March 6, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHA Heller pins down fourth place at Nationals
by TOM UTESCHER

CHA’s Justin Heller wrestles Germantown Academy’s Nail Ahern. (Photos by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

The needle may not spin very far when he steps on the scale before a match, but junior Justin Heller has become a heavyweight presence within the Chestnut Hill Academy wrestling program.

As a 103 lb. sophomore last season, Heller came in seventh at the National Prep School Championships, where the top eight finishers are awarded official places and are named independent school All-Americans. In this year’s national championships, held February 22 and 23 at Lehigh University, the Blue Devil junior finished fourth at 112 lbs., becoming the first wrestler in school history to place twice at the meet.

His results this year matched the best outcome ever for a Chestnut Hill wrestler; Jim Crumlish came in fourth at 145 lbs. in 2004, and two other CHA grapplers finished in the same spot way back in 1971.

This season the junior lightweight led CHA both in wins, with a 37-6 overall record, and in pins, with 26. Heller won all of his Inter-Ac League bouts, and in tournament action, he took first place in the CHA Invitational and also won tourneys at Ridley High School and Valley Forge Military Academy. The Blue Devils went 11-5 in dual meets, and within the Inter-Ac they tied for second place, their best league finish in years.

Heller, who has two older sisters, had no role model on the mat within his immediate family, but he began wrestling at five years old.

“My uncle pretty much got me into it, and my cousins all did it,” he said.

Outside of school, he has wrestled with a number of different club teams, and for the last two years he’s been affiliated with the Renegades, who are based at Inter-Ac rival Haverford School.

“Justin’s got that drive to succeed, the will to win,” said CHA coach Charlie Neely. “He works real hard, he’s very focused, and he does all the right things in terms of challenging himself through club wrestling and keeping himself in shape year-round.”

What advice would Neely give to an opponent of Heller?

“I’d tell that kid to be ready for a war,” the coach responded, “because Justin’s a real physical wrestler and is constantly on the attack. He’s solid on his feet, and he’s at his best when he’s being aggressive.”

Heller explained, “That’s how I was taught to wrestle. I was taught that whoever gets the first takedown wins the match 90-percent of the time, so going after the takedown has always been very important to me.”

When he was younger he played other sports, then he began to focus exclusively on wrestling towards the end of his middle school years.

“I like the one-on-one aspect of it,” he said. “Win or lose, it’s all you.”

He attended Phil-Mont Christian Academy through the eighth grade, then enrolled at CHA.

“I like it a lot,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if I would at first, but everyone’s really nice and it’s like a big family. There’s a good personal relationship between the teachers and the students.”

In the classroom he rates English, Math and Physics among his favorite subjects, and outside of school he’s engaged in community service projects and volunteer work of various types.

Even in his first year at the school, he was no shrinking violet in the wrestling room, according to Coach Neely.

“I remember Justin was pretty vocal in the room, and at that time there was a need for it,” the Blue Devils’ mentor recalled. “It was impressive to see that coming from a freshman, and a new student at the school. Over the last two years he’s kind of deferred to the given leadership, the team captains, but he has those leadership qualities and he can definitely take charge.”

Last summer, after his sophomore year, he tried his hand at two different styles of wrestling, Freestyle and Greco-Roman. In contrast to high school rules, in these other disciplines the dominant wrestler cannot “ride” his opponent for very long down on the mat; if he’s not turning his man towards his back and scoring points, the competitors are quickly brought back up onto their feet by the officials.

“Freestyle and Greco-Roman favor a more aggressive style,” Neely said, “so it’s not surprising that Justin enjoys it and is good at it.”

“I went to States and took first in Greco,” Heller related, “and th  en the team [from the PA Amateur Wrestling Federation] asked me to go out to Kansas City with them for the Cadet Duals. From there I went out to Fargo N.D. for Nationals.”

Heller’s Pennsylvania team included many elite public school wrestlers who were PIAA champions. The Cadet and Junior National Championships (“Cadet” is an age category which encompasses most high school wrestlers) held at Fargo in late July are the focal point of the summer season for the best competitors across the nation. The event draws a great many college coaches and scouts, so it provided good exposure for Heller, who plans to continue wrestling in college.

When his junior season at school got underway, Heller traveled down to Delaware to participate in the talent-packed Beast Of The East Tournament. He came away with three wins and two losses, with one of his victories coming against the fourth-seeded wrestler in his weight class.

At the conclusion of the regular season, he went on to take second place at the PA Independent School Wrestling Tournament in the middle of February. A week later, Heller went through to the quarterfinals at Nationals before losing a 7-4 decision to Kyle Johnson of Wyoming Seminary, the same wrestler who’d beaten him at the state tourney. In wrestle-backs, Heller pinned his first rival, then recorded two decisions (3-0 and 4-2) to make it back to the bout that determined third and fourth place overall. Unfortunately, he once again encountered Johnson, who captured a 9-1 decision.

For his senior year, the CHA standout will move up one or two weight classes, and he knows that in the off-season he needs to expand his weightlifting regime in order to get stronger.

“I want to get faster too,” said Heller, who’s already considered quick. “In the club season I also want to learn moves that other kids haven’t learned yet, because it helps you surprise them. My goal is to win States next year, and to get to the finals at Nationals, and win that, too, if I can.”