The varsity wrestling team placed third overall in the CSL Conference Tournament. on Saturday, Jan. 24
New Trier received 153.50 points overall, with senior Alec McKenna placing first in his 132 lb. weight class. The team also had two second place wrestlers, three third place wrestlers, and six sixth place wrestlers.
Marc Tadelman, head coach of the varsity team for seven years was proud of the tournamentsresults, saying it was one of the most successful tournaments New Trier has participated in all year.
“Everyone worked hard and it was a great way to end the season,” Tadelman said.
Junior Jack Alcantara placed third in his weight class at the CSL Conference tournament. Alcantara felt nervous at the start of the season due to the losses New Trier wrestlers experienced.
“It was a little nerve wracking because coach had scheduled some really tough meets for the beginning of the year. Thankfully, those meets prepared us really well, so we were able to pull out a good result,” Alcantara said.
The Trevs had an overall record of 13-5 this season.
“We wrestle a very competitive schedule and some of our losses are to the best teams in the state and even the nation. We try to wrestle the best teams to get better,” Tadelman said.
As the team heads into the post-season hoping to qualify for state, an old rival Maine South may cause problems. New Trier had placed higher than Maine South at the final CSL conference meet with Maine South placing fifth overall.
Only once in the last four years has New Trier placed first in conference, with Maine South in second. Maine South traditionally has placed first with New Trier coming in second. Tadelman hopes to continue the streak this year.
Evanston surprised the Trevs this year with a big improvement from last year during the CSL Tournament, increasing their ranking from seventh place to second overall this year.
“This year, Evanston had one of its strongest teams in a while and we had a fun match against them. In year’s past we have beaten Evanston pretty easily, but this year they have had a competitive spot,” Tadelman said.
The CSL Conference Tournament was the end of the regular tournament season for the Trevs. The next step is regionals, where individual players are sent to dual matches and then advance onto sectionals and then continue onto state.
“I hope going into the regional and state series that we are ready to compete and hopefully gain some individual medals,” Tadelman said.
All the wrestling coaches are preparing their wrestlers for the difficult matches leading up to state, both physically and mentally according to Tadelman. Some wrestlers expected to go to state include seniors Alec McKenna and Luke Iida.
Alec McKenna is hoping to continue his streak of 32-1 heading into regionals and has good expectations for the rest of the team.
“I hope to end this season personally with an Individual State Championship and I hope that we can win our regional and qualify for team state,” McKenna said.
Alcantara also has high hopes for the team as well, and goals for himself on the road to state.
“I want to improve from last season my goal is to qualify for State. As a team, we came up short last year at Regionals when we got second,” Alcantara said.
Only the top team at regionals moves onto team sectionals and New Trier missed the cut last year, placing second in regionals with Mt. Prospect moving onto sectionals. The team will continue to prepare for the team regional meet on Saturday, Feb 7.
“In wrestling if you work hard, you can be successful, no matter what your natural athletic ability is,” Tadelman said.