This year, the Royal wrestlers achieved great success despite facing several challenges. After last season when CVCA wrestlers placed fourth in the state and won a third-straight league title, the team graduated six seniors. Many people assumed that the Royals faced some rebuilding years, but CVCA’s coaching staff encouraged the underclassmen to train extremely hard in the off-season. The team met that challenge and traveled the country to train against top competition.
The Royals relied on two seniors, Jared Kusar and Joseph Hickin, whose leadership kept the team near the top in the state ranking.
This season featured several important accomplishments. Undefeated in the league dual meets, the Royals finished near the top in each tournament CVCA entered. As one of the season highlights, CVCA won the Division III Medina Tournament with Jared Kusar voted the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
The team finished the season impressively, sending six wrestlers to the State Tournament. After three grueling days of competition, CVCA finished fourth in team standings. Tyler Powers finished in eighth place, Greg Hojnacki took seventh, Brandon Sommers took fifth, Shelton Morris took fourth, and Alex Utley and Jared Kusar both finished in third place.
The team looks forward to another successful year as five of the wrestlers placing at State will return for an exciting 2008-09 season!
Don Lorence, varsity coach
