All the hard work is starting to pay off for the Orchard Park wrestling team.

It’s been a struggle at times for a team that has been rebuilding with a young roster and has suffered a multitude of injuries throughout the season. At the end of January, the team is finally healthy and finally starting to win.

For Orchard Park assistant wrestling coach Bruce Pryce, he sees it as the team finally starting to live up to the potential he knows they’ve had all year.

“It’s like I’ve been saying to the guys all along,” Pryce said. “In January, we’ll have our team and others will be falling apart. I told them they’d be mad when they see how close some of those losses were.”

Indeed, the Quakers own a 5-10 overall record and a 3-5 league record, but it really could be better considering a number of close losses.

“There were five or six we should have won,” Pryce said. “It’s frustrating, but that’s what wrestling is like. They have to learn what it’s like.”

The Quakers appear to be learning how to win. They had three place winners and scored 80 points at the ECIC Championships on Jan. 21. That was more points than Orchard Park had totaled in the last four ECIC Championships combined. They then went on to post victories in meets against Hamburg and Frontier in the past week. Now the Quakers have a little momentum going into the Section VI Class AA tournament this weekend at Jamestown High School. They are also starting to get the attention of their opponents.

“It makes the other teams realize that we’re better now,” Pryce said. “It was sad for a while, but if we can make other teams sad with our success, that’s fine because we deserve it.”

Following the strong showing at ECIC’s, Orchard Park posted a 44-42 victory against Hamburg last Wednesday. Seamus Bermingham had another impressive performance for the Quakers as he scored a technical fall in his match to win, 15-0. Orchard Park’s other big winner so far this season has been Daquan Rodriguez. He scored a pin in the first period of his match to claim victory.

Also against Hamburg, unheralded Orchard Park grapplers like Jake Carriero and Mike Shul posted big performances. Both wrestlers won with pins. Senior Luke Cetkovic also won by pin.

Orchard Park was able to carry that momentum into its win against Frontier on Monday. The win had extra special meaning as it was senior night for the Quakers. Seniors Rodriguez, Cetkovic, Shul and Kyle Beaver all scored victories in their final opportunity in front of the home fans. It was a perfect evening for them as they got a chance to be honored by the home crowd one last time.

“It means a lot to them,” Pryce said. “It was a great crowd. We had a lot of alumni and old-timers and ex-wrestlers who came back. The seniors got recognition. It was a great night and a great atmosphere. It makes them feel like they really accomplished something.”

Pryce gave a lot of credit to his seniors for continuing to fight and battle, even during the dark, losing periods of their careers. He was hoping to see this group go out the right way because of how they represented the school.

“I’m hoping to get everyone to do the best they can,” Pryce said. “Those seniors toughed it out. They really helped us out this year.”

Pryce is hoping those guys will have an opportunity to compete with the best at the Section VI Championships in two weeks. The Quakers will get their chance to qualify this weekend in Jamestown at the Class AA tournament. The top 5 guys in each weight bracket advance to sectionals. Pryce said the Quakers are prepared for this kind of tournament.

“I’m happy that we went to Ken-Ton and ECIC and NCCC,” Pryce said of previous big tournaments the Quakers competed in this season. “If you can place there, you can do it at sectionals.”

Rodriguez, who owns a 24-2 record on the season, is expected to qualify for sectionals at 195 pounds and is looking to finally qualify for states. Standing in his way will be top-ranked Jake Kelly from Niagara-Wheatfield, whom Kelly will likely face at both the Class AA meet and sectionals. Pryce likes Rodriguez’s chances, though.

“Kelly is a tough guy at that weight, but Daquan can challenge him,” Pryce said. “Daquan is a real handful. He’s a huge 195-pounder who is quick and strong as lightning. Kelly has the experience, but Rodriguez can scare him with his talent.”

Pryce would also like it if fellow seniors Shul and Cetkovic closed their careers by going to compete at sectionals. He’s also hoping that some of his younger guys can show well to build momentum for next season.

Pryce and head coach Doug DeLozier are proud of the accomplishments of the team this season.

“Doug and I are happy,” Pryce said. “Itcould be better, but we’re real happy with the success.” email: mmigliore@beenews.com