The boys wrestling team placed fourth overall in the 24th Annual Bobcat Classic Saturday, Jan. 13. The tournament was held at Basehor-Linwood High School and featured 42 teams across three different states. 

The team had five wrestlers that placed inside the top five of their weight class. Sophomore Jeredy Nigles placed fourth in the 106-pound weight class, senior Robert Hickman placed fourth in the 120-pound weight class, senior Maddox Casella placed second in the 126-pound weight class, senior Colin McAlister placed first in the 165-pound weight class and sophomore Christopher Wash placed second in the 215-pound weight class. 

With the state competition looming in February, head coach Joseph Lazor used the tournament to help uncover some room for improvement.

“The guys wrestled good,” Lazor said. “I saw some weaknesses that we need to fix and the guys need to get better at the small details that matter.”

According to junior Noah Pham, the team showed a character of strength by fighting hard in their matches.

“I think the team as a whole competed solidly and showed a display of great effort and fight in the tournament,” Pham said. “I think there are obviously technical things that we need to work out, but we showed a lot of grit and determination to battle to the end of all of our matches.”

Senior Colin McAlister believes that any disappointing results in the tournament can be used as a way of motivation. 

“We all struggled with some things but we picked it up in the end and pulled through,” McAlister said. “Some people didn’t get the placement they wanted but it’s just motivation for next week.”

According to Lazor, accountability within the team will be important in order to achieve the goals that they set for themselves. 

“We just need to make sure that we’re holding ourselves accountable,” Lazor said. “I talk to the guys about setting goals and making sure we’re holding each other accountable to those goals and expectations that we all have.”