On Saturday, Jan. 7, the LC Varsity Boys Wrestling team attended the Lake County Tournament at Hanover Central. Unfortunately, Hanover’s coach passed away a little over a week ago.
Hanover’s head coach, Nick Petrov, accompanied by Willems’ family placed Willems’ wrestling shoes in the middle of the mat and asked for a moment of silence. Even though it was an emotional tournament, the LC came out strong and managed to win first place.
“I feel bad for the Hanover team for losing their coach; I couldn’t imagine going through something like that. I wish them the best of luck in the rest of their season,” Jordan Goodwin (10) said.
The LC team had a total of 14 wrestlers that made it to the finals.
“I’m nervous for the finals, but I’m confident in my team’s ability to win the tournament,” Jacob Sebahar (10) said.
The wrestlers that placed in the finals included Kyle Ayersman (12), who also received the “John Willems Most Outstanding Wrestler Award,” Matthew Lechowicz (11), Brandon Truver (9), Joshua Vandas (10), Jordan Goodwin (10), Zachary Retske(9), Jacob Sebahar (10), Kody Christenson (9), Brandon Manchak (10), Jeff Brassea (10), Alex Tucker (11), Isaac Popovich (11), Gelen Robinson (10) and Daniel Schoonmaker (11). They dominated the tournament with 306 points.
