High School Athletes of the Month, Middletown Wrestler Danny Bertoni and Thomas Johnson Swimmer Eliza Manning, are the guests this Sunday on Frederick County Sports Weekend on WFMD Radio and WFMD.COM!!!!!
It is always difficult to choose a male and female high school Athlete of the Month in sports rich Frederick County but it is hard to go wrong when you have two athletes who have won multiple individual state championships and that is what we have for the WFMD/Nymeo Federal Credit Union/Pizza Hut March, 2016 winners (see attached photo). Middletown High School Junior Danny Bertoni is on the cusp of being the winningest wrestler in Frederick County history. His individual match record going into his Senior year is 138 – 1 since he was a Freshman. He has been a state champion three years in a row, winning his latest on March 5, at 132 lbs, by pinning Kent Island’s Justin Thomas in the state title match at Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro. Danny needs 22 more wins to pass Urbana’s Adam Krop and Catoctin’s Charlie Perella for the most victories in the history of Frederick County high school wrestling. When asked how he does it , match after match, year after year, he mentions focus and hard training and superb coaching from Middletown head coach James Schartner. As he enters his Senior year at Middletown he says a number of colleges have shown “interest” in him. You think! Our female Athlete of the Month, Swimmer Eliza Manning of Thomas Johnson High School, is another young competitor who just seems to beat everyone she comes up against. This year at the state of Maryland Championships at College Park she won two state titles in the 200 meter individual medley and in the 100 meter breaststroke. In winning the individual medley she set a state record with a time of 2: 04.82. At one point this past season Eliza had the best times in Frederick County in the following events: 100 meter butterfly, 100 meter breaststroke, 100 meter backstroke, 200 meter individual medley and had the third best time in the 50 meter freestyle. Eliza credits great coaching over the years and her coach this past year, TJ’s Ellen Colket. She is headed for the swimming team at the University of Connecticut next season. Both Danny and Eliza were Frederick County Champions this season before moving on to the “big stage.” You can listen to Danny Bertoni and Eliza Manning talk about their sports and give some advice to youngsters on their way up, as they are guests on Frederick County Sports Weekend this Sunday (4/24) at 12:05 pm on 930 WFMD Radio and the streaming audio of wfmd.com!