Mike Rogers ’04
Career Record: 124-14, 2x D11 Champ, 2x Regional Champ, 3x State Medalist 2x State Champ
Tournament Championships: Reno Champ, 3x Manheim Champ
College; Nebraska/Carson-Newman (NCAA D2 Finalist)
2004 – 152 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Champ, State Champ (35-1)
2003 – 140 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Champ, State Fourth (38-2)
2002 – 135 lbs.: District Runner-Up, Regional Runner-Up, State Champ (34-3)
2001 – 125 lbs. District Third, Regional Fourth (17-8)
Mike Rogers popularized the “Hazard tilt” to devastating effect, using it to post a 107-6 record over his final three seasons with two state titles in one of the most dominant stretches in Easton history.
Rogers broke into the Easton lineup as a freshman during the NHSCA Final Four after Matt Ciasulli and Bryan Rizzo dropped to 119 and 112, respectively. That allowed Rogers to slot in at 125, where he immediately made an impact with a fall against Archbishop Moeller (OH) and a decision over Oklahoma state champ David West (Midwest City), though he suffered his first career loss to National Prep champ and future All American Corey Cooperman (Blair Academy) that evening. Up at 135, state finalist Seth Lisa beat Rogers for the only back-to-back losses of his career. Rogers went 2-1 at both D11 Duals and State Duals as Easton won their first team state championship. In the D11 tournament, Rogers won his opener, then pushed eventual state champion Jeff Ecklof to the limit, losing 3-2 to the Konkrete Kid star. He wrestled back for third, including a 4-1 win over state finalist Jay Morrison (Whitehall). At Northeast Regionals, Rogers won his first two matches to get within one match of states. He lost his semifinal to four-time medalist Joey Rivera (Stroudsburg), 2-1, then blanked Morrison to get to a winner-take-all match for third place. However, after beating Zach Anspach (Milton) in quarters, Anspach returned the favor with a 3-1 win to end Rogers’s promising freshman season a match away from states.
As a sophomore, Rogers jumped levels. At the Reno Tournament of Champions, Rogers made a national name for himself by going pin, pin, 15-1 major to get to quarters, where he obliterated California state finalist Dave Roberts (Clovis West) 15-0. His run was finally stopped in semis by national #2 Mike Martin (Great Bridge, VA) who beat Rogers 9-4. But Rogers beat California state finalist Pat Payne (Poway) and Roberts again on the back side to take third. Rogers won Manheim by teching his way to finals, then beating Nate Cain (Downingtown) 5-2. Rogers ran his winning streak to a dual with St. Edward, where he was part of an Easton barrage that won seven of the first eight matches, and ten of thirteen overall, when he beat Ohio state finalist Chris Vonduskra 5-4. At the NHSCA Final Four, Rogers capped a stretch of five straight Easton wins against national #1 Blair Academy when he defeated National Prep champ and future NCAA All American Max Meltzer in a 6-5 barn burner. Rogers suffered a serious hand injury during practice and was held out until D11 Dual Finals, where he majored Tommy George (Northampton), 12-0 to send Easton back to the state tournament. There, Rogers went 3-0 with two techs and a pin. At the D11 Tournament, Rogers majored future teammate Anthony Innarella (Freedom) in the first round, then blanked Ian McGoldrick (Pleasant Valley) in semis. That set up Round 1 of his epic rivalry with Scott Heckman (Bangor). Rogers built up a lead on the Slaters star in the second period, but with 15 seconds remaining, Heckman hit a vicious cement mixer and pinned Rogers to win the D11 title and earn Outstanding Wrestler honors. The following week at Regionals, Rogers made it back to the final, earning his first trip to states with a rideout win over McGoldrick. In his second match against Heckman, Rogers once again had a lead when Heckman ripped a cement mixer in the third period to erase the lead and pin Rogers for the second straight week. At the state tournament, Rogers and Heckman were on opposite sides of the bracket. Earlier in the week, Rogers had surgery to insert a pin into his broken finger and his hand was heavily bandaged for the state tournament. He snuck by in his first two bouts, beating Mark Kirsopp (Chartiers Valley) 3-1 and Dale Mills (Wilson West Lawn) 8-7. In his semifinal, Rogers took on future state champ and NCAA All American Matt Kocher (State College). Despite breaking two ribs during the bout, and needing to use all of his injury time for his broken finger. Rogers took Kocher down twice to prevail 4-2 and make the state final. On the other side of the bracket, fellow sophomore standout Jarrod King (Connellsville) took out Heckman, denying Rogers a third match with his rival, but setting up a battle of two of the best 10th graders in America. King, a future two-time state champion and NCAA champion and Edinboro, took Rogers down in the first period and riding him out for a 2-0 lead. However, King made the mistake of going on bottom in the second period, and Rogers got himself back into the match with a Hazard tilt and three backpoints, but gave up a reversal near the end of the period. Boldly, Rogers took top in the third period and scored his second full set of back points with another tilt to take a 6-4 lead with just over a minute left. When Rogers was forced to take his second injury time, King chose neutral to give himself one last chance and tying takedown, but it was Rogers who hit a blast double for two to ice his first state title in an epic win over the future NCAA champion.
As a junior, Rogers was on another level. He bonused his way to the Reno semifinals, where he hammered Lionel Serra (Rio Rancho, NM) then blanked California state-runner up Pat Payne (Poway) for the Reno title. He bonused his way through Manheim for his second title. After missing time with injury, Rogers came back for the NHSCA Final Four, where he beat Virginia state champion and future NCAA All American Chris Brown (Great Bridge) 8-3 then shutout National Prep champ Greg Hagel (Blair Academy) 6-0 in the nightcap. At D11 Duals, his fall over Troy Wasser (Northampton) was part of a 30-0 run in Easton’s wild reversal of fortunes win over the Konkrete Kids to go back to state duals. At state duals, went 3-0 with two techs and a major as Easton romped to their third straight state title. That set up a D11 tournament where Rogers was set to square off with fellow undefeated wrestler, Scott Heckman. Both blitzed the field on their way to finals, with Rogers getting two pins and a second period tech. In the finals, Rogers put on an absolute show, exorcising demons from his previous postseason by taking Heckman down twice and tilting him once in an impressive 8-1 win. The following weekend, Rogers once again got a tech and pin to get to finals, where he completely shut down Heckman in a 6-0 win to even their career series and keep Rogers undefeated going into the state tournament. That’s where things got bizarre. Rogers shut out Brian Rowan (Neshaminy) and pinned Bil Morosetti (West Allegheny) to earn a trip to Saturday morning’s semifinals. There, he faced Jake Rathfon (Downingtown), who shockingly headlocked Rogers to his back early for a 5-0 lead. But Rogers slowly chipped away, with an escape, then an escape and a takedown in teh second period. And even after Rathfon got away in the third, Rogers took him down and tilted him for an 8-6 lead and seemingly punched his ticket to the finals. But in the final twenty seconds, Rogers was warned, hit for stalling, and hit for stalling again as time expired to tie the match at 8. After the match, Rathfon said to an Associated Press reporter “He’s the best guy on top in the state, honestly, I don’t think he was stalling.” In OT, Rathfon got deep on a head inside single, which was awarded a match winning take down despite Easton partisans argument that Rogers had a whizzer blocking the score. Rogers, clearly flustered, needed a reversal in an OTRO period later that session to beat Matt Barnett (Hempfield) in the consolation semi. That set up a rematch with Heckman, who also disappointingly fell in semis (to eventual champ Matt Kocher). But in the first thirty seconds of the match, Rogers hit his head and was knocked unconscious, and was carried out of the arena on a stretcher and forced to medically default to fourth place.
Rogers came back as a senior determined to climb the mountain again and return to the top of the podium he climbed as a sophomore. But things got off to a rocky start as Easton traveled to the Las Vegas 100 to open the season. After a first period fall in his first match, Rogers was flagged by the official in his second match for a skin infection and forced to medically forfeit out of the match and tournament. He could not defend his Reno title as he was medically unable to wrestle. When Easton returned for Manheim, Rogers could re-enter the lineup, and he scored two first period pins and a 16-0 tech to claim his second Manheim title. Rogers bonused his way through the rest of the regular season, including a 14-3 major of Minnesota state champ Tom LaCombe (Apple Valley) in Easton’s triumphant Final Four win over the Minnesota powerhouse. He also majored National Prep champ Mike Galante (Blair Academy) 8-0 in their dual with the Bucs. Rogers pin of Bobby Coyle (Phillipsburg) finished off a 59-6 win over the Stateliners, the biggest win in the history of the series, as the rivalry returned to the 25th Street Gym for the first time in years. Rogers went 3-0 at D11 Duals, as Easton once again beat Northampton for the title after losing in the regular season finale. Rogers had two pins and a tech at State Duals as Easton rolled to an unprecedented fourth straight state title. At the D11 tournament, Rogers continued his bonus streak with a tech, two pins, and a major, including a semifinal pin of future state champion James Sciascia (Bangor). Rogers was similarly untested at Regionals where he and two second period techs and a first period pin to claim his second Northeast Regional title. That got him back to the state tournament where he was a heavy favorite to win 152. He looked the part in the first two rounds, majoring Lucas Aughenbaugh (Clearfield) for the second time that season then knocking off Brian Rowan (Neshaminy), 5-2. That set up the de facto final with fellow undefeated regional champ and returning state finalist Jason Hollar (Red Lion). In one of the stranger scenes in state tournament history, Rogers destroyed Hollar, taking him down two and turning him two times to thoroughly dominate him in a 10-2 major decision. Hollar, clearly frustrated, began smacking Rogers in the face during tie-ups and otherwise losing his cool. Rogers countered by slapping himself in the face repeatedly when they would return to center, ostensibly to show Hollar it was not going to phase him. When Hollar took a swing at Rogers during the post-match handshake, he was disqualified from the tournament. Back in finals, Rogers took on tournament Cinderella Dan Geib (Pennridge). He gave up his first takedown of the year in the first period, but recovered for a third period takedown and two-point tilt to put an exclamation point on his second state championship. He finished the season ranked second in the country by Amateur Wrestling News.
After Easton, Rogers started at Northern Idaho Junior College after initially committing to Nebraska. Rogers wound up at Division II Carson-Newman in Tennessee, where in his only full year of healthy competition he made the Division II NCAA Finals, earning a runner-up finish.
History of Easton Wrestling 