Bears find leader in Barndt

by By Martin Cooper

Posted on October 2, 2009

BOYERTOWN — When the discussion turns to a football team's leaders, the first position that gets mentioned is invariably the quarterback.

When Boyertown coach Mark Scisly talks about the leader of his team, he's talking about a 6-foot-1, 290-pound offensive guard/defensive tackle.

That's not a knock on his quarterback or any other player on his roster. It's just that Scisly is blessed to have a natural leader in senior lineman Wilmer Barndt.

"He's our best lineman," said Scisly. "He's the only lineman who goes both ways. He's the guy we look to run behind in key situations on offense. He's our most consistent defensive lineman. He's a team captain. He does whatever you ask of him. He's an all-around great asset to the team.

"He's been a three-year starter. He's the guy everybody looks up to. He works hardest on the team. He's in the weight room every day. He's been around. Everybody respects his work ethic and leadership qualities. He's earned the respect of his teammates."

Barndt began playing football at age 7 with the Optimist Club in Boyertown. He's always been one of the biggest kids on whatever team he played on, and he's never played anywhere but on the offensive and defensive lines.

"It was pretty much because of my size," said Barndt. "And I always seemed to like it. I never had any problem with it."

Barndt combines strength, quickness and intelligence to dominate on both

sides of the line.

His best bench press has been three repetitions of 325 pounds. He runs the 40-yard dash in 5.5 seconds. He has a 4.3 GPA (on a 4.0 scale), ranks seventh out of 583 kids in his class and scored 1,900 (out of 2,400) on his SAT.

"He's a very intelligent player," said Scisly. "He does exactly what we tell him to do. If you tell him a scheme on offense, that's the way he's going to block it. He's where he's supposed to be on defense. And he does it all in dominating fashion. He's strong, quick and intelligent. He's a team player. He'll do what's best for the team."

What he probably does best is lead the Bears by example. No one on the team works longer or harder than Barndt, and his teammates notice that.

The leadership role comes easily to Barndt, who is president of the Future Business Leaders of America at Boyertown as well as president of the regional chapter of the organization.

And, of course, he manages to excel on the field and in the classroom.

"It's not easy," said Barndt. "But football is one thing that comes pretty easy for me. As long as I'm able to put in the time, I'm able to do well enough in that."

Barndt has yet to select a college, but he's considering the University of Pennsylvania as well as top-caliber smaller schools such as Ursinus.

"I'll see where the best opportunity is to play football and get a good education," said Barndt.

Barndt, who would prefer to play offensive line in college, plans to major in pre-med. He has his sights set on a career in orthopaedics, with a specialty in sports medicine.

"You feel great about him — in the classroom and on the football field," said Scisly.

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