WRESTLING: Owen J. Roberts, Upper Perkiomen set for 2nd round of PIAA-AAA Duals

Mercury file photo Owen J. Roberts coach Steve DeRafelo will guide the Wildcats into tonight’s second round of the PIAA-AAA Team Duals at Hershey.

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Owen J. Roberts is right smack where everyone always thought they’d be this week, even the Wildcats themselves.
Upper Perkiomen isn’t exactly where anyone thought they’d be this week, perhaps even the Indians themselves.
Quite a diverse, if not unusual, assessment … but so true as both teams prepare for tonight’s second round of the PIAA-Class AAA Team Duals at the Giant Center.
The Wildcats have ruled the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 wrestling roost for two years now. Whether they’re better than last season’s team that rolled over everyone and brought an unbeaten record here is absolutely argumentative. The numbers sure don’t like, though. They’ve been as authoritative a team as a year ago, and they’ve been unchallenged much like the team of a year ago as their identical 18-0 record reveals.
Now, whether they’re capable of equaling or even bettering last year’s showing — a 2-2 split — will be determined by the end of the weekend.
The OJR test begins this evening (6:00) against District 2 champion Delaware Valley High School.

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