Spencer Schultz<\/p>\n
Editor of Production<\/p>\n
When Head Coach Joseph Moran of the combined wrestling team of Jamesville-DeWitt\/Christian Brothers Academy\/Solvay and Westhill took his team captains out to breakfast this fall to discuss the upcoming season, they knew they had a shot at a very successful year. But what the squad was able to accomplish this season, junior Jake Wright \u201ccould have never imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team finished with an impressive 16 wins and two losses on the season, with both losses coming to Section III powerhouse Fulton. J-D decisively defeated rival Phoenix, placed second at the Section III Championships, qualified four wrestlers for states, and finished eighth in New York State at the state tournament. Wright was the only wrestler from J-DHS to qualify for states. Coach Moran goes so far as to say that his team might have had their \u201cmost successful year in program history.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in what was \u201cwithout a doubt\u201d the team\u2019s most statistically successful season, it isn\u2019t any of the pin downs, the wins, or the appearances at the state tournament that make Coach Moran proud of his squad.<\/p>\n
Instead, the team\u2019s biggest feat this year is what Coach Moran calls \u201cThe Bench.\u201d Early on in the season, Coach Moran created a team theme: winning the bench. \u201cFor dual meets, our team was to have the loudest and most exciting bench in the section,\u201d says Coach Moran.<\/p>\n
The concept of the constant cheering, chattering, and support was fully embraced by the team, and by the end of the season, other teams started to take notice. \u201cOfficials, parents, and coaches would approach me who could not believe our team chemistry and support,\u201d says Coach Moran.<\/p>\n
It was that support that pushed the team to excel so far this season. \u201cEveryone was able to have an impact on the team, whether they were competing in the match or not,\u201d says Wright.<\/p>\n
Though the wrestling team is made up of four different schools, unity certainly was no issue for the squad this year. \u201cWhen I first started coaching here at J-D, I knew I had to implement some sort of coaching philosophy, a foundation to work from,\u201d says Coach Moran. That philosophy is simple: do the right thing, do everything to the best of your ability, and show people you care about them. The team bought in to following those three rules, and have been \u201cbrothers\u201d ever since, says Wright.<\/p>\n
Coach Moran\u2019s fundamental beliefs\u4e00his three rule philosophy and \u201cThe Bench\u201d\u4e00are what have enabled his combined squad to be so successful this season, says Wright.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pushed us so far this year and kept everyone in line and focused during practices this year,\u201d says Wright. Practices, in Coach Moran\u2019s own words, are \u201cvery intense.\u201d \u201cIt truly is non-stop movement for two hours, and I constantly hold my wrestlers accountable for their effort at practice,\u201d says Coach Moran.<\/p>\n
As with every legitimate program, the team\u2019s long term vision was to win sectionals, but Coach Moran and his wrestlers recognized that defeating Fulton would be a challenge. Though they weren\u2019t able to defeat Fulton at their dual meet this year, the squad did pull off an upset against perennial powerhouse Phoenix. \u201cNobody ever beats Phoenix,\u201d says sophomore Kelvin Huyhn. But J-D, coming in as the underdog, was able to win the \u201cswing matches,\u201d decisively extinguishing the Phoenix Firebirds 51-25. \u201cThe win against Phoenix definitely built up our confidence as a team,\u201d says Jake Wright.<\/p>\n
J-D met up with Fulton one more time at the Section III duals. In the end, J-D fell short of a win, but \u201cthe fire, the passion, and the energy,\u201d of the team was unlike anything Coach Moran has experienced as a coach.<\/p>\n
That fire stayed ignited into the end of the season, and the team\u2019s bench helped get Wright hot at the sectional championships. Wright won the 160 pound weight class, defeating five wrestlers in his path and earning a berth in the state tournament.<\/p>\n
Going into states, Wright knew his path to victory wouldn\u2019t be as easy. \u201cI knew it would be a lot tougher at states. I just wanted to get one win,\u201d says Wright. In his first round of competition, Wright faced No. 1 seeded Ryan Ferro of Section IX. While he wasn\u2019t able to secure a win against Ferro, who went on to win the state tournament, Wright did get the match win he wanted later in the tournament. After losing to Ferro, Wright was sent to the consolation bracket, where he pinned down his first competitor in less than a minute.<\/p>\n
Though this season was the most successful in program history, Coach Moran thinks that next year his squad could have an even better shot at victory. \u201cNext year, if the pieces fall into place, we could possibly be better than this year,\u201d he said. Sophomore Adam Honis has the same optimism about next year. \u201cWe had a strong season and it\u2019ll be exciting to see where it takes us next year,\u201d said Honis. With most of the team\u2019s wrestlers returning again next year, Wright says next season could be a good one. \u201cConsidering the season officially ended, I haven’t put much thought into it yet. I will tell you, though, a sectional title is on the horizon,\u201d Coach Moran said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spencer Schultz Editor of Production When Head Coach Joseph Moran of the combined wrestling team of Jamesville-DeWitt\/Christian Brothers Academy\/Solvay and Westhill took his team captains out to breakfast this fall to discuss the upcoming season, they knew they had a shot at a very successful year. But what the squad was able to accomplish this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}