Johnnies hope for better end of season

The St. John’s wrestling team had a very busy weekend, competing in two big events, including a tournament.

The first stop of the weekend was Saturday night in Collegeville, where the Johnnies took on the Concordia Cobbers.

In a tough match, the Johnnies fell 47-0, having to forfeit four weights.

The most competitive match included sophomore Aaron Voigt who barely fell to Concordia’s Chase Dockter 3-1.

The Johnnies had two first-year, Nate Langer and Levi Henry, record wins in exhibition matches that did not count toward the final score.

On Jan. 23, the Johnnies hosted the North Country Open, a tournament with over 180 wrestlers competing in their respective weight classes.

In the open, Johnnie wrestlers were 5-14. First-year D.J. Myles had a successful day, finishing the tournament 3-0 and winning the 197-pound class in the silver bracket.

Other Johnnies to record wins in the tournament were senior Hayden Hedrington in the 184-pound class and first-year Tommy Gilmore in the 197-pound class.

Despite their rough start, one of the Johnnie’s leaders thinks that they are on the upswing.

“We’re improving mentally and physically in each and every aspect,” sophomore Ben Gilbertson said, “We had a lot of struggles at the beginning, but I think when it comes to regionals, we’re all going to be ready.”

To improve, the Johnnies will have to make several changes, starting with continued hard work.

“The best thing to do is watch our film. Every person on the team has something to work on,” Gilbertson said. “We need to work on turning mistakes into offense and scoring from the bottom positions.”

Gilbertson has been one of the bright spots on a depleted Johnnies team so far, sitting at 19-11 thus far with five pins.

In Division III matches, he has been dominant, posting a 14-7 record.

Two other major contributors this year have been Myles (9-7) and first-year Logan Thorsten (15-8). One factor the Johnnies have in their favor is youth.

The Johnnie wrestling team features 14 first-years, 11 sophomores, three juniors and one senior.

Although it may be tough right now to win with a lot of inexperienced wrestlers, it will greatly benefit the Johnnies in the future.

Being able to have a lot of returning wrestlers in 2023 and 2024 will mean a lot of experience for the Johnnies, and they will be able to compete at a higher level, especially if Gilbertson, Myles and Thorsten, among others, keep developing their skills.

“People need to look forward to the upcoming years with some good new recruits coming in,” Gilbertson said.

With a shortened 2020 season, it was very tough for the Johnnie wrestlers to gain experience and it may have stunted their progress a bit.

Nevertheless, the Johnnies are starting to see improvement through practice and matches, a good sign for years to come.

The next time the Johnnies hit the mat will be in a match against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Feb. 4. Three weeks later, they will compete at the NCAA Midwest Regionals in Eau Claire.