The varsity wrestling team took on Merrillville at its home meet on Wednesday, Jan. 14. After a conference battle, the Indians fell to the Pirates with a final score of 27-42.
Before the meet began, a short presentation was given to honor the seniors of the team. Seven senior wrestlers and two senior stat girls were celebrated with a short walk with their parents and a picture with their family.
“It’s a crazy feeling [to be a senior], but it didn’t kick in at first. [I have been wrestling within the program] since seventh grade. I am going to miss wrestling, [especially] all the memories I’ve made. [My favorite memory] is when I got 7th at the Lake County tournament this year,” Luke Sutherland (12) said.
After a rough start, the Indians were down 0-21 in the beginning of the meet. A pin from Tristan Pappas (11) followed by a pin from Branden Truver (12) allowed the team to gain their first points against Merrillville, making the score 12-21. Merrillville then regained its momentum until the Indians responded with a string of success. Kodie Christenson (12), Romel Spight (11), Jacob Stewart (12) and Jacob Kleimola (11) all delivered wins near the end of the meet, making the score 27-36. The Pirates stole the last match, taking the dual meet victory.
“I thought we wrestled pretty well. We definitely need to stay off our back, and we need to be working hard to keep matches closer. If we can keep matches closer, that dual doesn’t get out of our hands, and it’s actually a much tighter dual and not so lopsided. Overall, I thought we wrestled well considering [Merrillville is] a top-ten team in the state. We still need to make improvements, and a lot of it comes down to making small changes, improving the little things and staying off of our back. Then it becomes a much, much closer dual,” Coach Ryan Alb, Science, said.
The varsity wrestling team will compete next on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the DAC tournament in LaPorte.
