Though they put up a good fight against the Depaul Prep Rams, the Niles West boys wrestling team lost at their match on Dec. 7. The final score was 27-37, making the Wolves 0-6 now. The Rams did forfeit their weight class match, so the Wolves who were in that competition had an automatic win.
The Rams are a very competitive school, but the Wolves did have a close match with them. Though the freshmen were not able to compete, junior varsity (JV) wrestled alongside the varsity team. This is because the Wolves varsity team did not have a full lineup for the meet.
“The meet went ok. They were a good team. They got the better of us. Learn and move forward. We are getting better every day. Our team just needs to be consistent every time they step on the mat. I would describe this team as young with some good senior leadership from Ivan Gonzalez, Hesham Ghiassudin, Peter Metesious and Antonio Blanco,” wrestling coach Anthony Petrusonis said.
As the season goes on the boys’ are trying their best to improve every match. They don’t give up and try their best to win, even if it is against a difficult team according to P. Mestousis.
“The meet went well and come of our guys won against the DePaul team. Honestly, we battled well and got better as a team through this game. Personally, my goal is to just get better every day and win at regionals again. I also expect everyone on the team to get better, as well. [Also,] I feel as though the team is fun and everyone likes each other. We get along and it is a fun time being around everyone,” Mestousis said.
The varsity, JV and freshmen teams have a lot to improve on as the season progresses.
“Varsity is off to a rough start along with JV, while freshmen have been showing how hard they have been working and it’s paying off with a winning record. We do still need to bump up the intensity and get more reps in every day to continue to grow as a team and as individuals,” junior Brayden Kuffel said.
There are many goals the Wolves want to accomplish, and they are working towards them through their practice and games. However, the boy’s wrestling team is different in many ways according to Kuffel.
“Our team expectations are to always keep moving, never quit and work hard every meet – win or loss. The team is very different in many ways, some guys haven’t wrestled before and some have wrestled four years but we all have one goal which is to win and work hard every day. Like I said before the team constantly continues to improve every week and it’s awesome to see guys start to fall in love with the sport and working hard,” Kuffel said.
The team strives to make it to regionals, sectionals and even state. As well as winning conferences and competing in every dual and tournament they are in. The next home game for wrestling is Dec. 22 against Maine West.
“Look out for our underclassmen Alex Hernandez, Kuffel, Sebastion Gordon, Ninwaya Michael, Jacob Collings, Martin Mirza, and Nicholas Metesious who are getting better every day. Freshman Daud Chaudry is going to be a very talented wrestler,” Petrusonis said.
