Wrestlers battle at Nick Mason, City Dual Tourneys

Sophomore Trey Lovisone, above red warm up, won the Nick Mason championship at 195.

Bishop Ireton’s wrestling Cardinals crowned a champion at the Nick Mason Memorial tournament last weekend and competed in the Alexandria City duals on Friday. Midweek the grapplers tangled with DeMatha and Gonzaga in a triangular WCAC match up.

Although the Cardinals took two losses on the day at DeMatha, a number of the men came away with wins. Max Russell, Justin Hoppe, Conor Reilly, Joey Siedlarz and Trey Lovisone earned points for the team against Gonzaga, while Andre Roberts was the only point getter against DeMatha.

Sophomore Trey Lovisone captured an individual championship at the Mason tournament down state at King George High School while the Cardinals finished sixth in the team standings. Almost every wrestler got three matches and some much needed mat time. When the dust settled the Cardinals had a number of grapplers place in the medal rounds. In addition to a title for Trey Lovisone, Joey Siedlarz and Max Russell wrestled in the finals and earned a second place. Siedlarz lost a hard fought 3-0 match and Russell finished in 2nd as well. Conor Reilly also posted a winning record for the day, Devon Reed placed 4th and Patrick Tuccillo took a 5th place.

This past Friday, Bishop Ireton hosted Episcopal, St. Stephens/St. Agnes, and TC Williams in the round robin affair in Godley Gymnasium.

The teams were evenly matched and the team scores demonstrated the small margin between schools. In the opening round, TC Williams outlasted the Cardinals 42-39, while St Stephens fell to Episcopal. The Saints rallied in the second round to top TC Williams 48-27, while the Cardinals got a pin from Lovisone and sophomore Max Russell. Russell, at 106 pounds, wrestled the last match of the meet and got a pin to give the Cardinals a thrilling 42-41 win over the Maroon.

In the exciting third round, TC and Episcopal tied at 36-26, with the Titans gaining the win by “criteria points” while St. Stephens held on to top Ireton 42-36. Perhaps the best match of the day was at 195 in the Ireton – St Stephens dual, where the Saints’ Max Gallahan topped Ireton’s Trey Lovisone in double overtime. The wrestlers tied at 2-2 in regulation and neither grappler could gain points in the first one minute overtime. Gallahan recorded an escape in the first of the two 30-second overtimes, then gained a two-point takedown as the clock expired in the second 30-second session to secure the win as well as gain important team points to secure the eventual dual meet victory.

The criteria win for TC along with the Saints victory over the Cardinals gave the scarlet and green St. Stephens the City title by the narrowest of margins. Had Episcopal won in the TC matchup, they would have been crowned.

This week has the matmen in a number of non-conference matches. The Cardinals will be going to The Potomac School on Tuesday for a tri-meet with Potomac and St Anselms, wrestling will start at 4:30. On Wednesday Ireton will compete in an event at George Mason High School, wrestling will begin at 6 pm. Friday has the redbirds back at St Stephens competing against Landon and Annapolis Area Christian School at 5 pm. Finally, the busy Cardinals wrap up the week at Benedictine High School on Saturday for the Catholic Commonwealth Classic in Richmond.