By Carter McAlilly ‘22

The Brother Rice matmen have claimed yet another regional championship resulting in back to back regional championships. Winning regionals was huge for Brother Rice as they have a lot of wrestlers who also qualified for state.

Multiple wrestlers qualified for state for Brother Rice this year. Winning the regional championship was only the start for something bigger.

Many hard fought matches were won by the Crusaders. Nine wrestlers from Rice qualified for state. This is absolutely huge for the Crusaders.

The nine wrestlers that qualified for state are James Bennett, Bobby Conway, Alvaro Perez, Connor Nelligan, Chuck Connelly, Nate Chirillo, Tommy Bennett, Colin Ashley and Gabino Perez.

Tommy Bennett, a senior at Brother Rice, won his match at regionals by pin. He absolutely dominated the match and seemed unstoppable. He’s looking to make a great run for the State Championship.

“Holding the trophy after regionals was pretty fun. It is always good to get a win, but our eyes are on the team sectional coming up.” said Tommy Bennett.

Tommy has some great words about advancing to the state championship. He said, “Qualifying for state is fun, but my goal is past that. It was more exciting to see my friends and teammates qualify after their hard work.”

With the nine wrestlers moving onto the state championship, they are all looking to make a huge push to hoist up the trophy when it is all said and done. Senior Alvaro Perez said, “Our main goal is to come together as a team and compete at the highest level we are able to.”

James Bennett, a sophomore at Brother Rice, also qualified for state. James said, “It is a great experience to qualify for state and I cannot wait to share this experience with my peers.”  The two Bennett brothers are very excited to go to the State Championship together and plan to come out on top.

Tommy Bennett’s prediction for state is a great one. He is more excited about his teammates giving their all rather than just focusing on himself. He said, “My predictions at state are just for me and my team to give our best effort and take one match at a time. Trusting that results will follow.”

After winning back to back regional championships, let’s win a state championship. Go Crusaders!