Capping a season that saw him join the group of elite lightweight high school wrestlers in the United States, St. Christopher’s Joey Prata captured the 106-lb. title at the National Preps championship, held last month at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.
With the win, Prata, a resident of Yorktown, earned the Richmond school’s first ever individual National Prep title, and helped the Saints to a 10th place finish (out of 134 teams), best among Virginia schools.
Entering the tournament as a #2 seed, Prata, who placed fifth in the Prep tournament last year, had to overcome four opponents to earn a berth in the championship bout. He got off to an auspicious start, pinning both Hans Forland (Green Farms Academy) and Mike McCabe (John Carroll) to advance to the quarterfinals.
But to make the top four in the semis, he had to beat an old opponent – one who had gotten the better of him twice, Michael Doetsch of the Severn (MD) School.
“I wrestled him a couple of times in middle school,” said the sophomore. “But he had beaten me both times.”
However, one of Prata’s greatest strengths is his penchant to size up an opponent who has beaten him in the past, make the necessary adjustments, and come back to defeat the same wrestler later. It is an asset that served him well as a middle school champion with the Virginia Predators, and one which helped again as he dominated Doetsch in the quarters, scoring from all positions while earning a decisive 7-0 victory.
Assured of at least a top-four finish, Prata refused to let up, throttling St. Benedict (NJ) senior Chris Cuccolo 9-3, to set up the championship match against Zach Sherman of the renowned Blair Academy (NJ) program, one which had made a habit of winning the National Prep team title. In fact, the Blair squad had won at Lehigh for 33 years in a row before Wyoming Seminary ended the longest team title streak in American high school sports history, earning 299.5 points and the championship this year.
Were there extra nerves about competing against a wrestler from such a prestigious program?
“Not really,” admitted Prata, who went on to add, “I felt pretty confident going in, and after that first takedown, I knew I could take him.”
Leaving no room for doubt, the Saint grappler added a second takedown against Sherman en route to an easy 7-2 win in the finals. The five wins for the tournament gave Prata a 42-5 record for the season and earned him a second National Prep All-American honor, and third overall (he also won the USA National Greco Roman title in July 2013).
Although Prata bypassed the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) tournament, held at the end of March in Virginia Beach, this year, his season is not over yet. He is currently practicing freestyle wrestling in preparation for regional and national championships, the latter of which will be held in Akron, OH at the end of May. He will also defend his Greco Roman national title later this summer in Fargo, ND.
Through two seasons at St. Christopher’s, Prata sports a career record of 92-16.
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| Prata on the podium at the National Preps wrestling tournament, held recently at Lehigh University. |
With the win, Prata, a resident of Yorktown, earned the Richmond school’s first ever individual National Prep title, and helped the Saints to a 10th place finish (out of 134 teams), best among Virginia schools.
Entering the tournament as a #2 seed, Prata, who placed fifth in the Prep tournament last year, had to overcome four opponents to earn a berth in the championship bout. He got off to an auspicious start, pinning both Hans Forland (Green Farms Academy) and Mike McCabe (John Carroll) to advance to the quarterfinals.
But to make the top four in the semis, he had to beat an old opponent – one who had gotten the better of him twice, Michael Doetsch of the Severn (MD) School.
However, one of Prata’s greatest strengths is his penchant to size up an opponent who has beaten him in the past, make the necessary adjustments, and come back to defeat the same wrestler later. It is an asset that served him well as a middle school champion with the Virginia Predators, and one which helped again as he dominated Doetsch in the quarters, scoring from all positions while earning a decisive 7-0 victory.
Assured of at least a top-four finish, Prata refused to let up, throttling St. Benedict (NJ) senior Chris Cuccolo 9-3, to set up the championship match against Zach Sherman of the renowned Blair Academy (NJ) program, one which had made a habit of winning the National Prep team title. In fact, the Blair squad had won at Lehigh for 33 years in a row before Wyoming Seminary ended the longest team title streak in American high school sports history, earning 299.5 points and the championship this year.
Were there extra nerves about competing against a wrestler from such a prestigious program?
“Not really,” admitted Prata, who went on to add, “I felt pretty confident going in, and after that first takedown, I knew I could take him.”
Leaving no room for doubt, the Saint grappler added a second takedown against Sherman en route to an easy 7-2 win in the finals. The five wins for the tournament gave Prata a 42-5 record for the season and earned him a second National Prep All-American honor, and third overall (he also won the USA National Greco Roman title in July 2013).
Although Prata bypassed the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) tournament, held at the end of March in Virginia Beach, this year, his season is not over yet. He is currently practicing freestyle wrestling in preparation for regional and national championships, the latter of which will be held in Akron, OH at the end of May. He will also defend his Greco Roman national title later this summer in Fargo, ND.
Through two seasons at St. Christopher’s, Prata sports a career record of 92-16.
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