Senior exits state meet early
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
What has been a meteoric rise for Tom Reynolds ended far too quickly.
The Montgomery High School senior was eliminated from the Meet of Champions in Atlantic City with a 10-3 loss to Allentown’s Taylor Maul in the 119-pound weight class preliminary round Friday.
Reynolds was the lone Packet-area wrestler to reach the MOC, and finished his final scholastic season before heading to Penn State with a 32-5 record.
”It was disappointing,” said MHS head coach Kevin Jacoutot of Friday’s finish, “but he did a great job for us for the last four years.
”It’s probably a combination of a couple things,” he added. “Weight cutting might have had a factor. And there’s a lot of guys with more experience. He did the best he could.”
Maul got out to an early 5-0 lead and then stayed away and used his lead to his advantage while Reynolds tried to claw back into the match.
”Tommy had to play catch-up,” Jacoutot said. “He did his best to chase the kid. He had to try for something big. Being overly aggressive got him down again. When you’re down in the hole, you have to take chances. When you’re taking chances, it’s easy to be scored on.”
The 119 class was full of roadblocks. None of the wrestlers who entered with unbeaten records even emerged as the final champion Sunday.
”When you go there, you see how tough it is,” Jacoutot said. “The top 24 guys that get there are all quality wrestlers. The vast majority have probably been wrestling since second grade. They have that experience over him. The time he was in the sport, he hasn’t had that experience, and experience is everything.”
Reynolds hadn’t wrestled prior to his sophomore year at MHS. He had reached the MOC last season, becoming the first, along with Erik Biago, in school history. Biago, a sophomore, will be back while Reynolds heads into collegiate wrestling with the Nittany Lions.
”He was a trailblazer for us,” Jacoutot said. “Guys in the future will be successful because of what he’s done now. Kids are motivated to get in the weight room. You can’t expect a kid to start late sophomore year and be a state champ. We’ve very proud of him and all the other wrestlers. They give it their all.”

