The 2021-2022 wrestling season ended for two of Parkland’s best grapplers last Thursday at the PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships held at Giant Center in Hershey.

Adrian Gacek and Alex Neely gave it their best at 160 and 189 pounds, respectively, in the annual late winter tournament which features Pennsylvania’s best high school strongmen.

Gacek, who finished his junior season at 38-9, won a 3-2 decision over Kennett’s Josh Barlow in the preliminaries. With the victory, Gacek advanced to the championship bracket first round where he faced Central Dauphin’s Ryan Garvick. The match proved interesting, but ultimately Gacek, 4-2.

Then the enthusiastic 160-pounder battled Central York’s Macon Myers the consolation bracket’s second round. Gacek once again represented himself and the Trojan program well, but could not get the job done, losing in a 2-3 decision.

Parkland head coach Jon Trenge said Gacek’s success has stemmed from “his commitment to wrestling and lifting weights in the offseason.” In addition, Gacek only knows one way - and that’s all-out. “He has a strong desire to win and compete hard,” Trenge said.

Neely, who ended his last season in a Trojan uniform with a 31-15 record, was overwhelmed in his preliminary round match. Meadville’s Griffin Buzzell won an easy 13-1 major decision over Neely.

The consolation first round was a better fit for Neely, who downed Whitehall’s Melquan Warren 3-2. Next up for Neely was Phoenixville’s Owen Koch in the consolation section’s second round. This proved an entertaining and tight match in which Koch prevailed, 4-2.

Wrestling has made Neely a mentally tougher man and a better student.

“I started wrestling in ninth grade and I got into the mindset of wrestling and working hard and I turned all my F’s into A’s,” Neely said. “Ever since then I have straight A’s.”