Northern Lehigh’s girls wrestling program is only entering its second season, but Junior Ortiz already knows what he wants its foundation to look like.

No egos. No wasted opportunities. And no limits on where the Bulldogs might eventually go.

That philosophy has shaped an offseason spent opening doors to accomplished wrestlers and college coaches, traveling to other wrestling rooms and taking virtually every opportunity available to make a young program better.

It has also meant bringing Northern Lehigh wrestling together.

Ortiz and assistant coach Brent Herzog planned and directed the summer sessions with the girls program, but intentionally invited members of the boys team to participate, creating a collaborative environment for Bulldogs from both programs.

And they did much of it without a wrestling room of their own.

Northern Lehigh lost access to its room for most of the summer because of asbestos abatement. Rather than allowing that to interrupt the momentum created during the girls program’s first season, Ortiz and Herzog adapted.

When they could get the high school gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they rolled out the mats. When another program invited them to wrestle, they went. And whenever someone was willing to share their knowledge, Ortiz and Herzog welcomed them in.

“We figured anytime we got the gym on a Tuesday and Thursday, we’re going to roll out mats in the gym and try to bring in as many guests to do clinics as we can,” Ortiz said. “We’ve had some really good guests.”

Among them was Northern Lehigh graduate Kris Krawchuk, an NCAA Division III national runner-up who returned to work with the Bulldogs.

“He’s a doctor now, and he took time out of his schedule to come train with us and help us out,” Ortiz said.

Jon Trenge was another regular visitor, working with the Bulldogs three times and helping connect them with Parkland’s coaching staff.

Northern Lehigh’s girls spent Wednesdays throughout the summer training at Parkland, with six or seven regularly making the trips.

“He’s basically opened up his whole summer,” Ortiz said of Trenge. “He’s like, ‘I’ll come in any day you guys want.’ ... He’s awesome. He makes himself so available.”

And the girls responded to the opportunities.

“We’ve gotten a lot of buy-in from our girls,” Ortiz said. “Even when we go to Parkland, we have like six to seven girls that show up every time. It’s freaking awesome.”

Northern Lehigh averaged roughly 12 to 13 wrestlers at its own summer sessions, with girls, younger wrestlers and members of the boys varsity team all taking advantage of the opportunities.

Building together

Including the boys was intentional.

Ortiz and Herzog wanted the sessions to benefit Northern Lehigh wrestling as a whole, creating an environment where athletes from both programs could work together while the girls continued building toward their second season.

The collaboration comes as both programs build on new beginnings from a year ago. Ortiz led the girls through their inaugural season, while Ryan Kern completed his first season as head coach of the boys program.

Kern has seen encouraging signs of his own.

The boys held open-room workouts twice a week throughout the spring along with lifting sessions. Knowing construction would limit access to the wrestling room during the summer, the programs found ways to work together once that became necessary.

“Our offseason this year was the most positive and productive offseason that we have had in years,” Kern said. “We knew that the wrestling room would be limited over the summer due to construction; however, we made it work very well with collaboration with the girls team.”

The boys also took nine wrestlers to the TNT Wrestling Camp at Kutztown University, a turnout Kern said Northern Lehigh hadn’t had for a wrestling camp in more than a decade.

“It was very positive,” Kern said. “We had a lot of fun, and there was an abundance of live wrestling to prepare us for the season moving forward.”

The willingness to seek opportunities elsewhere has been just as important for the girls.

When Palmerton invited the Bulldogs to work out, they went — and took eight girls.

“We’re only two days a week right now, but if somebody invites us somewhere, we jump right on the opportunity,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz spent the previous several years as an assistant coach at Palmerton before taking over Northern Lehigh’s girls program, and some of his former wrestlers have also come back to work with the Bulldogs.

Those relationships are part of a larger network Ortiz and Herzog have tapped into. Coaches from Wilkes and Cedar Crest have visited Northern Lehigh, along with college and former wrestlers.

“It wasn’t hard to get anybody to come in,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t have to beg people. ... Especially the Wilkes and Cedar Crest coaches, they’re like, ‘Absolutely. Can we come back? We’ll bring kids.’”

Different voices

For Ortiz, bringing different voices into the room isn’t simply about collecting impressive names.

It’s part of a coaching philosophy.

Ortiz knows that once the season begins, his wrestlers will hear his voice every day. He doesn’t believe they need to hear it all summer, too.

“A lot of times we’ll teach the same things,” Ortiz said. “But as soon as they hear it from another person, it clicks for them and then they get it.

“I don’t want to be that voice all the time where I’m always the guy giving the instructions. That’s me during the season, and I think that needs to stay that way during the season. During offseason, I want them to be coached by other coaches. I want them to see different technique and different things than what I’m showing them.”

It’s an approach Ortiz began embracing several years ago while coaching with Justin Petersen. They began bringing guests in and traveling to other rooms, including Whitehall and Tamaqua, to give wrestlers exposure to other coaches.

Ortiz noticed a difference when they returned.

“They were more receptive, and they were listening a little bit better,” Ortiz said. “You can’t go all season and be that coach and that’s the only voice they hear, and then the offseason, too. You’re just noise to them.”

Those different voices have offered more than technique.

They’ve also shown the Bulldogs where wrestling might take them.

When a Cedar Crest coach visited, part of the message was about the opportunities available beyond high school.

“Just because this is your first year does not mean that you can’t wrestle in college,” Ortiz said of the message delivered to his athletes. “Just hearing that from a college-level coach, our girls bought in. They’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, if he’s saying I can go do this, maybe I can go do this.’”

Northern Lehigh already has an example in its own room of how quickly those possibilities can expand.

Anna Trelease emerged as one of the area’s top girls wrestlers last season, finishing 23-4 at 142 pounds and qualifying for the PIAA Championships.

After going 4-3 in girls competition and placing sixth at districts the previous year, Trelease captured titles at the Tony Iasiello Girls Memorial Tournament and Wyoming Valley West Tournament, finished second at districts and placed third at regionals.

Her wrestling season ended with an injury at states in March, but Trelease bounced back during track and field season. Despite competing in only a handful of meets, she again advanced to states in both the discus and javelin.

“Anna came into the season well-prepared,” Ortiz said. “Her mentality was a big strength — she just wanted to wrestle and score points against everyone she faced.”

For a young program still discovering its ceiling, Trelease offers a tangible example of what can happen when opportunity meets commitment.

That commitment extends to the coaches.

Ortiz is quick to point out that much of what happened this summer wouldn’t have been possible without Herzog.

The two have a relationship that goes back decades. Herzog was Ortiz’s junior high coach and later his high school coach. Now they’re working side-by-side to continue building Northern Lehigh wrestling.

Herzog played a significant role in making the summer sessions happen, from reaching out through his own connections to helping get the gym set up when the wrestling room was unavailable.

“I can’t credit Brent enough,” Ortiz said. “I brought in some guys, but he reached out to a couple people himself, too, and really tried to make this happen.”

When Herzog initially worried about stepping on the head coach’s toes by reaching out to others, Ortiz’s response reflected the culture they are trying to maintain.

“There are no egos,” Ortiz said. “Whatever it is to make our kids better, let’s bring ’em in. ... We have no egos in our room.”

Herzog’s four decades around wrestling also give Ortiz an experienced sounding board.

“He was my junior high coach and then my high school coach,” Ortiz said. “To have somebody like him with the connections and the knowledge, he fills any gap that I have. He’s been a huge help, and this offseason was a big part of his doing also.”

Bigger goals

There is one significant difference as Ortiz approaches his second season.

He knows what he has.

A year ago, there were unknowns everywhere. Northern Lehigh had never had a girls wrestling team before, and Ortiz didn’t know exactly what success would look like or how quickly it might come.

“I was just like, ‘Hey, I want to have a team. I want to have one win,’” Ortiz said. “That was it. And as soon as it happened, we reevaluated and started new goals.”

Those goals are considerably bigger now.

Northern Lehigh wants to contend for a league championship. Ortiz would like to send four or five girls to regionals and at least two or three to the state tournament. The Bulldogs are also hoping to compete at the Beast of the East.

“We’ve got big goals,” Ortiz said. “If we can tell the girls that these are our goals, we write them down, we put ’em on the wall and we see them every day — what are we doing every day to get to these goals?”

Those ambitions didn’t suddenly appear this summer.

Neither did Northern Lehigh’s culture.

But an offseason spent rolling out mats wherever they could, welcoming anyone who could help and traveling whenever another door opened has offered another glimpse of the commitment surrounding a girls program still taking shape — and a collaborative approach designed to make Northern Lehigh wrestling stronger as a whole.

The coaches keep creating opportunities.

The wrestlers keep showing up for them.

And with every trip, workout and new voice, Northern Lehigh is adding another layer to a foundation already firmly in place.

“The offseason is where you get the time in,” Ortiz said. “Champions are built in the offseason. The season is the time where we reap those benefits from the offseason.”

“Last year was a good step for us,” he added. “But that was all it was, just one little step. We have big plans this year and big goals.”

After a summer spent building on that step — and doing it together — Ortiz is eager to find out where the next one leads.

“I’m more excited this year than last year,” he said. “It’s just because I know what we’re capable of now.”