The St. Louis varsity wrestling team split up this past weekend and competed at two different tournaments in Shepherd and Leslie Saturday, Jan. 25.
The Sharks in Leslie were at the Todd Stern Invitational this past weekend and came away with some hardware as Alex Rodriguez and Drew Challender both took first, Owen Fogel took third, Maddox Cline and Tiger Russell each took fourth, and Raman Frye and Justin Rodriguez took sixth.
Rodriguez wrestled up a weight class at 126 in Leslie and looked as dominant as he usually does going 3-0 with a pin, tech fall, and a major decision in his final match to walk away as champion. “This tournament was a tough one so it felt good to be able to walk in, have a few good matches and walk out with a few good wins,” said Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, some Sharks wrestled in Shepherd at the John Harris Invitational and had a few more guys medal as Genaro Soto took first, Karson Tweh took third, Rudy Clapp took fourth, Cole Grollimund took fifth, and Michael Borie Jr., Carson Zacharko, Brayden Geer, and Xander Brock finished sixth.
Soto had two pins and a decision victory to walk away as champion. He said, “The first match was a good warmup for the day. My second match was a tough one and it felt good to be able to win the tournament.” Soto pinned in the finals.
The varsity Sharks were back in action Wednesday Jan. 29, for the last JPC duel competition of the year against Beaverton and the host Sanford-Meridian.