Bryan Hart ’03
Career Record: 112-33
Tournament Championships: 2x Manheim
College: Bloomsburg (NCAA Qualifier)
2003 – 130 lbs.: District Runner, Up, Regional Runner-Up, State Seventh (42-6)
2002 – 130 lbs.: Injured (7-3)
2001 – 135 lbs.: District Third, Regional Fourth (34-12)
2000 – 119 lbs.: District Sixth (29-12)
Bryan Hart was a four year starter with wins over some of the best wrestlers in the country. A major knee injury threw his career off track, but he still finished with over 100 wins and a state medal.
As a freshman, Hart earned a varsity spot starting at 125 pounds, scoring a pin in his first varsity match. Hart went 5-0 into his first Reno Tournament of Champions, where he dropped to 119 pounds and finished seventh in the prestigious event. He followed that up with a Manheim championship, with wins over state medalists Mike Bires (Manheim Central) and Brad Forbes (Downingtown) on his way to the title. He majored John Stout (Blair Academy) in Easton’s tight loss to the Bucs. He knocked off future state finalist John-Henry Zarzycki (Pleasant Valley). Hart hit a little bit of a freshman wall, going 4-4 through late Janaury/early February, and limped into the D11 tournament. There, he pinned his opening match, but lost a D11 duals rematch to Brett Frack (Nazareth) to drop into the consolation bracket. He wrestled his way to consolation semis, where he lost to four-time medalist Joey Rivera (Stroudsburg). But in the “go-to-regoinals” match in teh fifth place bout, Hart dropped a 10-4 decision to Jason Snyder, ending his season.
As a sophomore, Hart majored Brett Frack in the second bout of the year to demonstrate just how much he’d improved going into tenth grade. He medaled at Reno again, taking sixth, with a win over Oklahoma state champ Chance Shipman (Choctaw). He slipped to fourth at Manheim, losing to Brad Forbes (Downingtown) in semis. At Elite Duals, he posted a highlight win by majoring future NCAA champ and two-time state champ Jarrod King (Connellsville) as the Red Rovers destroyed the Falcons, 52-9. Later that day, he pinned Delaware state champ Chris Collins (St. Mark’s). In Easton’s dual with interstate rival St. Edward, Hart beat Ohio state finalist Chris Vonduskra in one of the key toss-up bouts of the dual. He beat New Jersey medalist Justin Koeller (Phillipsburg) in Easton’s season ending domination of the Stateliners. He had a tough day at D11 duals, with losses to Justin Banket (Blue Mountain) and future state finalist Seth Lisa (Northampton). But he responded with a 3-0 day at State Duals as Easton won their first state title in the dual format. In the D11 tournament, Hart majored in his openin bout, then fell in a back-and-forth 12-9 affair to state bronze medalist Scott Heckman (Bangor), but wrestled back to finish third. At Regionals, Hart won his first two bouts, including a quarterfinal win over future state finalist Seth Martin (Selinsgrove) to meet Heckman again in semifinals. For the second straight week, the two traded haymakers, with Heckman once again coming out on top, this time 13-9. Heckman went on to place third in the state, while Hart surprisingly dropped his consolation semifinal to Tony Severo (Parkland), ending his promising sophomore season two bouts short of the state tournament.
Hart came into his junior year one of the top contenders at 130 pounds in Pennsylvania. Hart got off to a 3-0 start before shipping out to Reno, where he shined on the first day with a 15-0 tech, a first period fall, and an 11-5 decision. In quarterfinals, he knocked off California state champion and three-time state finalist Alex Herrera (Bakersfield) in the biggest win of his career. He met California state champ Troy Tirapelle (Clovis) in semifinals, who dropped Hart into the consolation bracket. After dropping his consolation semifinal bout, Hart wrestled Devereaux Solis (Castro Valley, CA) for fifth. In the opening minute of the match, Hart’s foot got stuck in a scramble and his knee bent awkwardly, fully tearing his meniscus and ending his season. Hart needed reconstructive surgery to repair his knee ligament and had to sit on the sideline as Easton enjoyed its second straight state title.
Hart came back recovered as a senior and again one of the 130 pound favorites in Pennsylvania. He opened the season with a win over state medalist Ed Labatch (Wilson) and rolled undefeated into Reno. In Nevada, he posted a huge win in his third round match with a 10-9 victory over future NCAA All American and Washington state champion Tyler Sherfey (Kamiakin). Hart advanced to semifinals, where he had a rematch with Troy Tirapelle (Clovis) and while the California champ beat Hart again, Hart cut the margin to 6-2. Hart then knocked off two-time Oklahoma state champion and Fargo Junior freestyle finalist Justin Porter (Vinta) for the bronze medal. Hart became the second Red Rover with four Reno medals, joining Gino Fortebuono. Hart followed his Reno showing with his second Manheim title. At the NHSCA Final Four, Hart defeated Oklahoma state champion and future two-time Division II NCAA champion Kyle Evans (Edmond North) 6-4, Super 32 champ Joe Walker (Great Bridge, VA), and hit a five point move in the waning seconds to defeat National Prep champ Robbie Preston (Blair Academy). He stayed undefeated against Pennsylvania competition during the regular season by majoring state medalist Joe Provini (Nazareth). In D11 duals, Hart defeated eventual state champ and three-timer Joey Ecklof (Northampton) 3-1 in Easton’s stunning reversal of their regular season loss to the Konkrete Kids to win D11 Duals for the third year in a row. Hart went 3-0 at state duals. Easton scheduled a dual with New Jersey state champions Absegami as the lead-in to the NWCA All Star Classic in Delaware. Hart wrestled a classic with New Jersey state champion Ryan Bridge, going 1-1 into overtime, but Bridge hit a beautiful throw to put Hart on his back and beat him 6-1 in sudden victory. At the D11 tournament, Hart cruised into the semis, then rode out the third period to defeat future two-time state champion Joe Caramanica (Nazareth) and earn a berth in his first D11 finals. There, he wrestled returning state bronze medalist Jay Morrison (Whitehall), who beat him 9-3. The following weekend at Regionals, Hart followed a similar path, hammering Caramanica 7-1 in the semis to get a rematch with Morrison. There, he took Morrison down in the second and was holding onto a 4-3 lead deep into the third period, when Morrison struck with 11 seconds left to snatch the Northeast Regional title away from Hart. At the state tournament, Hart won by shutout in his opening match, setting up a quarterfinal with superstar sophomore Donnie Jones (Greensburg-Salem). Most outlets picked the winner of the Jones-Hart bout to win the tournament. After trading escapes, Jones struck with an ankle pick off a restart for the bout’s only takedown in a razor thin 3-2 win over Hart, ending his dreams of a state title. Jones went on to win his first of two state championships. On the back side, Hart mentally recovered to beat Matt Lower (State College) to earn his first state medal, trading rideouts with Lower in regulation before taking him down in OT. Hart lost to future NCAA qualifier Matt Fittery (Cocalico) in consolation quarters, then beat Corey Schwerin (Hempfield) to finish seventh in the state.
After Easton, Hart wrestled at Bloomsburg, where he qualified for the 2004 NCAA tournament as a true freshman before aggravating his 2002 knee injury ended his career. Hart coached future NCAA champion and US Olympian Zain Retherford as the top assistant at Benton High School.
History of Easton Wrestling 