There was no rest for the weary when it comes to Benedictine wrestling and the Christmas break. Last week, the Cadets hosted Deep Run and Huguenot at Rutt Court on the downtown campus in a pre-holiday match.

  The Cadets emerged with two wins and prepare to enter the meat of the season on a winning note.

  “My kids have had about 20 matches so far this season,” said Cadet coach Ryan Hall. “I’m a firm believer in the only way to get better in wrestling is to wrestle. We’re approaching the mid-point of the season. When January hits, that’s when you need to find your stride. It’s not as much instruction as it is time to get things going.”

  Because the Cadets had a 13-day layoff Hall scheduled the meet to prepare his squad for this week.

  This Friday Benedictine faces one of its biggest challenges of the season when they compete against two-time Central Region champion Hanover as well as perennial VHSL powers Lee-Davis and Deep Run in the Hawk Duals at Hanover High School.

  “I wanted to get my kids on the mat against some good local competition,” Hall said. “I think 13 days is a long layoff, so Deep Run said they’d bring their squad over here, and Huguenot agreed also.”

  The Cadets won but both matches were close. “We were a little banged up today so that made the competition closer,” Hall said.

  Benedictine features only two seniors in the starting lineup— heavyweight John Moser and Michael Logan; a team captain and former state qualifier. Logan is injured and should return to action by the end of February.

  Therefore the Cadets are using a mixed bag of experience with this year’s lineup. “About half of the kids are experienced and ready to rock and roll and compete for the podium and the other half that are new but working hard and getting better every day to get to the podium,” Hall said. “It’s a good mixed bag, and as long as we keep improving, we’ll be ready to go for the state tournament in February.”

  Unlike the public school playoff season, all 31 teams in the private league compete in the state tournament, so every team has a chance despite their previous records.

  “That’s what we wrestle for — a top four finish in the states and a ticket to the prep nationals,” Hall said.

  Despite the variety of wresting experience, Hall is comfortable with this year’s squad and sees improvement with each match. “They are an awesome group of kids,” he said. “We had some early setbacks, but they believe in this coaching staff and they’ve put in the work to get better. I can’t wait to see them progress through January and be ready to rock and roll in February.”

  The close wins against Deep Run’s B team and Huguenot provided valuable insight for a coach. “We still have a lot of work to do, but the kids gutted out two one-point wins, and got it done,” Hall said.

Benedictine 34, Huguenot 33
106: Haygood (B) by forfeit; 113: Wood (B) by forfeit; 120: Camet (B) by forfeit; 126: double forfeit; 132: Corbin (B) p. Snead 1:02; 138: Emanuel (H) p. Ventrella 1:27; 145: Barrett (H) d. S. Toomey 6-5; 152: Thoma (B) md. Riley 13-0; 160: Hubbard (H) p. Lavoie 1:56; 170: R. Toomey (B) p. Wall 1:08; 182: Brewer (H) p. Lewis 1:25; 195: Ulloa (H) by forfeit; 220: double forfeit; 285: Norwood (H) p. Fore 1:26.

Benedictine 36, Deep Run ‘B’ 35
106: Bartulewicz (DR) p. Haygood 3:58; 113: Stumpf (DR) p. Wood :56; 120: Havens (DR) tf. Camet; 126: Corbin (B) p. Colwell 3:30; 132: Slayton (DR) by forfeit; 138: Burns (DR) p. Ventrella 6:15; 145: S. Toomey (B) p. Shim 1:34; 152: Thoma (B) p. Mawyer :45; 160: An. Vath (DR) p. Lavoie 1:06; 170: R. Toomey (B) p. Al Vath :45; 182: Lewis (B) by forfeit; 195: double forfeit; 220: double forfeit; 285: Mosier (B) by forfeit.