On Tuesday, February 25, the RB varsity wrestling team came up victorious against Brother Rice in an extremely close matchup to advance to the team state competition. Among some of the victors for RB were junior Matt Patino, sophomore Daeshawn Jackson, senior Jake Stewart, junior Quintin Godlewski, sophomore Mateo Costello, senior Corey Dishmon, sophomore Brock Hoyd, and junior George Donnamario. 

The competition was a close one, with RB leading by a mere five points going into the last matchup. The last matchup was wrestled by Donnamario.

Donnamario was found pinned on his back by the Brother Rice wrestler he was facing, and all seemed over. However, Donnamario was able to fight his way out of the situation and pin his opponent down to seal the victory for RB.

“It was pretty nerve-racking. I felt the pressure, knowing that the guy had to pin me to win and I had to defend against him. It was a good match, and if it wasn’t for my team, this wouldn’t have been possible. It was a big team win, and we just got to be ready for the next meet,” Donnamario said.

The team was extremely energetic after the victory, and the wrestlers are looking forward to what lies ahead at the state competition.

“In our last duel, where it came down to the last match and our guy ended up winning, there was nothing but pure excitement and joy. We accomplished the goal we set out,” said head varsity wrestling coach Nicholas Curby.

Despite the tension and high stakes, the team also had a lot of fun at the competition.

“[The meet] was fun. It was real tight, up to the last match where George won it. It was a lot of fun,” said junior Jordan Medrano.

The wrestlers have been working up to this moment all season, and have been seeing improvement throughout the year.

“We talked about [improvement] quite a bit. Just the other night, we were saying that the team that wrestled in the first duel was a completely different team than what we have competing now. That’s something we stress to the team throughout the whole year. It’s not about how you wrestle in November, it’s about how you wrestle in February and making improvements every day, and the kids are following through with that progress,” Curby said.

The team will go on to compete at the state competition in Bloomington, Illinois this weekend at 11 AM. The school will surely be rooting for the wrestlers as they try to bring a state title home to RB.