Senior Elliot Mondragon displays his 3rd place trophy, highest finish for an Ireton wrestler in 25 years or more. Mondragon achieved all-American status with the third place.
Senior Co-Captain Elliot Mondragon placed third and earned All-American honors at the National Prep Wrestling Championships at Lehigh University this weekend. Elliot capped an outstanding wrestling career at Bishop Ireton with another exceptional tournament and a huge victory for third place to earn the prestigious honor. Seeded eighth, he wrestled marvelously and delivered results well-above the expectations of the seeding committee. His finish and his three teammates propelled the Cardinals to a 31st place in the tournament field of 126 schools from New England through Pennsylvania to Virginia.
In the championship half of the bracket, Elliot pinned his first opponent from Pennsylvania in 21 seconds and then won by technical fall over his second opponent from New England. With his only loss coming in the quarterfinals at the hands of the ultimate champion from perennial powerhouse and tournament champion, New Jersey’s Blair Academy; Elliott powered back in the consolation round, initially defeating his fourth opponent of the day, Shane Wilson from Dematha 7-0 to earn a spot among the top eight.
Elliot started an extremely memorable second day of wrestling almost as strong as the first, pinning VISAA opponent Dustin Runzo of Norfolk Academy in 3:44. This set up an intriguing matchup with last week’s VISAA State Champion at 103, Tony Protogyrou from Norfolk Collegiate. This time, Elliot earned a quick takedown, controlled the match throughout and pinned his opponent in 2:13 to set up the consolation final for third place. The third place match was wrestled in the style for which Elliott has become known. He faced a very competent Jack Mutchnik from St Paul’s in Baltimore who was the runner-up in last week’s Maryland Independent State Tournament. Elliot controlled the tempo and the match for a solid 5-3 victory, the third place trophy and All-American status! Elliott’s final match can be viewed at Flowrestling.com. (http://www.flowrestling.org/videos/coverage/view_video/238478-2011-national-prep-championships/469769-103lbs-3rd-elliot-mondragon-r-bishop-ireton-vs-jack-mutchnik-g-st-pauls).
Elliot’s latest achievements attest to his outstanding career while at Ireton. He has contributed immensely to the latest accomplishments of the Ireton wrestling program. Only three otherCardinalwrestlers have earned distinction as “All American” in the history of Ireton’s wrestling program. “Ellliot had a tremendous tournament, said coach Don Dight. “It was a special way to cap an exceptional season and career at Bishop Ireton!”
Elliot was joined at the National Prep Championship Tournament by senior Co-Captain, Ricky Baier at 140, junior Co-Captain, Andrew Lutterloh at 215 and sophomore standout, Nick Womach at 130. They represented the legacy of BI wrestling excellence exceedingly well. Anyone who’s been associated with this level of wrestling knows it’s brutally competitive nature. These hard-nosed grapplers wrestled mightily, demonstrated their adroit skills and experienced national level competition at its best. Ricky Baier closed out his senior year and Ireton career with this unique experience and underclassmen Andrew and Nick enjoyed but a taste of the flavor of competition at the national level.
The tournament was the final event for the Cardinals in the 2010-11 wrestling season. With but four seniors departing the program, Dight is excited for the prospects in the 2011-12 season already.
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