Over the summer, the 17-year-old lifted weights with his football teammates in the morning and wrestled in the afternoon.
"I like staying busy, but it was a pretty tough schedule," he said. "I had to eat a lot of food, especially pasta, so that I wouldn't lose weight."
Osei's brother, David, starred in the same two sports at Abington. Now at Rutgers, he is a 6-4, 280-pound redshirt sophomore and starting center.
"We never played on the same football team," Bryan Osei said. "When I was in junior high, he would stop by after varsity practice to watch me. He would tell me what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. That helped me a lot."
In his senior year at Abington, David Osei earned Inquirer first-team all-Southeastern Pennsylvania honors as an offensive lineman. In wrestling, as a heavyweight, he went 44-0 before losing in the state final.
"I'm more of a shooter in wrestling," Bryan Osei said. "I try to get around the edge. My brother had a lot of upper-body strength. He would use throws to beat people."
In the National Conference opener against Neshaminy, Osei made five tackles, including 21/2 sacks, as the Ghosts improved to 4-0.
Halfback Ray Schreiner led the way on offense, carrying 19 times for 234 yards and three touchdowns. "He's a real explosive runner," Osei said.
Abington totaled 329 yards on the ground. In addition to Osei, a left tackle, the line included center Mike Fitzpatrick, left guard Frank Matus, right guard Lawrence Jarrett, right tackle Angel Carlo, and tight end Chris Ruhl.
This is Osei's first season playing offense.
"He's getting better with each week," Ghosts coach Tim Sorber said. "He's going to help us tremendously there as the season goes along."
