“It was a very close match. I wrestled hard and I barely lost” said Schraidt. Ross Ferraro of Montini Academy would win the 2A heavyweight class and Jimmy Boyle would finish in 4^th place.

Schraidt’s high school wrestling career may be over at the high school level, but he plans to wrestle division two or three in college. “He’s a beast and will continue to in college, he held the best record this year and was clearly the leader of our team,” said teammate Eduardo Orihuela.

 Schraidt plans to pursue a degree in accounting while in college. Schraidt was a two time state qualifier and received the title of All-Conference wrestler this year.

 Senior John Schraidt is returning to state this year for the second year in a row. Schraidt will be facing the same opponent as the last year. Jimmy Boyle ousted him last year and pinned him ending his season. Schraidt stated, “This year will be different, I’m going for revenge”.

Schraidt has high hopes for the tournament; realistically he wants to place in the finals. Coach Neil Dughetti, “Schraidt is a hard worker and deserves to go down to state.”

This year the team had a season filled with struggle, losing head coach, Bill Kucinski, mid-season. He was replaced by teacher and former head coach Neil Dughetti.

Senior Captain John Schraidt said, “It was a struggling year for the team. This was a much more individual year than a team one.” 

Schraidt and Edwardo Orihuela were named all conference wrestlers this season. Wrestlers to lookout for during the ISHA tournament are Schraidt, Orihuela, and Keegan Buttimer.

The week following after regionals, the qualifying wresters will have to wrestle at Lincoln-Way West high school Friday and Saturday for sectionals. Some of the top teams in the state, will be there like Montini, Marmion, and Yorkville.

 This year head coach Jason Rech stepped down from his position and gave it to William Kucinski. Kuchinski is the new coach he comes from The University of Iowa and wrested for the team throughout college.

Men’s wrestling has been pretty successful sending men to state every year, but this year they hope to send the whole team down. “A regional championship as a team, hopefully a repeat as conference champions,” said Schraidt. 

This season be on the lookout for wrestlers:  John Schraidt, Eduardo Orihuela, and Keegan Buttimer. Also sleeper Sophomore Vincent Zaccagnini should be watched in the upcoming matches.

The wrestling team has their next match this Saturday December 4^th at home. It will be a tri-meet between Hinsdale Central and Veron Hills.

One of the high points of the season was when the team beat powerhouse Fenton for the first time in seven years. Fenton has been the conference champions for the last seven years, but RB was able to pick up a victory against them in the end.

They finished in the top 3 as a team in three separate tournaments including 3^rd against Mundelein, 2^nd against Lisle, and 3^rd in the Regionals.

Head Coach Jason Rech feels that the season as a whole went very well this year.

“This season was highly successful for the team and individuals.  We won the conference for the first time in 7 years, so that was a big goal achieved by our team. We are young in many spots and I think our young wrestlers learned a great deal from their experiences” Rech said.

Besides their 3^rd place finish as a team in Regionals, individual wreslters were also able to earn a lot of points and recognition. A total of six wrestlers qualified for Sectionals.

Sophomore Mike Abbatacola finished with a 27-7 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 103 pound weight class.

Junior Keegan Buttimer finished with a 21-15 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 112 pound weight class.

Junior Eduardo Orihuela finished with a 21-13 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 125 pound weight class.

Senior Chris Russell finished with a 27-11 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 140 pound weight class.

Senior Juan Gomez Velez finished with a 27-7 record and placed fourth in Sectionals in the 189 pound weight class.

But the biggest accomplishment was Junior John Schraidt, who finished with a 27-8 record, placed second in Sectionals, and qualified for State in the 285 pound weight class. This represents the end of a very successful season for the talented junior.

“John is a tireless worker and since the end of last year he has worked for everything he has achieved,” commented Rech.

“I was upset with my performance at State, but it was great to make it. The Semi-Final match was the biggest match of the year and I won 8-3 qualifying for state so I was really happy with that.” Schraidt added.

With another season in the books, Rech feels that next year holds a lot of opportunities for the team.

“We lose four senior starters and return 4 wrestlers who will be seniors and a solid group of underclassmen, so I feel like we can reload for next year and be even better.” said Rech.

Both Schraidt and Rech seem very confident about Schraidt’s chances to go back to State again next year.

“This year was good to get down there and get his feet wet, but next year’s goal is bring home the school’s first wrestling state championship in 28 years.” Rech said.

“I am really confident that I can go back to state. And I have a realistic goal of winning state.” Schraidt added.

Of the four state qualifiers last year, only Chris Russel returns this year. Seven of the sectional qualifiers (Sophomore Sam Weiss, Juniors Keegan Buttimer, John Schraidt, Eduardo Orihuela, and Nick Rohm, and Seniors Juan Gomez and Alberto Cotto) are returning this year as well.

New head coach Jason Rech is very hopeful to continue the success built from last year. And he’s not worried about there being any changes now that former head coach Neil Dughetti is no longer there. He says that things will be very similar.

“Our philosophies are very similar, although I will focus more on conditioning. And we got a new room dedicated to wrestling this year which is a huge plus for us,” Rech said. 

Senior John Schraidt thinks the team is very well rounded this year. 

“I think it’s going to be a great year because we have good leaders from last year returning and newcomers to round out the team. I think we’re really solid.”  said Schraidt. 

Another big addition to the team this year is new assistant coach Bill Kucinski. 

“He wrestled at the University of Iowa so we’re very excited about having him on the staff this year,” Rech said.    

The first 2009-2010 Wrestling season started with the first practice on Monday November 9^th.