Does success change people?

It hasn't changed Jeff Sweigard.

This will probably come as a shock to Sweigard, the fiery Central Dauphin head coach, who has taken CD to the summit of Pennsylvania's scholastic wrestling programs.

After all, the only thing that Swags, as he is informally known, has really changed about his coaching style is that he no longer sits on the back of his chair. Bad form, and all that.

The clenched fist intensity, the tight brow, the perfectly focused drive for excellence ... it's all still there, maybe in an even more concentrated form than it was during his Susquehanna Twp. and early CD days when he was prematurely calling pins by slapping his palms on the gym floor.

But here's what has changed, if subtly: Now that Sweigard, the 2008 Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Class AAA Coach of the Year (absolutely!), is at the head of the state's coaching class, he's much more careful how he chooses his public words.

(We can't tell you what he says off the record because OTR is OTR, but trust us, it's same old Swags, which is to say hilariously honest.)

On Saturday night at Giant Center, minutes after his senior star, Walter Peppelman, had dropped a 7-6 decision to Cumberland Valley's Joey Napoli in the Class AAA 145-pound finals, Sweigard said his team's six PIAA medals and second straight team title at states had earned his program "respect."

We found that word to be a curious one. Hadn't the Rams already reached that threshold, what with last year's state title and this year's PIAA dual meet championship?

Sweigard turned, gave a steely look and said, "You never assume respect. It always has to be earned, and it's earned out there [pointing to the Giant Center floor]."

Cyclical. Everything is cyclical, or so we hear.

Wide neckties, skinny neckties, no neckties. SUVs, minivans, subcompacts. Cement jobs, tight-waist tilts, Granby rolls.

Such trends even affect The Patriot-News Big 14 Wrestling Team.

Eight years ago, Central Dauphin's total number of Big 14 representatives stood at five.

As of today, that number has swollen to 26. It's been a pretty good -- and long-lasting -- cycle for CD wrestling.

Last year, the Rams turned it on in the PIAA individual championships, placing five wrestlers to win the team title.

All five are back this year. And all five -- PIAA champion Walter Peppelman, runners-up Marshall Peppelman and Tony Dallago and medalists Simon Rice and Kenny Stank -- are on this Big 14.

It's the first time since the team began in 1971 that five wrestlers from one school have made the elite list.

The team has evolved from a midseason all-star squad to what it is today: a projection of postseason potential using past and present results.

A quick explanation of who is eligible: varsity wrestlers at all Mid-Penn and Tri-Valley schools (except East Juniata and Midd-West) plus Lebanon County schools. No Lancaster. No York. No Berks. It is not a District 3 all-star team.

For the second straight year, eight was great for Central Dauphin at the New Oxford Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

The Rams won eight championships at last year's event, and repeated that on Saturday evening, starting with Clayton Youtz's 3-1 triumph over previously unbeaten South Western freshman Cameron Throck-morton at 103 pounds.

That ignited a string of victories for Central Dauphin: Simon Rice at 112, Tyler Buckman at 119, Patrick Wieger at 125, Kenny Stank at 130, Marshall Peppelman at 140, Walter Peppelman at 145 and Tony Dallago at 160.

The only difference between Saturday's performance and CD's effort a year earlier is that the Rams won the first eight weights in 2007 ... and this year they won the tournament. Last year, South Western was awarded the team title thanks to a scoring foul-up, but this year CD ran away with the event with 3031/2 points.

Two other Mid-Penn Conference wrestlers also claimed titles: Mallie Shuster of Big Spring won the 152-pound title and Susquehanna Twp.'s Edward Ruth claimed the championship at 171 pounds.

But the big news of the night was Youtz's victory.

Throckmorton, one of several excellent freshmen in District 3, entered the tournament with a 22-0 record and was seeded first in a very good weight class. Youtz, seeded third, had to defeat Big Spring's Colten Keck 4-2 to make the finals. Keck ended up third at the weight, topping Spring Grove's Jake Verheyen 8-4.

At 119 pounds, Buckman overcame a 6-5 upset loss to Big Spring's Justin Morris on Friday in pool action to come back through the championship bracket to beat Spring Grove freshman Trey Duncan 11-0 in the finals.

NEWARK, Del. - And now it's official: Central Dauphin wrestling really is a Beast.

The Rams, last season's PIAA Class AAA team champions, didn't win the ultra-tough Beast of the East Wrestling Tournament at the University of Delaware.

But a second-place finish to New Jersey's Blair Academy, the nation's top-ranked team, ranks second only to last year's state title in the Rams' own hall of fame.

Better yet, they did it young: Freshman Kenny Courts, yet another spectacular talent, claimed the 135-pound title despite a first-period knee injury while sophomore Marshall Peppelman took the 140-pound championship.

The title, such a rarity for a freshman at this event, earned Courts the Outstanding Wrestler award.

The Rams just missed a three-fer when senior Walter Peppelman, last year's PIAA Class AAA champion at 135, was taken down twice by two-time Georgia champion Peter Yates to fall 4-2 in the 145-pound finals.

If that was a bit of a disappointment, it was one of few for the Rams. By placing eight wrestlers, CD finished second with 214.5 team points, behind Blair with 234.

Coach: Jeff Sweigard 2006-07 record: 13-3 (7-1 division).

The big picture: The defending PIAA champions (individual tournament) return all of the actors that led to the first such championship by a midstate team: PIAA champion Walter Peppelman, PIAA silver medalists Marshall Peppelman and Tony Dallago, state medalists Simon Rice and Kenny Stank, and PIAA qualifier and Lehigh recruit Patrick Wieger. And guess what? There's more, especially with the addition of super freshman Kenny Courts, who just claimed the Outstanding Wrestler award at the Top Hat Tournament in Williamsport.

Top returnees: Simon Rice (43-5, jr, light), Patrick Wieger (38-7, sr, light), Kenny Stank 37-15, jr, middle), Marshall Peppelman (43-5, soph, middle), Walter Peppelman (44-2, sr, middle), Tony Dallago (40-9, jr, upper)

WILLIAMSPORT - There's a buzz in area wrestling rooms that Central Dauphin should be feared this season.

Well, it appears pretty accurate as the RAMS won Saturday night's Top Hat Wrestling Tournament at Williamsport High School, ending Cumberland Valley's two-year reign at the restigious event.

Led by 135-pounder Kenny Courts, who was named the Outstanding Wrestler, the Rams topped the list with 249 points. Central Mountain was runner-up for the second consecutive year with 226, followed by Cumberland Valley (154), Montoursville (134) and Schuykill Vally (133) in the 18-team tournament.

Courts turned a lot of heads when he defeated Central Mountain's Dylan Alton 9-6 in the 135-pound final. He gained a spot in the championship bout with a 3-1 decision over Adam Will.

Courts was one of four Rams to earn Top Hat gold. Simon Rice downed Central Mountanin's Jordan Rich 6-2 at 112, Walter Peppelman defeated Cumberland Valley's Tristan Warnet 7-3 at 152 and Tony Dallago pinned Erie Prep's Nick Millano in 1:50 at 160.

Central Dauphin head wrestling coach Jeff Sweigard doesn't sound like a guy who's sitting atop the best high school wrestling team in the midstate -- and possibly the state.

The midstate has had its share of genuinely excellent teams in recent decades, but it's hard to recall a team with as much known preseason firepower as CD

The Rams' somewhat surprising run to last year's state title at the PIAA Championships (not the Team Championships won by Nazareth, just to clarify) has generated all kinds of buzz about this year's team, and for good reason.