The St. Louis High School wrestling team dominated at their first competition of the season at Pine River Dec 6, 2023.
The number three ranked Sharks and 10th ranked Pine River went head-to-head, with the Sharks coming out on top with a score of 58 to 17. The second match of the day consisted of the Sharks against Hart. This was yet another beat-down victory, with St. Louis winning 42 to 16. A few phenomenal performances on the day were Olesya Mullins, Owen Fogel, Colin Kuhn, Genaro Soto, Alex Rodriguez, Martine Wiggins, Drew Challender, and Udter Tweh who all went 2-0.
Coach Kuhn has been a key piece in helping his team take two trips to the state meet in the last two years. His dedication to the team has allowed the wrestlers to perform at their peaks. He commented on the meet saying, “Overall, I think it was a terrific way to start a season. The lopsided score of the Hart match doesn’t tell the correct story. It’s traditionally a successful program, so it was a big win for us. Pine River, who we thought would be the tougher of the two, was down a little bit. Out of the 28 varsity matches, we only gave up one pin. When the other team was fading, we were still pretty solid.”
Additionally, Tweh commented, “I performed really decently! I was a little sloppy, but I did the assignment like my coaches wanted me to. My favorite part of the meet is watching people not necessarily win, but do their job for the team! Not every meet or match that you have will be a win, but if you do what Coach wants to do, you’re gonna feel relieved at the end of the match.”
One performance that stood out to Coach Kuhn was Nado Soto. He stated, “He wrestled one of Hart’s better kids, and the match went into triple overtime. He wrestled for eight and a half minutes. He showed tremendous heart and guts.” Soto had to persevere and he came out with a victory by one point.
The Sharks have been fierce competitors for many years, and it doesn’t seem like they will stop anytime soon. With two months until the district championship, the team will have to keep putting in work to pursue their dream of the coveted state championship title.
Catch the Sharks in action Dec 9, 2023, where they will have their first tournament of the season at Howell High School.
