KIRTLAND—A pair of losses to St. Ignatius and Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Thursday didn’t tell the whole story for the Kirtland wrestling team.
The Hornets came up on the short end of the scoreboard but they showed vast improvement and were competitive in both matches.
“They’re wrestling well,” said Kirtland coach Scott Francis of the Hornets. “The stuff we’re going over in the room, we’re seeing them use those moves and using them more consistently and getting rid of the stuff that wasn’t working before.”
Konnor Duncan and Aidan Marsh both went 2-0 while Carter Williamson, Brandon Hepper, Brayden Adkins, Austin Mayo and Jeff Kusar finished the night 1-1. Kusar also won an exhibition bout.
Adkins lost to St. Ignatius’ Michael Caldwell, who finished the night 2-0, then rebounded with a pin over VASJ’s Carl Chaney in 1 minute, 42 seconds.
“You could tell that kid had some experience under his belt and he’s working out with some real good kids in his room,” Francis said of Caldwell. “When they send their B team, that doesn’t mean anything for St. Ignatius. They’re going to have some good kids there that are looking for a varsity spot eventually. That’s why we like seeing them here before they hit the big time.”
St. Ignatius 33, Kirtland 30
106: Grayson McLellan (STIG) over Carter Williamson (KIRT) (TF 16-1 0:00) 113: Calum Campolieti (STIG) over (KIRT) (For.) 120: Konnor Duncan (KIRT) over Matt Isaac (STIG) (Fall 5:02) 126: Brandon Hepper (KIRT) over (STIG) (For.) 132: Double Forfeit 138: Double Forfeit 145: Aidan Marsh (KIRT) over (STIG) (For.) 152: Michael Caldwell (STIG) over Brayden Adkins (KIRT) (MD 11-1) 160: Samuel Clark (STIG) over Will Robertson (KIRT) (Fall 1:46) 170: Tommy Buckles (STIG) over (KIRT) (For.) 182: Josh Dinya (STIG) over (KIRT) (For.) 195: Austin Mayo (KIRT) over (STIG) (For.) 220: Double Forfeit 285: Jeff Kusar (KIRT) over (STIG) (For.)
VASJ 40, Kirtland 21
106: Carter Williamson (KIRT) over (VASJ) (For.) 113: Charlie Strunik (VASJ) over (KIRT) (For.) 120: Konnor Duncan (KIRT) over (VASJ) (For.) 126: Double Forfeit 132: Raymond Velez (VASJ) over Brandon Hepper (KIRT) (MD 19-11) 138: KING SEYOU (VASJ) over (KIRT) (For.) 145: Aidan Marsh (KIRT) over Nathan Oriani (VASJ) (Dec 6-1) 152: Brayden Adkins (KIRT) over Carl Chaney (VASJ) (Fall 1:42) 160: Double Forfeit 170: Josh Longstreet (VASJ) over Will Robertson (KIRT) (Fall 3:09) 182: Cornelius Green (VASJ) over (KIRT) (For.) 195: Kiras Kijauskas (VASJ) over Austin Mayo (KIRT) (Fall 0:23) 220: 285: Pat Sheridan (VASJ) over Jeff Kusar (KIRT) (Fall 2:34)
