Saturday’s dual meet wins against St. Albans School and Pope John Paul the Great were the last of seven duals, all of which were wrestled in a very busy three days. Once the dust settled, Ireton’s record improved to 11-1, which is one win better than this same time last year.
The three days began on Thursday night with two victories in Richmond against Prep league schools Richmond Collegiate and Norfolk Academy. The matches ran late into the evening and wrestlers were undoubtedly exhausted during their late evening and snowy drive home from Richmond, but all were content with the outcome of the evening matches as theIreton wrestlers achieved a decisive 41-24 victory over Norfolk Academy and an even more decisive 45-18 win against Richmond Collegiate. The evening was filled with lots of exciting moments and a few pleasant surprises.
In the first match against Norfolk Academy sophomore Darcy Gomez set the pace with a 3:39 pin against his opponent at 112lbs. This was followed by pins from Andrew Bladen (3:06) at 171lbs; Andrew Lutterloh (1:20) at 215lbs; and Elliot Mondragon (1:23) at 103lbs. Of special note was the pin achieved by Brandon Razkallah in 3:32 at 189lbs in his first varsity match for Bishop Ireton. For this match the Cardinals also welcomed returning senior Andrew Georgieff who has recovered from an ankle injury and achieved a 14-1 major decision victory in first match of the season at 130lbs. Additional wins were achieved by Jeff Severini (5-1) at 119lbs; and Nick Womach (16-4) at 135lbs. Fastest pin of match and the evening was achieved by sophomore Andrew Lutterloh.
Against Richmond Collegiate, senior Andrew Georgieff set the pace with a 1:23 pin against his opponent at 125lbs. This was followed by one additional pin in 2:36 by Elliot Mondragon at 103lbs. Equally important wins were achieved by Ryan Delaney (10-4) at 152lbs; Scott Martin (1-0) at 160; and Andrew Lutterloh (8-4) at 215lbs. Fastest pin of this match goes to returning senior Andrew Georgieff.
Following the trip to Richmond against Collegiate and Norfolk Academy, the Cards competed in the Alexandria City Duals, against St. Stephens St. Agnes (SSSA), Episcopal, and TC Williams and tied for first place with SSSA and Episcopal. This quad meet was a challenging evening of three dual meets, but three wrestlers walked away from the competition with 3 wins and 0 losses, Elliot Mondragon (103), Joe Vitale (145), and Andrew Lutterloh (215). Ireton opened with TC Williams. Unlike previous years, TC Williams had wrestlers at all but two weight classes, with very talented wrestlers in three. Despite this, the red and gold grapplers defeated the Titans with an impressive score of 52-21. The first pin of this match was by freshman Nick Womach, who pinned his opponent in 4:45 at 135lbs. This was followed by pins from senior Ryan Delaney in 4:00 at 152lbs, team captain and senior Kevin Galloway in :33 at 171lbs, and sophomore Andrew Lutterloh in :32 at 215lbs, which was also the fastest pin of the match and the day. Sophomore Darcy Gomez achieved an additional win (9-4) at 112lbs.
While invigorating, the success heavy schedule of duals may have taken its toll with the lads, as they fell to Episcopal in a close 37-27 dual tally. Only two of our wrestlers walked away from this match with pins, junior Elliot Mondragon pinned his opponent in :56 at 103lbs, as did team captain and senior Joe Vatalie at 130 lbs, junior Ricky Baier (8-2) at 140lbs, junior Andrew Bladen (12-7) at 160, and sophomore Andrew Lutterloh (11-5) at 215lbs. The fastest pin of this match was achieved by Elliot Mondragon.
Our final match of the day against St. Stephens St. Agnes was also the most exciting meet of the day. In this rivalry matchup Ireton took down the Saints with a thirteen point spread and final score of 35-22. This victory secured a championship tie because SSSA beat Episcopal earlier that afternoon by six points. Setting the pace for this victory were pins from junior Elliot Mondragon in 3:31 at 103lbs and team captain and senior Jacob Manley, who pinned his opponent in 1:32 at heavyweight. Additional wins were achieved by freshman Nick Womach (5-3) at 135lbs, junior Ricky Baier (5-0) at 140lbs, Joe Vitale, who teched his opponent with a score of 17-0, and senior Ryan Delaney (6-3) at 152lbs. The fastest pin of this match was achieved by Jacob Manley.
On Saturday, our Cardinal grapplers competed against St. Albans and newcomers Pope John Paul the Great. In this match up our grapplers once again demonstrated their talent by defeating the JPG Wolves with a score of 56-24. Setting the pace were pins from junior Elliot Mondragon in 1:09 at 103lbs, sophomore Darcy Gomez in 1:34 at 112lbs, team captain and senior Joe Vitale in 2:10 at 152lbs, and sophomore Andrew Lutterloh in 4:19 at 215lbs. Additional and equally important wins were achieved by Senior Andrew Georgeiff, who teched his opponent with a score of 18-2, and Ricky Baier who beat a very tough JPG wrestler at 140lbs. Fastest pin of the match goes to Elliot Mondragon.
The final match of the week was against St. Albans. The Cardinal grapplers defeated the Bulldogs 45-25. Pins were achieved by Junior Elliot Mondragon in :51, sophomore Darcy Gomez in 1:06, junior Ricky Baier in 3:31, sophomore Andrew Lutterloh in 1:17, and the fastest pin of the year so far was achieved by Jacob Manley, who pinned his opponent in an astounding :11. Additional wins were achieved by Joe Vitale (7-0) wrestling up at 152lbs, sophomore Andrew Bladen (9-4), also wrestling up at 171, and the most inspiring win of the day was achieved by team captain and senior Kevin Galloway (7-0).
The particularly large contingent of Ireton supporters throughout the week were a point of comment by head coach Don Dight, “Of all the wrestling this week, from Richmond to Washington DC, we were certainly blessed by strong fan support. It started to feel like a home meet on occasion and the boys appreciated the strong support, particularly Friday night at the City championships.”
The Cards return to action against Maryland School for the Deaf and Silver Oak Academy at the MD School for the Deaf (101 Clarke Place, Frederick, MD 21701). Wrestling begins at 4:30. Ireton wrestlers will travel to Archbishop Spalding to participate in the Cavalier Duals. This is a new competition for Bishop Ireton and promises to provide lots of challenges and wrestling opportunities for our grapplers. Fourteen schools will participate in this competition and unlike traditional tournaments, where lesser wrestlers are eliminated after two losses, this competition promises at least eight matches for each team.
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