On Wednesday night, the boys’ wrestling team defeated Central and Shawnee in honor of senior night. All grades and weight classes dominated in one of the last matches of the season.
Before the match began, seniors were recognized for their time with Manual Wrestling. The Crimsons celebrated were Bryce Ealey (12, HSU), Aidan Green (12, MST), Keegan Kenning (12, YPAS), Will Warms (12, MST) and Kenny Brown (12, MST).
“We have a good group of seniors, they’ve all displayed leadership in their own ways. Three of them are captains, so that makes a big difference in the team going forward… it instills a good future in the ones coming up,” assistant head coach Evan Geraci said.
The match was in a red-robin format where Manual competed separately against both Shawnee and Central. Individual scores were then added up to team scores.
First, Manual defeated Shawnee by a team score of 68-18. Within those matches, there were several standout victories for Crimsons. Will Jeziorski (11, HSU) and Green both won by pin. Menelik Neal (11, HSU) also won by pin, defeating his opponent in under ten seconds.
“We stayed with our fundamentals and just got our pins where we needed them,” Coach G said.
After a short break, the Crimsons returned to face Central. These matches also included several standout victories including a pin by Alexander Giardina (10, MST) and a win by decision for Ethan Paris (9, MST).
Among the victories also came Green’s second win by pin of the night. Manual defeated Central with a team score of 39-33, claiming victories over both the Golden Eagles and the Yellowjackets.
“It’s been great…I’ve really loved having a family bond with most of my teammates, and just growing the team from five guys to almost 40,” Green said.
The JV wrestling team will compete in the state meet on February 3, and the varsity will travel to Doss High School for regionals on February 10.
