Tough Day on the Mat for the Saints

On January 11, 2023, the Varsity Boys Wrestling team squared off against league rival, the Northview Vikings in a duel match. The duel was hosted in the Saint’s gym at 5:00 PM and was packed with both Saints and Vikings fans anxiously waiting to see the boys face off. With Northview being a top team in the state, the final score was a devastating 0-78. 

The Saints ran out to the mat and warmed up knowing this was going to be one of the toughest matches of league, if not, the season. Northview is ranked 13th in the state so there was no doubt this would be a tough matchup. As warm ups came to an end, the boys circled together on the mat and motivated each other. Junior wrestler Quinn McDonald said, “We reminded each other that we could beat them and to stay confident and not be intimidated.” 

The Saints came into this match with some momentum, as they placed 4th as a team out of 39 places in their tournament leading up to the Northview match. Although they had momentum and were feeling confident, the match won’t end in your favor every time. 

Immediately from the start of the match, the Vikings dominated on the mat by pinning all but two of the Saints’ wrestlers. The boys fought as hard as they could but the Vikings had an answer for each move the Saints made. 

Although it wasn’t the outcome they wanted, the boys tried to find the positives because they knew they still had more matches to come. When asked about what they could take away from the match, McDonald said, “We know what we need to work on after wrestling state level competition. We are only using this as motivation to beat them in league finals and possibly in CIF.” 

The boys didn’t let the loss affect their confidence or attitude. They still have a lot in store for them as Mcdonald stated, “We’re still a young team and we’ve just now started to really hit the next level as far as technique and we have placed fairly high in most tournaments.”