On Tuesday, December 15, the Ste. Genevieve Boys and Girls Varsity Wrestling Teams challenged Sullivan. The boys continued their winning ways, defeating their opponents 37-34, on the strength of five pin victories. In total, of the 12 matches, Ste. Gen won seven. For the girls dual, there were only three matches that took place, with Ste. Gen winning two. However, due to forfeited weight classes, the girls team lost 18-12.
Head Coach Jared Bonnell has seen his Seniors become the leaders on the team. He commented, “Leadership comes in many forms, some lead vocally, some lead by example. We have a good mix of that going on with this group. I have seen improvement in our work ethic in the room, but we are still struggling with translating that to our matches.”
For the boys dual, Gage Gross started off the evening wrestling at the 106 lb. weight class. He earned a victory by pin at 1:10 of the match. Gavin Gross was the next victor at 132, earning a pin at 3:51. At 145, Nathan Selby won a narrow decision 12-11.
Kaleb Myracle toppled his opponent at 160, winning by major decision 13-0. Coming close to the 15 point technical fall differential, Myracle said, “I wanted to tech him, but I just couldn’t get the back points.” At 170, Ethan Ogden pinned his opponent at 2:48. Elijah Holifield, wrestling at 182, won by pin at 2:23. Holifield has been working diligently to improve, and said, “I’ve been working on my set ups. So far, I’ve found that my breakdowns and turns have been pretty successful.”
Bonnell has been impressed with his upperclassmen remaining cool under fire, and said, “Myracle, Ogden and Holifield kept their composure when the dual meet was on the line and did exactly what they needed to do to get us the win. That is a lot of pressure and most wrestlers have trouble performing with something like that on the line.”
Lastly, at 285, Ryan Schmelzle pinned his opponent at 3:13. Dalton McBride also won an exhibition at 160 by pin in 40 seconds.
In the girls dual, at 112, Paityn Basler lost via injury. At 132, Isabel Basler pinned her opponent at 1:00. At 195, Maggie Myracle continued to impress, pinning her opponent at 1:45. Bonnell noted, “The girls performed well, with both Izzy and Maggie collecting first period falls. Paityn was injured during her match and we are waiting to see if she is going to be able to continue with her season.”
Bonnell noted that the team has to keep advancing, “Several of our wrestlers are still making the same mistakes match after match. This is something that has to improve.”
The teams will take the next few days to study up and prepare for the upcoming weekend. The girls will wrestle this Friday at Cape Girardeau in the Tiger Classic. The boys will be in Moberly on Saturday for the Moberly Duals. JV will compete on Monday, December 21, in the annual Cape Girardeau JV Tournament.
