Pennridge's Coffin had a slow start, but fast wrestling finish; latest individual rankings

Talk about coming a long way.

"My first year when I started wrestling, I was probably like 5 years old and it took me three weeks just to step on the mat," Pennridge senior Cole Coffin said with a laugh. "It took me until about my third year with wrestling before I started doing better."

And he kept getting better through the years, good enough to earn two trips to the PIAA tournament (with another this season being a strong possibility); good enough to win well over 100 career matches; and respected by his teammates so much that he's a two-time captain.

Pennridge head coach Brian Kuhns, who is in his third season leading the Rams, saw just about every step Coffin made on the wrestling mat.

"The first year I started coaching the youth team was Cole's first year wrestling," Kuhns said.

"His father and I were coaches and it's been a pleasure watching him grow with the sport and mature."

For Coffin, whose high school career will end in a few weeks, having Kuhns take over the Pennridge program when he was a sophomore has been nothing but a positive.

"He has been like a second father to me, and I've known him forever," Kuhns said. "I'm very grateful for all of the help he's given me growing up."

Kuhns believes that after two trips to Hershey, Coffin is ready to take the big step.

"Cole is peaking at the right time and he'll be ready to go," Kuhns said. "He hasn't gotten a state medal, but I think he has a big leap in him.

"If he can get into that medal round in Hershey, with his mindset, focus, and skills, he can do really well."

Kuhns has turned Pennridge around: Pennridge's Brian Kuhns is our Wrestling Coach of the Year

Coffin, who will wrestle at 121 pounds, is aiming high for his final postseason. Much like the Rams did by placing fourth in Hershey at the recent PIAA Class 3A dual-meet tournament.

"If I wrestle to the best of my ability I think I could win it (a PIAA title)," Coffin said. "I lost to the Bethlehem Catholic kid (Keanu Dillard) 1-0 (in January) and he won it all last year.

"It helps me that I don't get nervous wrestling in the big arena (Giant Center) in Hershey. I did my sophomore year, but I've been there a lot of times since and at team states, too, so it doesn't bother me.

"Our team had a great season, and we made a run at states getting fourth, which was great to see."

Regardless of how he does in the tournaments, Coffin plays to stay with the sport in college.

"I've looked at a bunch of schools and really want to wrestle in college," said Coffin, who plans to major in economics. "But I'd really like to finish my final high school career with a bang."

Top 30 wrestlers in Bucks County: Wrestling 2023-24: Who are Bucks County's 30 best wrestlers

Bucks, Eastern Montgomery County individual rankings

Well, the best part of the wrestling season is almost here as the district tournaments are only a couple of days away.

And what do the tournaments do the rankings? Ah, that's easy. They jumble them all up.

So, with that in mind, take a look at what we have now and I'm sure they'll look plenty different when we revisit the rankings in two weeks.

Here we go:

107 pounds

1. Joey Bachmann (29-0), Faith Christian, freshman

2. Dominick Morrison (37-2), Hatboro-Horsham, freshman

3. Alexander Diaz (32-10), Council Rock North, senior

4. Thomas Boyce (26-7), Conwell-Egan, freshman

114 pounds

1. Colby Martinelli (14-1), Pennridge, junior

2. (tie) Jack Baron (31-6), Germantown Academy, sophomore

Kole Davidheiser (5-7), Faith Christian, sophomore

Connor Lenahan (35-8), Council Rock South, senior

Marco Loss (24-11), Council Rock North, sophomore

6. Jeff Spofford (20-5), Conwell-Egan, junior

Notes: Lenahan is at 103 career wins and counting.

121 pounds

1. Gauge Botero (21-1), Faith Christian, junior

2. Kevin Bagnell (24-6), Conwell-Egan, senior

3. Cole Coffin (33-8), Pennridge, senior

4. Luke Reitter (31-8), Council Rock South, senior

Notes: Botero suffered his first loss earlier this month to Louie Gill, 5-3, of Reynolds at the PIAA Class 2A dual-meet tournament. Gill, a senior and a North Carolina recruit, won a PIAA title as a freshman and was second as a sophomore for Hickory High before sitting out the postseason last year after transferring to Reynolds.

Gaj looking to win second PIAA title: Quakertown's Gaj out to snag another PIAA state title; also see our latest team rankings

127 pounds

1. Anthony Mutarelli (31-3), Council Rock South, junior

2. Mason Ziegler (38-3), Quakertown, junior

3. Quinn McBride (24-8), Pennridge, sophomore

4. John Luchansky (26-7), Pennsbury, senior

5. Pierce Kane (25-13), Council Rock North, sophomore

6. Colin Walther (23-8), Conwell-Egan, freshman

Notes: Ziegler, a PIAA Class 3A runner-up last season, has 155 career wins and is seven shy of tying 2005 graduate Nate Nauroth's school record.

133 pounds

1. Eren Sement (31-7), Council Rock North, junior

2. Charlie Robson (23-2), Conwell-Egan, senior

3. Chris Dennis (28-3), Central Bucks West, sophomore

4. Pat Woloshyn (33-10), Council Rock South, sophomore

139 pounds

1. Mason Wagner (19-8), Faith Christian, sophomore

2. Patrick Kelly (28-3), Central Bucks West, junior

3. Steven Harris (28-5), Conwell-Egan, senior

4. (tie) Jake Neill (25-6), Central Bucks South, senior, and Jonny O'Brien (27-3), North Penn, sophomore

6. Ajay Bhatt (29-10), Council Rock South, senior

Notes: ​Neill and O'Brien have met twice this season with each winning once.

145 pounds

1. Chase Hontz (31-7), Faith Christian, junior

2. Gavin Carroll (34-6), Quakertown, junior

3. Christopher Staub (29-9), Hatboro-Horsham, senior

Notes: Hontz is riding a 12-match winning streak and has 101 career victories.

Mutarelli happy back at CR South: CR South's Mutarelli happy to be back home. Check out our latest wrestling rankings

152 pounds

1. Collin Gaj (34-3), Quakertown, junior

2. Max Stein (31-7), Faith Christian, junior

3. Sam Kuhns (35-4), Pennridge, senior

4. (tie) Beknazar Baiyshbekov (19-2), Neshaminy, junior, and Michael Cliver (16-8), North Penn, senior

160 pounds

1. Cael Weidemoyer (14-2), Faith Christian, sophomore

2. Nick Singer (17-8), Faith Christian, freshman

3. Luke Sugalski (34-13), Germantown Academy, junior

4. Daniel Haubert (31-5), Palisades, senior

5. Gavin Cole (34-7), Council Rock South, junior

172 pounds

1. Adam Waters (33-4), Faith Christian, sophomore

2. Bek Sadriddinov (35-3), Council Rock South, senior

3. Talan Hogan (30-7), Pennridge, junior

4. Cormac Morrissey (32-7), La Salle High, senior

Notes: Hogan is four wins shy of 100 for his career.

189 pounds

1. Dante Burns (16-4), Conwell-Egan, senior

2. Cody Wagner (25-8), Faith Christian, senior

3. (tie) Kole Lester (26-9), Souderton, senior, and Ben Primich (24-2), Pennsbury, senior

5. Dylan Clair (17-4), La Salle High, junior

Faith's Botero back and ready to go: After injury scare, Faith Christian state wrestling champion Gauge Botero happy to be back

215 pounds

1. Jason Singer (31-9), Faith Christian, sophomore

2. Reagan McCullough (27-3), Central Bucks East, senior

3. Riley Cullen (23-8), Pennridge, senior

4. Michael McCormick (15-4), Souderton, sophomore

285 pounds

1. Calvin Lachman (38-3), Quakertown, senior

2. Joe Collins (28-1), Central Bucks East, senior

3. Mark Effendian (32-8), Faith Christian, sophomore

4. Andrew Brennan (33-5), La Salle High, senior

Neshaminy bowler perfect (twice): Sets PA record with pair of perfect games. And he did it in one match

Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennridge's Coffin aiming high; and latest individual rankings