John Hard

The story

John Hard won the 1998 PIAA Class AAA heavyweight title at 275 pounds, riding out Dave Armstrong of Central Bucks West for a 2–1 overtime win in the final. He finished his senior season 38–3.

He was a three-time Northeast Regional Champion and two-time District XI Champion, and he placed 4th at states as a junior. In 1998 he won the district title 6–4 over Mike Moya. At regionals the team title came down to him: his pin of Nazareth's Steve Itterly in the last bout gave Northampton a 94–93 win over Parkland. At Hershey he beat Brian Williams of Methacton 6–2, Brian Cartwright of Plum 4–1, and Steve Kovach of West Chester East 4–3 in the semifinal before the overtime win in the final.

Hard finished with 107 career wins. The 1998 Kids went 21–0 in duals and won the District XI, Northeast Regional, and PIAA team titles, with Christian Luciano winning at 171 the same night.