By Brendan Arnold ‘23

On January 21, the wrestling Crusaders packed their bags as they headed down to Marmion Academy for the Chicago Catholic League Championship.

The Crusaders went up against some of the top teams in the state. Junior Mac Murzyn said, “This was the toughest conference tournament in the Midwest.” Everyone there can play at the collegiate level. The Crusaders needed to have a lot of grit and determination if they wanted to be successful.

“Going into the meet, we didn’t know what to expect, other than there weren’t going to be easy matches,” Murzyn said. He mentioned that the big thing going into CCL was just to have fun and embrace every moment of this competitive meet.

After the meet, Murzyn felt as if everyone on the team gave it their all: “We did as well as any team there, but still are hungry for more.”

The Crusaders fought hard every single match while leaving it all on the mat. Sophomore Gambino Perez fell just short in the championship losing 2-1.

“Any time you can place in the top 5 in that type of tournament is successful. But there is still more to achieve,” Murzyn said. “We have a lot to prove, but I have faith in everyone on this team”.

The Crusaders begin a week of hard sweat and pain as they get themselves ready for IHSA state regionals this weekend.