In 2018 ASIJ lost one senior to graduation, Noah with 17 wins at 215. This year, though, the Masa+Dani combo at 180 & 215 provided 22 wins. That more than replaced Dani+Noah's 20 wins last year. The 2019 seniors - Zenon (22), Egan (16), Masa (12), Kieran (9), and Josh (3) - are leaving a much bigger hole that, including Kyle (6) moving out, is 68 wins deep. Let's take a look at some promising wrestlers with the potential to step up and fill that hole.
At 101 and HWT we'll have to hope for a small 8th grader, a big move-in, or some good peer recruiting to fill these holes. This year 101 was a one-deep weight class. But, Kyle is moving and Katsumi is not expected to shrink over the summer. Heavyweight was empty again this year, and Dani was never really close to 215, which you have to exceed in order to wrestle heavyweight. As all first year wrestlers thrust into a varsity slot have shown, it's more valuable to have them there than to take an automatic loss at the weight class. Not getting pinned, and even winning a few (especially if by a forfeit to give ASIJ max points for the match) is incredibly valuable to the team. Let's start, though, with some returning thoroughbreds. Rin (22, 2018-19 MVP) and Ira (16, 2018-19 Sportsmanship) will lead the team at somewhere in the vicinity of 148 and 129, respectively. There's not a lot of room for improvement as Rin, incredibly, went undefeated and Ira, besides a couple of upsets, only had 2 real competitors. The same could be said for Take (16) who, at 115 this year, may get bigger but doesn't really have a frame that has "huge growth potential" written all over it. Michiru (12), Dani (10), and Katsumi (10) formed a trio of underclassmen with double digit wins but also room for growth. As mentioned above, Dani will probably be in the 180-215 range again next year. It's easy to envision Katsumi and Michiru anywhere between 115-129 and 129-141, respectively, next year, depending on their growth patterns. Liam and Kole are in a separate category - experienced wrestlers (2017-18 Most Improved and 2018-19 2-0 in conference, respectively) who had their 2018-19 season cut short for various reasons. Having either or both back at full strength for the whole year will be a huge boost in the 158-180 range. Ricky (5) is strong as an ox and, with a little more technique, will develop into a total stud in the middle weights - I'm thinking the 129-141 range next year. From the JV ranks, Reuben and Tei won varsity matches at 148 and 158. Shawn and Leila led the JV rankings in wins (7, 6), pins (5, 3), and takedowns (11, 14). Luke, Isak, Kai H, and Marin all won multiple matches. Kai D, Sol, Keibun, and Yo showed flashes this year or last. Two or more from this group of potential greats will need to fill in somewhere as a reliable full-time varsity contributor, with others filling in for temporary varsity absences and being the practice partner who pushes their varsity counterpart to excellence. Looking at next season, that's a whole lot of things that need to fall into place. The above does, however, pour about 70 wins into the 68 win hole, making it very possible to repeat or improve on the incredible 2018-19 season - and that's just counting returning wrestlers. Considering that incoming freshmen, move-ins, returning-after-a-break, and first year wrestlers provided 69 wins this year, similar additions next year could be the difference between "incredible" and "best!" (cue Karate Kid theme song*). *here's a link for those with a hole where this critical piece of cultural heritage should be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oomCIXGzsR0
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PhilSend me a note at [email protected] if you have ideas for a story or corrections/additions to these write-ups. Archives
March 2020
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