This column was originally printed in the Jan. 7, 2013 edition of The Mercury.

This week will determine whether or not Owen J. Roberts still rules the wrestling roost in the Pioneer Athletic Conference.

Just don’t get ahead of schedule here.

It’s whether OJR rules the roost by the end of this week only. A lot can happen, and likely will, between Friday night and the next-to-last day of the month, or after Spring-Ford and Boyertown go head-to-head. That’s when, for all intents and purposes, all that has to be said and done will essentially be said and done … unless, of course, either Spring-Ford or Boyertown (or both) find themselves in Hershey for the state duals tournament and have to push their own entertaining show back a week.

Oops, look who’s getting ahead of himself.

Owen J. Roberts, the two-time defending champion, will be favored Wednesday night at Perkiomen Valley and again Saturday afternoon at home against Pottsgrove. But another match right smack in between those two — a Friday Night Special against visiting Boyertown —– could evolve into a classic. The operative word there is “could.”

Yes, the Wildcats did roll up a 37-16 win over the Bears in the final of the season-opening Brian Bealer Memorial Bear Duals last month. Yes, they did put a 68-6 hurtin’ on the Bears in their PAC-10 dual last year. And, yes, they did take down Boyertown twice the season before.

But (there is always a but), as unbeatable as the Wildcats have been thus far, they’re struggling to put out that no-doubt-about-it lineup. Whether due to weight issues, illness, injuries or whatever, upwards of a handful of reliable wrestlers haven’t been showing up on the mat with any consistency of late, and a couple of others haven’t been on quite the roll they were a year ago.

No one can be sure if the mystery continues this week, or even into Friday night.

But one thing OJR head coach Steve DeRafelo can be sure of — as if he doesn’t already know — it’s that Boyertown has improved significantly from the first day of the season.

The Bears had strong showings at the King of the Mountain and Hurricane Classic tournaments, had the clear upper hand against Pottstown and Methacton, and owned a 30-0 lead on highly-regarded Cumberland Valley before dropping the final seven bouts and the match, 34-30, this past Saturday.

Like DeRafelo predicted after the 21-point decision to win the Bear Duals, “(Boyertown) will be much better by the time we see them again.”

The Bears are, at least going into a showdown of their own Wednesday evening up in Red Hill against Upper Perkiomen.

Regardless, OJR can ill-afford a letdown in any match — this week or next. Make that the next two weeks. On Wednesday the 16th, the Wildcats travel to Spring-Ford, which very quietly is wrestling as well as anyone at this point, and on Wednesday the 23rd, they’re on the road again at Methacton.

Mark up the calendar … it’s going to be an entertaining January.

DUALING IT OUT
The next two weeks will be important for a lot of teams hoping to get into the District 1-AAA Team Duals. The seeding meeting takes place Sunday, Jan. 20. … If done right now, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see OJR, Spring-Ford and Boyertown get the top three seeds, although Downingtown East, Norristown, Pennsbury, Upper Darby and Upper Perkiomen may have a say in that before the powers-that-be sit down and set up the brackets.

GOOD WEEK
The PAC-10 fared extremely well last week in dual and individual tournaments. Methacton went 5-0, defeating Pottstown in the Devil Duals final; Perkiomen Valley (off to an impressive 6-1 start) went 4-1 and finished second in the Octorara Duals; Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen both went 4-1 in the Biglerville and Parkland duals, respectively; and Pottsgrove and Phoenixville finished second and sixth, respectively, in the Phantoms’ individual tournament.

DOWN TO TWO
Pottstown’s Patrick Bohn (15-0) and Perkiomen Valley’s Nick Giangiulio (13-0) are the area’s only remaining wrestlers with unblemished records. Bohn watched teammates Bryant Wise and Darien Hain both drop their first bouts of the season on Saturday. Wise, a freshman, fell 7-2 to Bensalem’s Tommy Stokes, who was sixth in the state last year. Hain, a junior, lost 6-2 to Avon Grove’s Caleb Edwards. … Pope John Paul II’s Kirk Cherneskie also lost for the first time last Saturday, getting pinned by Owen J. Roberts’ Gordon Bolig, a returning state qualifier.

SELECT GROUP
Upper Perkiomen senior Wolfgang McStravick had a big week and now owns 144 career wins, moving up to No. 13 on The Mercury’s all-time chart. He needs five more to pass Methacton’s Dan Covatta (145) and Brandan Clark (146) and move into the Top 10 alongside Boyertown graduate Matt Malfaro (149), and one more after that to become just the 10th area wrestler to reach 150. … Bolig — who just may be the area’s most improved wrestler over the past two seasons — has 97 career wins, meaning the senior 182-pounder could reach the 100-win milestone Saturday morning at Pottsgrove.