By Joe Scarriot ‘23

On Saturday Jan. 28, the Crusader mat men traveled to Fenwick to compete in the JV Chicago Catholic League Championship.

Before the meet, sophomore Danny Tait said, “Our mindset for the meet was to win. We were all locked in and ready to wrestle.” The mat men did just that by dominating every opponent in the way. They totaled 273 team points and finished in first place. They outscored the second place Fenwick by over 50 points.

All thirteen Crusaders placed at least top five in their respective weight classes. There were six first place finishes by Oliver Davis (120), Danny Speski (126), Kyle Fehsel (132), Javier Franco (160), Colin Goggin (170), and King Liggins (220).

The mat men may be wrestling individually, however, it is more important than just individual performance to them. Sophomore Kyle Fehsel said, “As a team we did the best we could and it shows. I am proud to be a part of this great team and to win it with such a great team.”

Senior captain John Fitzpatrick said, “The wrestling program has gotten so much better over the four years I’ve been part of it, and it will only improve from here. We have six sophomore’s that start in the varsity lineup, and the JV won in a landslide victory at the CCL championship. Within the next couple of years, the team may be in contention for a state title.”

The CCL was blinded by the bright future these young mat men have created for themselves. There is no doubt the future is bright for the Brother Rice wrestling program and they will be competitive for years to come.