Both our boys and girls wrestling teams had a brutal weekend of wrestling.
Elijah Gervins and
Sanjil Magar both wrestled Friday and Saturday and had outstanding showings. Unfortunately, our alternate,
Avinash Mongar, did not get the opportunity to wrestle but still attended and supported his teammates. The atmosphere was electric as Elijah defeated his opponent in sudden death OT. Elijah eventually lost to a Walsh Jesuit wrestler who became the state qualifier. Shout-out to
Mrs. Lin who braved the crowds to support our guys on Saturday.
And let me tell you what kind of people our wrestlers are. After battling through Friday and Saturday and watching their seasons end, they changed clothes, met the rest of the boys' team at North and went to the girls' practice late on Saturday to help the ladies drill for their tournament on Sunday. Team before self - every day.
Our ladies were part of a historic event on Sunday as they gathered with 81 other teams consisting of a total of 237 wrestlers in the first ever OHSAA sanctioned female regional wrestling tournament. We had 3 girls qualify and each scored points for our team. They were excited, they were nervous.... and then they noticed our cheering section.
Mrs. Miles,
Mrs. LaFlame,
Mrs. Cielec, and
Mr. D'Andrea (and
Auggie) were loud and proud every time a Viking took the mat. It really meant a lot to the girls. As
Maribel said when she saw them, "
Mrs. Stewart - we have FANS!" All 3 girls made it 4 rounds before being eliminated. As a team we were 6-6 and the ladies fought to the bitter end even when they lost. They left the gym as a team, with their heads high and I couldn't be more proud of
Karuna Rai,
Anne Ruble and
Maribel Perez. There are now 81 schools who know and respect the Vikings.
I have included a few pictures from the weekend and a
video of the girls prior to the tournament starting. All of the female wrestlers across the state have formed quite a bond as they have been groundbreakers for this sport. They cheer for and support each other when not in direct competition - and apparently with the help of the Mentor sound crew, they do the Electric Slide together as well.
