Central Bucks East's Collins brothers making most of final chance to wrestle together

After a second or two of thought, Quinn Collins chuckled at the fact his little brother had nearly 100 pounds on him.

"You don't really think about it when you're rolling around on the mat," said Quinn, a Central Bucks East senior wrestler about sophomore Joe.

"But Joe's a big boy. And he keeps getting better every year. You don't realize how fast the time goes by, but now it's my last chance to be on the team with him, and I'm trying to enjoy all of it."

Quinn Collins, as the Patriots' team leader and one of the state's top performers at 189 pounds, is tasked with not only being a mentor to his younger brothers, but to the rest of the Patriots.

"Quinn has just been a wonderful gift to this program," said veteran CB East head coach Dave Scarpill.

"And this season he's been even more focused than he's ever been. He's putting in extra work after practice and doing what he needs to do to make another run in Hershey."

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Quinn, who has been making the long trip (with several teammates, including Joe) to Alvernia University since the summer to work with former four-time Pennsylvania state champ Chance Marsteller, has put together quite the impressive resume himself.

He owns 107 career victories, two trips to the PIAA tournament, and a sixth-place finish in Hershey last season at 215 pounds.

This year, he's already 20-1 with the only loss coming against two-time New Jersey state champ Brian Soldano, a Rutgers recruit. Last weekend, Quinn was the only local wrestler to win a title at the rugged Escape The Rock Tournament at Council Rock South.

An interesting sidenote to this season's success is that he has spent the last month competing at 189 pounds after being at 215 for the first month.

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"I have big goals for this season, no doubt about that," Quinn said. "Winning a state title has been the goal since I lost in the match for fifth-place at states last year.

"That's what motivates me, and that's why I continue to drive an hour and a half up to Alvernia to work with Chance. I don't want to leave any doubts about what I could have done.

"And whether it will be at 189 or 215, I'm not sure. I will make that decision soon."

The goals for Joe are not as lofty (at least not yet), but what he's done in two seasons at heavyweight (a tough spot for an underclassman) has opened some eyes.

He's 16-8 this year and was 13-6 as a freshman.

"Right now, I'm trying to work on everything to get better," said Joe, who was also a starting two-way lineman in football for a Patriots team that reached the District One Class 6A tournament.

"I need to take better shots by setting them up properly and working on bottom by getting quicker. Wrestling with Quinn helps a lot, and I really enjoy seeing how he respects everyone on the team and tries to help them.

"My goal for this season is to go as far as I can and keep learning and improving."

At a burly 278 pounds, Joe Collins rarely runs into a wrestler heavier than he is — that's one reason why he's trying to improve his quickness.

"Joe has a lot of talent, and he's going to get more muscle on him as he gets older." Scarpill said.

"(Head football) Coach (John) Donnelly and the football coaches will have him in the weight room and he's going to get better and better as he grows into his body."

Quinn, who spent his freshman season at Archbishop Wood, has no regrets about transferring to CB East for his final three years of high school.

"I didn't even know he was coming here until after he enrolled," Scarpill said. "To have him come in and have the success he's had just helps all of the kids.

"They see what he does and he helps them with their technique and everybody is better for it. I just can't say enough good things about what he's done."

Probably the best thing for him has been reuniting with his brother after a long gap.

"We haven't been on the same team together since before middle school," Quinn said. "To see him now growing up and maturing has just been really cool.

"Now I can watch him and cheer him on and being able to do that last year and now for my final year this season has been awesome.

"We play lacrosse together, too, but there's just something different about wrestling and being teammates."

Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PA wrestling: Central Bucks East's Collins brothers make most of time on mat