Kiski Area’s Blumer and Delp sit among top 100 recruits in 2020 class

By: Greg Macafee
Thursday, August 8, 2019 | 6:23 PM

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The Kiski Area Cavaliers had one of the best wrestling teams in the state last season.

They won their third consecutive WPIAL Class AAA team title and took fourth at the PIAA tournament in Hershey. While that team was highlighted by seniors Cam Connor and Darren Miller, this season’s squad will be led by rising seniors Nick Delp and Jack Blumer.

At the end of July, PA Power Wrestling, a media company that provides coverage of amateur wrestling throughout the state, released its top 200 recruits of the 2020 class. Blumer and Delp were among the top 100.

? RANKINGS ALERT ⚠️ Pennsylvania's Class of 2020 Top 2⃣0⃣0⃣ Recruits Released #PAPOWER?

✅ Them Out ➡️ https://t.co/TZ61tTcT3a pic.twitter.com/bgGFEYOp9r

— PA Power Wrestling (@PAPowerWrestle) August 1, 2019

Blumer, who went 46-4 last season as a junior and has a 111-25 career record at Kiski Area, was at No. 29 on the list. Delp, who was 44-8 last season with 27 pins, came in at No. 61. Last season, Connor came in at No. 42, and Miller was ranked No. 54 in the class of 2019.

“It’s pretty exciting because I know a lot of the other guys that are ranked,” Delp said of hearing about where he stands. “It’s pretty cool to know where I rank and where I stand in the state.”

Earlier this summer, Delp made his college choice. After starting to talk to coaches at Bucknell after the state tournament, the 170-pound grappler started to take a real interest in the college located about three hours to the East.

The Bisons went 7-11 last season and had two wrestlers with 20 wins or more. After talking to the coaches and making a visit to the campus, Delp said he felt at home in Lewisburg.

“It just felt really comfortable,” Delp said. “The coaching staff, the campus, the team, it just felt real comfortable to be there and it felt like it would be a nice transition.”

Blumer has not found his college yet. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t received interest. Blumer has plans to visit West Virginia and Virginia Tech this weekend but is planning on seeing how everything unfolds over the course of his senior year.

“I’m just playing it by ear and seeing what happens,” Blumer said.

Although the grapplers see their future is bright, neither has rested on his laurels this offseason. Both have competed in tournaments and duals throughout the summer, and they have gone to camps to round out their skill sets.

Delp went to the NHSCA Dual tournament in Virginia Beach in May and came away from the tournament undefeated, winning 10 matches against national competition.

“It was pretty good,” Delp said. “It just showed me that I needed to work on shots and setups more.”

Then, this past weekend, Blumer and Delp competed at the Battle at the Burgh competition at Monroeville Convention Center. Delp finished 4-1, and Blumer went 5-0.

Like Delp, Blumer used the tournaments to gain an understanding on where he needs to improve. Blumer said he needs to work on his conditioning to get into prime shape for Kiski Area’s season.

Before the season begins, Blumer will challenge himself against some of the best competition in the country when he heads to the Super 32 challenge in October in Greensboro, N.C.

“I think it will give me a good idea of where I’m at because it’s one of the tougher tournaments,” Blumer said. “So I’m hoping to do well down there.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Kiski Area