Wheeling Jesuit Official Website
Notes from Coach Doyle...
November 10, 2013
Hopefully everyone enjoyed their weekend! We certainly did, and the guys have set some high standards moving forward. Signing period begins Tuesday and our results the first two weeks provide strong evidence that Wheeling Jesuit will be making it's presence known a lot sooner than some might have expected. It's a great time for Wheeling Jesuit Wrestling!
For all of those in attendance Friday night, wow what a night! Thank you for your support and there wasn't a person that left the McDonough Center that wasn't very excited about the event, the electric environment and the direction of the program. Although we experienced a 1 point loss, to a very strong Alma team, we learned a lot and are better because of it. The guys had no time to dwell on the loss as we traveled to Washington and Jefferson at 615am Saturday for our first Invitational. Without our undefeated captain Skyler Terrell, we had a fantastic performance, finishing 6th of 16 teams, with 5 individual placers out of 14.
Individual Recap (Weekend Record, Season Record):
125
Josh Henderson (0-1, 2-2, 2nd BW Open)
Josh should not have wrestled Friday evening and that was apparent. Selfishly, Josh and I spoke and he really wanted to be part of our first match in school history. Josh had an injury Thursday in practice. Josh is one tough individual but after scoring the first takedown in his exhibition match, it was clear he was hurting. We'll monitor him closely and decide on Mount Union.
Brad Kakos (2-3, 3-5)
Brad kicked off the festivities Friday night with a tough 5-0 loss. With 5 seconds left in the 1st period Brad gave up the 5 points, but we felt that Brad out wrestled his opponent the entire first period and third. Brad is working extremely hard to learn what it takes to be successful at this level and I am extremely confident he will do just that. Brad went 2-2 on Saturday and lost a tough 4-1 match in his match to place. Overall good weekend for Brad. Once he commits to his attacks from the neutral position, expect BIG things from him.
133
Damon Outward (6-1, 9-3, 5th BW Open, 5th W&J Invitational)
Damon started his weekend with a strong win in his exhibition match Friday night. On Saturday Damon went 5-1 with 4 pins!!! Damon's only loss came to teammate Scott Lopez, in a very competitive match. Our goal, as a program, is to have great depth and we have a number of weight classes with depth now. At 133 I would be very confident putting both of these young me on the mat at any point in time. Damon showed some signs yesterday that he is starting to understand the intensity that is mandatory at this level of competition.
Scott Lopez (4-1, 8-2, 3rd BW Open, 2nd W&J Invitational)
On Friday, Scott started our string of 4 straight wins against Alma and had The McDonough Center in a frenzy of excitement. Scott improves by the day (maybe by the minute) because of his relentless pursuit at mastery in everything he does. This was apparent in his 10-3 decision over the same opponent he beat by 1 Friday. Scott's final match Saturday was against an opponent that is expecting to be on the All-American stand in March. Scott needed a match like this to help him better understand how to win crucial positions and being focused for an entire 7 minutes. Scott has had a fantastic two weeks and will continue this success because of his desire to be great.
141
Austin Short (1-3, 1-5)
Austin started Friday controlling much of his exhibition match before giving up a late reversal and losing by 1. On Saturday Austin went 1-2 with a great opportunity to win in both of his losses. Austin work very hard and it showed this week with him being very competitive in all 4 matches. Last week was much different. Austin is showing great signs in making this transition.
Skyler Terrell (1-0, 6-0, BW Open Champion)
Skyler's performance Friday was a perfect demonstration of who Skyler Terrell is and what he means to this team. When Skyler was injured, I could see it on his face that he was unsure of how he was going to finish the next 6 minutes of the match. As usual, he found a way to gut it out and suck it up for his team. Skyler pulled out a memorable win. After discussion, we felt Saturday was not worth risking further injury. Skyler will be day to day in determining next weekend.
149
John Gershom (2-2, 3-4)
John's last second OT win Friday was another entertaining match that will be remembered. John is getting more and more confidence and it showing in more points being scored in his matches. John will need to continue and work on his mat wrestling to prevent being scored on when in the down position. Like a lot of our guys, John is very intelligent and is working through the transition.
157
Cody Eggers (0-3, 0-5)
Cody continues to look for the right formula, while working very hard to get there. It will take a continued persistence and I don't doubt Cody will do just that. There are so many examples of tough transitions from high school to college. It's like a light switch turning on suddenly for those relentlessly working through it. Cody will get there.
Dominick Nania (4-2, 8-4, 5th BW Open)
Dom's Friday night pin was certainly the #1 Most Memorable Moment in Wheeling Jesuit's short history. After 3 straight hard fought wins and an already rocking crowd, Dom went out and pinned his opponent in 23 seconds. The McDonough Center was out of control. As I looked into the crowd, high fives, hugs and just pure joy spread throughout the crowd. There is nothing like a pin in a dual meet. On Saturday Dom went 3-2 with some good wins and some losses we'll forget quickly. Dom's ultimate success will be determined on his commitment to do things the way he knows he has to by working hard and defending opponents the right way. He will continue to win a lot of matches, but the goal is to beat the best guys in the country. Dom's current approach won't allow for consistency against our best competition. My opinion is that you will see him make the changes.
165
Anthony "TJ" Smith (1-3, 2-5)
TJ faced Alma's best wrestler on Saturday, an individual that will compete for a National Title this year. TJ nearly scored the first takedown with a beautiful attack but was just outmatched by his Alma opponent. TJ wrestled very hard on Saturday goling 1-2, but more importantly TJ is improving quickly and NEVER stops attacking regardless of the score. TJ has outscored his opponents in the third period in almost all of his matches, a great sign as he improves his technical skills.
174
Sawyer Leppla (2-3, 5-3, BW Open Champ, 4th W&J Invitational)
Sawyer is one of our most talented wrestlers with big time goals. Friday's match will always be remembered as "that" match, that will be remembered for a long time. I felt Sawyer was the better wrestlers but just did some things strategically wrong that cost him the victory. No one is harder on himself than Sawyer so not much had to be said. Sawyer wrestled well Saturday with two solid wins to start before coming across two very good competitors finishing 4th. Expect an exciting season and career from Sawyer!
Kale Rayner (0-1)
Kale, one of our captains, has experienced some early season set backs. We'll definitely take early season set backs over mid or late season and Kale is very focused and motivated to get back to good form. After recovering from his concussion, Kale wrestled his first match Friday night and it'll take a little time to get him back in shape. Kale was up all night Friday with the flu so it was decided it would be best to not have Kale on the bus! We love Kale, but not at the expense of breathing on 20 others. Kale will be back on the mat Saturday!
184
Nate Hupp (2-3, 4-5, 4th BW Open)
I talked last week about Nate's need to get back on the mat regularly and experience competition after some time off. A good sign Saturday was when Nate soundly defeated a wrestler that beat him 6-1 last week. Nate is another one that is hard on himself and is figuring out what he's going to need to do to succeed. The practice room is a place where Nate needs to place priority and he will see better results.
197
Jacob Haynes (0-3, 0-5)
Jacob is another one of our guys that puts a lot of time into improving and it's clear to see if you're following the team. Jake made a big commitment to wrestle at the collegiate level and it's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to get the results he desires. I believe Jacob will do that and the more competition he gets, the quicker he'll learn what he needs to do to succeed. Jacob is a great team member in and out of the classroom and adds a lot of value to our team behind the scenes. We're lucky to have him on our team.
Maxwell Lacey (4-3,5-5, 6th W&J Invitational)
Max, along with his roommate Damon, wrestled the most matches on the weekend with 7. This is exactly what Max needs right now. I stated it last week regarding Max's phenomenal athletic abilities and the need to get comfortable with what college wrestling demands. He's learning quickly and that's trouble for future opponents. Max is another one that needs to learn how to get off of the bottom and wrestling will become much easier for him. On Friday, Max lost to one of Alma's best wrestlers in a hard fought match. On Saturday, Max reeled off 4 wins in a row to place in the top 6 and gained a lot of needed confidence in the process.
285
Logan Bowman (5-2, 9-4, 4th BW Open)
Logan picked up a big pin for us Friday night to conclude the Alma match. On Saturday Logan lost a tough 2nd round match on a locked hands call but fought back hard winning 3 matches in a row. Logan lost his match to place but overall had a strong weekend. Logan, like most of our young men is learning quickly and we're very pleased with his progress and direction. If Logan can correct the small mental errors that he's making, it will results in more wins. Being that he is a freshman getting a lot of experience, we would expect that to happen soon.
Corey Siegfried (5-1, 7-3, 3rd W&J Invitational)
Corey had a big weekend and is quickly adapting to wrestling as a small heavyweight. Corey picked up a solid win Friday night in his exhibition and then rolled into the semi's Saturday at W&J. Due to a mental mistake Corey lost to the #1 seed in the last 5 seconds of the semi-finals but did respond with a great win for 3rd. Heavyweight is another example of a weight class where we have great depth, and we'll be extremely confident in whoever we put on the mat. As a coach, nothing makes you prouder in your 'TEAM' than when Logan is in the corner coaching Corey in his 3rd/4th place match or Damon Outward is in the corner coaching Scott Lopez in his semi's and finals match. These guys all want to be the starter and will do everything in their power to do just that, but at the same time want their teammates to do their best. That is a great sign that we are building a true team.
We expect to see everyone at Mount Union this weekend. It's only 2 hours from Wheeling and since 1/2 of our team resides in Ohio, I expect to see a lot of Cardinal heads roaming Mount Union's gym!! Thanks again for the great support!
Have a great week!
Sean
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