By Doug La Rocque
Coach D.J. Connally is the first to admit his team is young, lacking a lot of experience, and has a long road to travel before they can become a force in the Patroon Conference. [private]Speaking to The Eastwick Press following a multi team scrimmage in Hoosick Falls, Connally said this is just their second year back with a wrestling program at Berlin High School. After posting just four wins last year, he is hoping for some improvement. He is still lacking participants in four weight classes, and is working with all under classmen, as he has no seniors on the team. What appears to be a plus for the Berlin grapplers is their coach himself. Connally started in pee-wee wrestling before moving on to wrestle for East Greenbush. He is also not new to coaching, having helped to develop teams in both East Greenbush and Ichabod Crane High Schools.
Connally does not want to point out any of his team for individual honors. A point he likes to make is that they are very much a team in more ways than just a name. He is also hoping to develop a pee-wee wrestling program in the District. Not only to build an experienced talent base but to also foster more interest in the sport itself.
The Mountaineers open their league play on Tuesday at home against Taconic Hills High School. Connally is hoping for some improvement in their league standings this year, but knows they have some tough teams to beat, like Catskill and Maple Hill. Both are schools with long established programs. Should Berlin qualify for the sectionals this year, they hope their recent reclassification to Class D will help. Until this year, the school sports programs competed in Class C, against schools that, for the most part, had larger enrollments than Berlin.[/private]