Cathedral-Lawrence Central meet pits power vs. potential

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January 8, 2009

 

By Steve Brooks

Star correspondent

 

Lawrence Central wrestling coach Chad Red knows what his Bears are up against tonight against fifth-ranked Cathedral.

 

The Irish (9-2), with losses only to top-ranked Mishawaka and No. 4 Crown Point, are coming off an impressive performance in winning the Spartan Classic in Connersville.

 

Cathedral returns five wrestlers who placed in last year's state meet, including reigning 112-pound state champ Brandon Wright, and won 10 of 14 weight classes in December's City Tournament.

 

"I think I saw online that they had something like nine wrestlers in the finals at Connersville. That's pretty good," Red said. "We know we've got our hands full every time we face a team like Cathedral. Their kids are very driven.

 

"We know who Cathedral is, and we know what they have, but we feel we can go out and compete with them if we wrestle to the best of our ability. More importantly, it's a great meet to help us get ready for the state tournament, which is our ultimate goal."

 

Red believes his team has some momentum after its performance in the Al Smith Classic in Mishawaka. Despite missing top wrestlers Josh Franklin (sick) and Michael Taylor (injured), the Bears placed two wrestlers in the top six of their weight classes.

 

"We had a very good tournament in Mishawaka," Red said. "We only took 10 kids, which isn't many, but the kids we took battled. All but one of them won at least one match."

 

Lawrence Central's 189-pound Daniel Sandberg (19-5) was unseeded but placed second.

 

"His confidence is sky-high right now," Red said. "He's just been working hard to get himself in the best position to make himself a state qualifier and then place at state."

 

Cathedral counters with nine wrestlers ranked 12th or higher. Wright is ranked third at 125 pounds, while Tony McGinley is second at 140, Gavin McGinley fourth at 145 and undefeated Calvin Sullivan fifth at 152. Brian Harvey (11th, 103), Blake Roytek (seventh, 112), John Grey (10th, 130), Dominic Corsaro (12th at 135) and Tyler Willis (10th, 160) also are in the poll.

 

"We're starting to fill out all our weight classes," said Cathedral coach Sean McGinley. "We're still making a few adjustments, but we're coming around. We're starting to jell as a team, and that's what you want to be headed toward at this time of the season."