The electricity pulsing through the crowd in the gym was palpable. The music blaring from the loudspeakers seemed to portend the outcome of the pending battle between conference heavyweights, as well as provide a poetic commentary on the season: Tonight We are young So let’s set the world on fire We can burn brighter than the sun The evening was more Apollo than Icarus as the Mustangs thundered their way to a 42-20 victory over the Kinnick Red Devils. With the first dual meet win over Kinnick in forever, ASIJ finished the conference regular season in second place. The 4–1 record represents an exact opposite of the team’s 1–4 (5th) record two years ago, and an improvement over last year‘s “return to respectability“ season and it’s overachieving 3–2 (3rd) record. A ceremony for the seniors provided a moment to reflect on their contributions to the team, the school, and the sport as well as their growth, both on and off the mat, as they enter the final stretch of their high school wrestling journey. Including the Kinnick seniors was a nice touch of sportsmanship and camaraderie. Saloni, Masa, Kieran, Josh, Egan, Liona, and Zenon received a single, elegant rose and a Mustangs T-shirt with a quote from the most successful wrestler in modern history, Dan Gable: once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy. Like the Beatles opening for Brenda Lee (top-charting female female vocalist of the 1960's, for the young'uns), the JV Mustangs set the mood for the main event against JV wrestlers from Kinnick, winning three of five matches. Isak was within striking distance, trailing 4-2 before getting caught in a big takedown followed by a couple exposures for a loss. Josh wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled, and wrestled some more. With the score tied 8-8, he gave up 2 takedowns and looked like he was fading but – maybe it was the rose…or the Dan Gable quote…or the partisan crowd cheering him on – he scored the last eight points of the match to pull out an 18-14 victory. Shawn got taken down in short order, but he didn’t go over as he then took a shot and eventually turned a tough spot into a pin of the Red Devil. Liam was all business as he took down and pinned his Kinnick foe in 28 seconds in a dominating performance. Yo rounded out the JV wrestling in a 5-3 loss that, like Isak‘s match, showed lots of good ingredients that just need a little more mixing on their way to becoming a cake in a five-star restaurant. In the main event against the reigning Far East champions, ASIJ was in a quick hole with an injury forfeit at 101. However, Katsumi road roughshod over his opponent at 108 for his first varsity pin to pull the Mustangs even at 5-5. Take’s 15-second pin at 115 was almost as fast as Ira’s forfeit at 122 that put ASIJ up 15-5. Michiru keeps wrestling beyond his years; he wrestled tough and smart against a powerful Red Devil, going up 2-1, 4-3, and 6-5, but he needed one more angel on his side as the Mustang eventually got corralled and pinned in the second period. Kai H stepped up to the varsity plate to fill an injury hole in the lineup at 135. His nice looking takedown was almost textbook, but it somehow ended in a Kinnick takedown and pin to even the score at 15 a piece. Wrestling at 141 for the first time this season, Rin ensured ASIJ got max points by doubling his pin total for the season against a clearly overmatched opponent. Egan, going at a personal high 148, went against a Red Devil who led him along the path to loss earlier in the season. Once he got a big 4-point takedown, however, he knew he could overcome the temptation to play it safe this time and wrestled possibly the best match of his career, giving a firm “get thee hence” to the Red Devil en route to a near-tech 14-5 win and an ASIJ 23-15 lead. Kieran continued the contest against another kid from Kinnick who is used to winning at 158. After keeping it close with big moves while allowing 2-point takedowns and 1-point push outs, Kieran got a takedown, kept Kinnick’s legs crossed, and rolled him for exposure after exposure after exposure (x6) to secure a tech fall victory. Zenon followed that up with an alpha male performance at 168, asserting his dominance with a 4-point takedown-to-pin combo that pushed ASIJ’s lead to 32-15 With only 3 weight classes left, The Mustang victory was assured; anything Masa and Dani provided at 180 and 215 would be icing on the cake. Masa donned a bakers hat and iced that cake, scoring at will to go up 9-0 before twisting his foe into the most unorthodox pretzel shape you’ve ever seen until the ref slapped the mat. Not to be outdone, Dani added a big dollop on top in an exciting come-from-behind-to-pin victory that, after a forfeit to Kinnick at heavyweight, made the final score 42-20.
With the conference regular season now complete, the Mustangs look to finish even higher (i.e. 1st) at the end of season conference tournament on Saturday at St. Mary’s. It will be the last time to see the JV wrestlers as Mustangs this season.
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