Jan. 14, the Antioch Community High School varsity wrestling team competed against the Wauconda Bulldogs in an inter-NLCC meet on the Bulldogs’ home mat. The team fought hard together, however came up short with a final score of 37-31 favoring the Bulldogs.
Senior Evan Vazquez wrestles at 160 or 170 pounds depending on the team’s matchup; he is a lead-by example type leader for the Sequoits, beating his opponent in overtime and ensuring the team’s first pin of the night.
“To improve our team as a whole we need to ensure pins to get the six team points. Our team also has a couple gaps in the line up which is an automatic six points for the opposing team,” Vazquez said. “If we could fill these gaps it will make winning the match much easier for us.”
Junior Caleb Nobiling is a veteran in the sense of high school wrestling. He has been competing at state since he was a freshman. Nobiling knows in order to win close meets like this, the team cannot allow their opponents any extra points.
“I feel like the one thing that we should definitely improve on is fighting to not get pinned and or fighting to get the pin because that’s what caused us to lose that meet,” Nobiling said.
Each member of the team has areas of improvement and they look forward to learning and getting better from this hard fought loss. Junior Donny Carson wrestles at the highest weight division and plans to work on his technique. He often faces opponents larger than him giving him a slight disadvantage.
“I think we just need to practice our fundamentals for the regional tournament coming up in the next couple of weeks,” Carson said.
As the season is slowly coming to an end, the team looks to make the most out of their opportunities. They continue to work hard in order compete at the IHSA State Playoffs and place individual wrestlers. Tune in to their next meet on Jan. 19, at Lakes Community High School, where they face their rivals the Lakes Eagles.
