On Wednesday January 21, St Mary’s wrestling team beat Kinnick red devils in a dual match by a huge margin of 14 points. St Mary’s and Kinnick historically had rivalry, always going back and forth to take the title of Kanto dual championship. This year, Both St Mary’s and Kinnick share the title as they have the same number of wins. However, as St Mary’s beat Kinnick, it is self explanatory which one is the true champion.
St Mary’s wrestling team had a rough start this year, starting with a couple of injuries where two of the varsity wrestlers were out for the entire season. Titans are also known to start the season later than other schools, and start with a disadvantage as other wrestlers start more experienced and ready to wrestle. However, even with this deficit, Titans dominated many duals and tournaments, often having multiple champions.
One of the varsity wrestler and a winner in the dual, Max, has commented that “It was a great dual, wrestlers from both schools went all in”. He beat his opponent, who he previously lost to twice, by a technical superiority – which is a win by 10 points difference. The final score was 10 – 0. He stated that “I did not care about winning or losing” and he referred to Jimin Kim, the captain of the St Mary’s wrestling team this year, who told him “nobody gives a crap if you win or lose, because it is just a sport”. With this mindset, he wrestled relaxed, focused and reacting perfectly to the opponents every subtle movement – hence he beat him without being attacked even once.
Our wrestling team often starts at a deficit and disadvantage, but oftentimes, our wrestlers, through endless practices and even practicing during Christmas – when everyone else is sleeping or having a feast – always comes on top at the end. Max, as well as other wrestlers, demonstrated that through this dual.
