex Gosnell are two names I’d be watching out for. O’Connell’s father was a WPIAL champion for NA wrestling, so Carly is our first legacy wrestler, which is very exciting for us.”
While navigating the rebuilding season, Heckert looks to keep his team as focused as possible coming out of the gate.
“We just can’t look at wins and losses right away and just focus on getting better each week,” said Heckert. “The goal is to continue progressing into February and March, and if we do that, we will be in a good spot.”
While there may not be a specific gameplan for each match, Heckert will have his girls prepared each time they take the mat.
“We assess every girl based on their individual progression and skill level. Once we get deeper into the season, the girls will only continue to progress and see more success,” said Heckert.
While a rebuilding year comes with its challenges, Heckert has confidence that his girls will handle them well.
“Our biggest challenge this year will be trusting the process. We just have to trust and understand that the goal is to continue to get better each week,” said Heckert. “This will take some time, but if the girls trust the process, we will be OK.”
North Allegheny was scheduled to open its season Dec. 11 at home against Fox Chapel.