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AURORA – “You can’t win ’em all” is a classic sports cliché that manages to stick around, but don’t spread the message to the Marmion wrestling team.
The host Cadets compiled a 3-1 record Wednesday during a quadrangular meet, yet athletes and coaches alike weren’t pleased with the outcome. While Marmion looked invulnerable in victories against Metea Valley (62-9), Batavia (70-6) and West Aurora (63-15), the Cadets couldn’t string together any momentum against Washington and dropped the dual, 31-24.
“We let a couple get away from us against Washington, but other than that, we wrestled pretty well,” Marmion coach Donny Reynolds said. “Obviously give them credit. They were the better team today, with the lineup today. I don’t like making excuses; we didn’t get the job done.”
In what was easily the most intense dual of the day, seemingly every individual match came down to the final buzzer, with the Panthers clinching the match in a 5-4 victory at 152 pounds.
Both benches were on their feet during critical points in the match, and shouts and cheers echoed around Marmion’s Alumni Hall gymnasium.
“I thought we underperformed, which is a terrible feeling. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Cadets 132-pounder AJ Jaffe said. “We came in thinking that we could beat them and they proved us wrong today. It was a heated battle, but we gave up a lot of matches that we should have won and lost a lot of positions that we should’ve won.”
Against the Bulldogs, who defeated West Aurora (48-27) and Metea Valley (39-38) to go 2-1, Marmion’s grapplers were nearly perfect. The Cadets recorded pins in 10 of the 14 bouts while cruising to victory.
“Mentally, I don’t think we were ready to handle what Marmion threw at us. I was worried about that coming in and sometimes you lose to a uniform before you even go out there and get beat,” Batavia coach Scott Bayer said. “I’m not saying we should’ve won the dual or anything like that, but we should’ve been competitive individually and we just weren’t.”
Batavia moved to 7-8 on the season. A pin in the 170-pound division clinched the victory against Metea Valley.
It was a long day for everyone involved, and maintaining endurance throughout the five-hour event was key to success. Just two days before Christmas and well into winter break from school, both Bayer and Reynolds said their squads were banged up as the teams are in the grind of the season.
“It’s easy to get checked out. We’re definitely a wounded animal right now,” Bayer said.
While the holidays are nearing on the calendar, there will be no rest for these wrestlers. The Cadets have another dual on Monday before heading to Rochester, Minnesota, for a two-day tournament to kick off 2016.
Needless to say, the squad is eager to get back on the mat to improve on Wednesday’s performance.
“You obviously can’t win them all, but we should’ve won this one today,” Marmion’s Trace Carello said. “It was just a poor effort. I think we wrestled well in the other duals, but we didn’t wrestle well when we needed to. That’s something we need to work on.”
AURORA – “You can’t win ’em all” is a classic sports cliché that manages to stick around, but don’t spread the message to the Marmion wrestling team.
The host Cadets compiled a 3-1 record Wednesday during a quadrangular meet, yet athletes and coaches alike weren’t pleased with the outcome. While Marmion looked invulnerable in victories against Metea Valley (62-9), Batavia (70-6) and West Aurora (63-15), the Cadets couldn’t string together any momentum against Washington and dropped the dual, 31-24.
“We let a couple get away from us against Washington, but other than that, we wrestled pretty well,” Marmion coach Donny Reynolds said. “Obviously give them credit. They were the better team today, with the lineup today. I don’t like making excuses; we didn’t get the job done.”
In what was easily the most intense dual of the day, seemingly every individual match came down to the final buzzer, with the Panthers clinching the match in a 5-4 victory at 152 pounds.
Both benches were on their feet during critical points in the match, and shouts and cheers echoed around Marmion’s Alumni Hall gymnasium.
“I thought we underperformed, which is a terrible feeling. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Cadets 132-pounder AJ Jaffe said. “We came in thinking that we could beat them and they proved us wrong today. It was a heated battle, but we gave up a lot of matches that we should have won and lost a lot of positions that we should’ve won.”
Against the Bulldogs, who defeated West Aurora (48-27) and Metea Valley (39-38) to go 2-1, Marmion’s grapplers were nearly perfect. The Cadets recorded pins in 10 of the 14 bouts while cruising to victory.
“Mentally, I don’t think we were ready to handle what Marmion threw at us. I was worried about that coming in and sometimes you lose to a uniform before you even go out there and get beat,” Batavia coach Scott Bayer said. “I’m not saying we should’ve won the dual or anything like that, but we should’ve been competitive individually and we just weren’t.”
Batavia moved to 7-8 on the season. A pin in the 170-pound division clinched the victory against Metea Valley.
It was a long day for everyone involved, and maintaining endurance throughout the five-hour event was key to success. Just two days before Christmas and well into winter break from school, both Bayer and Reynolds said their squads were banged up as the teams are in the grind of the season.
“It’s easy to get checked out. We’re definitely a wounded animal right now,” Bayer said.
While the holidays are nearing on the calendar, there will be no rest for these wrestlers. The Cadets have another dual on Monday before heading to Rochester, Minnesota, for a two-day tournament to kick off 2016.
Needless to say, the squad is eager to get back on the mat to improve on Wednesday’s performance.
“You obviously can’t win them all, but we should’ve won this one today,” Marmion’s Trace Carello said. “It was just a poor effort. I think we wrestled well in the other duals, but we didn’t wrestle well when we needed to. That’s something we need to work on.”