HERSHEY — Never downplay the value of confidence.
Johnny Miller certainly isn’t, not after the level of success he has achieving in a senior season guaranteed to be capped by a state medal.
After not getting out of the Class 3A South Central Regional the two previous seasons, the Exeter senior qualified for the PIAA Championships with his 189-pound championship two weeks ago. Another personal first will be achieved Saturday when he gets to step up on Giant Center’s medal podium to accept whatever medal he wins.
Gold is his precious medal of choice.
“I set the goal to win a state title,” he said Friday after winning his quarterfinal bout against Mifflin County’s Trey Shoemaker 7-5. “I’ve built up my confidence this year.”
Miller is one of two Berks wrestlers still alive for gold. Daniel Boone’s Tucker Hogan advanced to the semifinals at 172 pounds in Class 3A.
Miller (43-2) credits training under Chance Marsteller, a four-time state champion at Kennard Dale and two-time NCAA All-American at Lock Haven, with his senior-year transformation.
“Working with Chance Marsteller, I learned to get my hands and feet moving,” Miller said. “I’m grateful to have him in my corner.”
Involvement with a number of clubs was another help.
“I’m not shying away from competition,” he said. “I had been complacent. Now I go to rooms where I’m beaten up.
“A lot of it is the clubs. I’m learning a lot of new things, honing my skills in practice.”
Miller got to the quarterfinals with a 9-0 major decision of Phoenixville’s Owen Koch Thursday. His rematch with Shoemaker — they met in a tournament during the fall of 2020 — was achieved in spite of not being at the peak of health.
“What got me the win was grit,” he said. “I was feeling under the weather, and I had to make some adjustments.”
“He started pulling it together in the summer, at Super 32 and Surge (tournaments),” said Exeter coach Kevin Oswalt. “He’s more confident in what he can do, and he puts more time together.”
The COVID-marred 2020-21 season had its own impact on Miller, whose career win total stands at 112. After posting 36 victories as a sophomore, his total was reduced to 21 in 25 matches last year.
“He worked hard over the year,” Oswalt said. “He came back wanting more.”
Miller will face Quinn Collins of Central Bucks West in the semifinals, which begin at 9 a.m.
Hogan (42-1), a sophomore, won his quarterfinal with Canon-McMillan’s Matt Furman 6-5. An escape with about 1:12 left in the third quarter proved to be the difference in a bout where Hogan held a 4-2 lead in the first period before Furman executed an escape to make it a 4-3 in the second.
He will face Dom D’Agostino of Interboro in the semifinals.
Daniel Boone 106-pounder Dean Houser also guaranteed to win a medal. Houser (40-6), a sophomore, won twice Thursday, but started out Friday with a loss to Haverford’s Cole McFarland in the quarters. He rebounded in the third round of consolations with a 7-2 sudden victory over Warwick’s Marco Tocci.
In Class 2A, Charles Sheppard is Berks’ lone wrestler still alive and guaranteed to medal.
The Hawks’ junior 285-pounder came back from Thursday’s split with pins of Huntingdon’s Gunner Singleton (4:59) and Tussey Mountain’s Matt Watkins (4:19).
In his fourth-round consolation with Faith Christian’s Leo Muzika, Sheppard (34-14) won by fall. He will wrestle for seventh place Saturday against Corry’s Xavier Reyda.
Bowing out in Friday’s first 2A sessions were Berks Catholic’s Brayden Hartranft (106), Gabriel Davis (172) and Brody Kline (215); Brandywine Heights’ Jacob Deysher (120); and Wyomissing’s Caleb Brewer (285).
Knocked out of contention in Class 3A Friday were Wilson’s James Garcia (113), Dominic Jurado (138) and Ryan McMillan (215); Daniel Boone’s J.T. Hogan (152); and Exeter’s Nick Nettleton (160).
Source: Berkshire mont
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