Colton Anderson didn’t pick his high school based on athletics.
But it certainly has worked out well for him in that regard.
Anderson is a senior at St. Joe’s Prep High School and for the past four years, the Parkwood native has been a member of one of the most successful high school football teams in the country.
The defensive tackle has been a part of a program that has made the Catholic League 6A championship in each of his four years at the school. In his freshman year through junior season, the Hawks not only won a PCL crown, but brought home a state championship. This year, the Hawks once again made the championship, but lost to La Salle, which then went on to win a state championship.
When it comes to football, the Hawks are very successful and that means their big defensive tackle was successful.
“I made friends at Prep during the summer before I started here,” said Anderson, who attended Philadelphia Academy Charter for grade school. “There were a few guys who played football, one of my good friends went there from my grade school. We did summer football together so I had a group of guys going into freshman year. Freshman football, I met some of my best friends. It wasn’t tough at all. It was easy once you have your guys from football. Meeting everyone else was great, too.
“I loved Prep for a lot of reasons, but football was great. I played football at Calvary growing up, they helped me a lot, and since I got to Prep, I’ve loved playing here. The football program is great, the success speaks for itself, but it’s a great team. Great coaches. For me it was a great experience.”
Finishing up his senior year in football without winning a Catholic League championship might have stung, but Anderson was able to get back to the championship in his second sport, where he’s the heavyweight on the Hawks wrestling team.
The Hawks are coached by former Father Judge and North Catholic coach Jim Savage, who also won a championship as a wrestler for the Falcons. The Hawks fell just short of winning a PCL title, falling to Conwell-Egan 37-27.
While it wasn’t what he wanted, it was a great showing for the Hawks. Anderson won the final bout of the evening, sticking his opponent in 12 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Hawks.
Anderson is 17-2 on the year at heavyweight.
Wrestling at Prep was the natural progression for Anderson after he started his wrestling career with the Junior Raiders program at Archbishop Ryan.
He loved what he learned there, and wrestling at Prep made him love the sport even more. Now, despite football being the sport he’ll play in the future, he now has to think long and hard when someone asks him if he’s a football player who wrestles or a wrestler who plays football.
“That’s a hard question honestly because, like, I’m going to college to play football, but I love wrestling so much,” Anderson said. “I’m a wrestler as well. Wrestling has helped a lot with football, just on the mental side alone. It’s helped a lot. There’s nothing like wrestling when it comes to mental toughness and going hard at things. It’s so much different losing a match than football. Physically, you learn to control your body, you learn a lot more in wrestling that you can apply on a football field. Wrestling is no joke. Wrestling shape isn’t football shape. Most football players couldn’t make it through wrestling.”
Wrestling for Savage has been challenging, but rewarding. In fact, everything about attending Prep has been that, but it’s a challenge he’s glad he accepted four years ago, and it’s a decision he thinks will pay off for years to come.
“It worked out great,” Anderson said. “It’s amazing, honestly. I have nothing to compare it to compared to other schools, but the people you’re around and the people you meet are wonderful. The relationships you make, you can’t make them anywhere else.”
Next year, he hopes to have that same experience when he plays football at Cornell. So far, it feels like home.
“The academics speak for itself, you can’t get a better education,” Anderson said. “I went to a camp up there, the way the coaches are up there, they have great relationships. They have coached together for a while. They built like a family up there, I saw the way they were going to shape the program. I saw the same similarities there with St. Joe’s Prep. I want to be at a place like Prep for the next four years. It was a great option for me.”
Prep has done a lot for him.
But he also had great support at his home, something he’s very thankful for.
“I’d say my parents have helped me the most,” Anderson said. “They’ve always been there, anything I needed, they give me. ‘Mom I need this for football or wrestling,’ I got it. They were at every event, never missed a game, take me everywhere and always been there for anything I needed. Neither of them were wrestling fans, so it was kind of a new thing for all of us. They stay quiet until I’m up. Then they get a little rowdy. I think all parents do that for their kids.”
