Gordon "Gordy" Wolf, who wrestled at Lawrence High School and May Bethea, a Trenton Central High School standout, wrestle this weekend.
The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships didn't bring the results they had hoped for, but Mercer County's Gordy Wolf and May Bethea get another chance to reach their goals at the NCAA Championships this week.
Bethea, a former Trenton Central High School standout, is a 157-pounder for the University of Pennsylvania. Wolf, who wrestled at Lawrence High, goes at 174 for Lehigh University. Both will open against opponents ranked in the Top 20.
The tournament runs Thursday through Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Bethea, 22-13 and unranked, makes his first appearance at nationals and drew Edinboro's Austin Matthews (10-4). Matthews competed in nationals a year ago and is ranked 14th by Intermat.
May Bethea in action versus Lehigh University this season. (Photo courtey of Hunter Martin | University of Pennsylvania) Bethea, whose brother Ray is a teammate, will become the seventh set of siblings to have wrestled in nationals. Older brother Canaan graduated year ago.
Other notable seeds in this bracket are: Big 10 champion and top-ranked Isaiah Martinez (27-1), a soph; No. 2 Jason Nolf (29-1), a freshman who took his first loss of the season in the Big 10 Tournament; unbeaten Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State, a senior; EIWA champ Dylan Palacio (ranked 8th).
Locally are No. 12 Richie Lewis of Rutgers, fifth in the Big 10, and No. 15 Chad Walsh of Rider, runner-up in the Eastern Wrestling League.
Wolf is a 13-8 sophomore, having missed time with a knee injury. He opens with 12th-ranked Alex Mayer, a junior at Iowa who is 23-4. Leading the way in this class are top-seeded Bo Nickal, a freshman and Big Ten champ (29-1) at Penn State; No. 2 Brian Realbuto, EIAW champion out of Cornell who is 33-3; North Carolina soph Ethan Ramos, Atlantic Coast Conference champ who is 22-3 and ranked third nationally.
Jon Schleifer of Princeton is ranked 20th. A wild-card selection out of the EIWA, the sophomore from East Brunswick is 21-9. Jadaen Bernstein of Navy is ranked 16th after taking third at the EIWA event. He did his high school wrestling at Voorhees in Hunterdon County.
"I don't think anyone is unstoppable,'' Wolf said about his weight class. "I think I did pretty well in the EIWAs. I don't know what to expect in New York. I've never been to the Garden, but I'm thinking it will be pretty cool.''
Wrestling family brings mentoring to Trenton kids
Bethea was 9-9 as a freshman, which is why he said, "This was a break-out season for me. I think I've done pretty well and I've been healthy all season. There were some matches I lost that could have gone either way and maybe I should have won. So I'm definitely going to New York with the goal of being an All-American.''
Placing in the top eight provides that status.
He was on the podium several times in high school. A four-time Mercer County champion, a four-time District 25 champion and a two-time Region 7 champion, Bethea placed in states three times, taking seventh, fifth and then third as a senior.
Gordy Wolf in action against an American University wrestler. (Photo courtesy of Lehigh University) Wolf, who deferred eligibility last year, won counties and districts three times. His most productive season was as a junior, when he finished 37-3 and took fifth in the states. An injury-riddled senior year kept him from placing in Atlantic City.
With each having two more years of eligibility, there is still plenty of time for accomplishments. Both will train this summer. Wolf will remain on campus while taking a course or two; Bethea will assist brother Canaan at the "Beat the Streets'' facility in Philadelphia, a program that provides wrestling training and mentoring.
Although Bethea and Wolf never faced each other in high school, they were teammates on the same youth teams and often wrestled against in other in workouts.
"I'm 35 pounds heavier than in high school,'' Wolf noted.
Asked how he would do against his former self, Wolf laughed and said, "I wrestled pretty well my senior year. I would beat him, but I don't know how badly.''
Asked the same question, Bethea too broke into a laugh, offering, "Both of (me) would wrestle really hard, but I'm a lot better now. I don't figure it would be too close.''
Follow The Times of Trenton on Twitter @TimesofTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.