Condomitti grayshirts wrestling season with Huskers after securing perfect record and PIAA title
NORTHAMPTON, Pa. (BVM) — Jagger Condomitti finished his senior wrestling season at Northampton Area High School as the 2021 PIAA Class 3A 160-pound boys state champion. Next up, Condomitti will wrestle on the men’s team at the University of Nebraska, but he has one stop to make before he joins the Huskers out on the mat.
“I will not be going to Nebraska this summer [after graduating HS] and this is the best option,” Condomitti said. “I will instead be doing a grayshirt year by living in Colorado Springs while training in the U.S. Olympic Training Center, since my scholarship money is tied up with someone else for an extra year. Living at the training center will be such a great opportunity to get unbelievable training, exposure and experience with higher level wrestling.”
Condomitti verbally committed to the Big Ten team on a full-scholarship during his junior year. But the NCAA has since granted an additional season of eligibility to winter athletes. So incoming freshmen in the Class of 2021, which includes Condomitti and Lenny Pinto (the only other signee to the program), no longer have an available spot for them on the team for the upcoming season.
The future teammates have both decided to “wait an extra year to officially go to Nebraska.” They are both looking at the bright side and view this as an opportunity to further improve their skills before joining the team. Condomitti has been ranked as the No. 13 overall wrestler in the Class of 2021 and Stroudsburg’s Pinto trailed not too far behind at No. 16. Together, they will push each other to become the best in the nation.
The main goal for Condomitti while being at the Olympic Training Center is to continuously one-up himself. This shouldn’t be too hard for him considering his accomplishments over the past four years: as a freshman in 2018 he qualified for state, the following year he placed fourth, in 2020 he was the state runner-up before finally championing in 2021.
“I always believed I could win a state title,” Condomitti said. “My sophomore year and junior year I beat the guy that ended up winning the state tournament. So I knew what I was capable of, I just had to go out and do it.”
This year, he only gave up four offensive points, a takedown in the semis and a takedown in the finals. Condomitti had actually rolled his ankle in the final few seconds of his semis match and his ankle instantly swelled up. He then got it taped and wrapped for his big PIAA final win.
In early March, Condomitti ended his final season with a perfect record (16-0) and said that he “might be the only Northampton wrestler to go a season undefeated.” But going into his senior season initially, he knew a perfect season would only happen if he could become more confident in his offense.
“After the season ended,” Condomitti said, “I talked to coach [Jeff] Buxton and we agreed my offense has gotten better along with confidence in my attacks. I also think there was a big improvement in my head and hands defense.”
After ending his season with a career record of 141-26 and becoming the 24th wrestler to win a PIAA state title for Northampton, Condomitti enjoyed a socially-distanced celebration for his achievements.
“In Northampton, whenever someone wins states we have a little parade,” Condomitti said. “Fire trucks come to the high school and anyone on the team that wants to join can hop on the fire trucks. We go for a little drive through town with the lights and sirens of the trucks, people go outside and wave and congratulate everyone that had placed and was part of our program.”
Immediately after the event, he reflected on his wrestling career and mentioned that he has high hopes for what he can accomplish in the future.
“Without wrestling, who knows where I’d be or what I’d be doing,” Condomitti said. “I’ve always been interested in traveling the country and the world and wrestling gives me the opportunity for that. I’ve gotten to meet some cool people, see some cool places and I will get the chance to wrestle in places no ordinary wrestler will get to do.”
Condomitti will do exactly that over the next few years. He will travel from Pennsylvania to Colorado this summer before heading to Nebraska to compete all across the nation.
