Despite the challenges of the fall sports season with COVID-19 restrictions, none of Northern’s sports teams had to pause their season because of the pandemic. As the winter season approached, various Northern teams were hoping to maintain the integrity of their season like other teams were able to do in the fall. The expectations of the winter season were barely coming to fruition before new COVID restrictions were announced by Governor Tom Wolf in the early weeks of December. These restrictions halted all school sports and school sponsored extracurricular activities until January 4th, thus delaying the start of winter sports by nearly one month. These mitigation efforts were put in place to lessen the spread of COVID among high school athletes, but the delay was disheartening and stressful for winter athletes as their season is now condensed.
After returning from a successful 2020 season, the Northern wrestling team has hopes of another fruitful season. Despite graduating ten seniors from the class of 2020, the team is now led by five seniors in the class of 2021, including Bay Blaschak, Hunter Hertzog, CJ Wagner, Timmy Kelly, and Jackson Shea, and their captain, CJ Wagner. Last year, the Polar Bears were able to secure the Keystone Division title and seem to be off to a good start throughout their first seven matches. So far, the Bears have a record of 6-1 after defeating Central Dauphin East 47-10 at home on January 19th. The Bears are experiencing a unique season this year because of the pandemic, which affects many aspects of wrestling due to the extent of physical contact that the sport demands. A prominent alteration to the season has been the expectation that masks are to be worn during matches. This rule could be an annoyance to the athletes because it could restrict one’s breathing during competition, thus impacting performance. Also, the PIAA has postponed the team wrestling championships to a later date in order to accommodate schools that will not have enough time to hold competitions. With the plethora of changes to this highly physical sport, the patience and perseverance of these winter athletes will be necessary as the season progresses.
The Northern boys’ Basketball team has had quite a start to their season with a 4-0 record after their 76-18 victory over West Perry on January 19th. The team had their Senior night on January 19th as well for their seven seniors. The team has seven seniors in the class of 2021 including; Jordan Heisey, Nate McGill, Tyler Weary, Alec Welshans, Jacob Hamm, Zach Beam and Brayden Zell. Even through another school closure the boys have managed to stick with it and defeat Shippensburg in a 61-49 victory, Mechanicsburg in a 62-56 victory and Gettysburg in a 76-33 victory. This season is far from over and is very different from the rest with the new COVID-19 rules implemented. The boys have to wear their masks at all times throughout the game. This can prove to be very challenging and impact their breathing and playing throughout their season. This year will be very different because PIAA has implemented many new rules for winter sports, some included not being able to do pre-game and post-game ceremonies that include handshakes with the opposite teams and officials. And with limited spectators, it may feel very different for the players. As this year keeps changing and the season moves on the boys will have to work together through these different conditions to remain on top throughout their season.
All photos by Curt Werner.
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