Crusaders Wrestle at Regions

RCHS wrestling. Photo courtesy of Clay Leonard. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

Crusaders Wrestle at Regions

 By Jin Yup Jung '14

The Red Cloud High School Crusader wrestler made the short trip to Rapid City Stevens High School for the Class B Regional Wrestling Tournament this weekend.

The Red Cloud Wrestling team started with 12 wrestlers at the beginning of the season. These are your survivors who represented the team at regional: senior leader Morgan Starr (145 lbs.), Pedro Martinez (285), junior leader Josh Twiss (132), Yoshiki Ueda (126), sophomore Miranda O’Donnell, freshman Jeff Twiss (220), and 8th graders Jeff Pourier (160) and Clancy Clifford (220). 

“The wrestlers are having great week of practices. Our goal is to wrestle our best matches of the season at the regional tournament,” Coach Clay Leonard said before the matches. “Everybody is looking great at practice and I expect them to all wrestle their very best matches on Saturday. The wrestlers going to regionals are a great bunch of people. Each and every one of them have completed wonderful seasons. Each of them have improved on a weekly basis. We have all overcome many obstacles and disappointments, but we are doing the best wrestling of the season now. Regional tournament will be tough but I believe our wrestlers will have very successful results.”

‘I’m excited about this weekend. We have lots of possibility for a lot of guys,” assistant coach Lane Pourier said. “It’s just a matter of them wrestling their best and making smart moves.”

The Crusader wrestlers left Friday night after practice to get to the seeding meeting and to get ready for the next day at regionals. Although the Crusaders did not have anyone qualify for State, they battled hard and gave it their best on the mat. This young team has trained hard all season and will continue to improve as they gain more experience.