Lining up in the center of the mat, Jonah Brunel ‘17 faces his Berkner opponent, anticipating the beginning of the match. The referee begins the match, and Brunel immediately pounces on his opponent, taking him to the ground. The two struggle on the mat, trying to roll each other over on their backs. Brunel gains the upper hand, pinning both of his opponent’s shoulders to the mat in an astonishing 18 seconds.
The Jesuit wrestling team squared off against Berkner on Wednesday, December 9 in Walsh Gym. Although the two varsity wrestlers Grayson Godfrey ’18 and Matt Schonberg ’16 both won their matches by fall, pinning their opponent in under five minutes, the Rangers still suffered an overall loss. The junior varsity wrestlers played their part as well, with Brunel, Grayson Buchholz ‘17, and Phillip Villalba ’18 all winning by fall. Coach Ryan Menard commented on the team’s tough loss, noting “the dual was tough to swallow after having such success the week before.”
The wrestlers did not let this loss severely hurt their confidence in the upcoming tournaments. The JV fought in a St. Mark’s tournament the following Friday, December 11, finishing with two champions, Villalba and Connor Curreri ’19, and a third place, Stephen Price ’17, all in their respective weight classes. According to Coach Menard, “The JV wrestlers have [placed] and [won] in every event they have participated in this season,” possibly foreshadowing a strong varsity squad next year. Although he finished with a prestigious third place, Price hopes “to do better in future tournaments.”
Varsity members Schonberg and Derek Dumbrigue ’18 competed in the varsity Titan Games tournament at Frisco Centennial on Saturday, December 12. Schonberg struggled in this tournament, as it is the first tournament that he went 1-2 overall, failing to place. On the other hand, Dumbrigue gave a strong effort, winning two matches before being defeated in the consolation semi-finals.
Coach Menard hopes the success of the team is “sign of good things to come” and plans on “developing and learning more techniques” in the wrestling room.
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