Members of the team picked up awards in the NCISAA State Tournament.                                                              

By Cate Pitterle ’20

Grant Scotto (’20) got off the mat after winning his last-ever high school match and began to cry.

“I hugged all my teammates,” he said. “They were tears of joy. It was a good six years.”

The State Tournament went well for the team, with Dane Fekete (’20), Kyler Chen (’22), and Arran Swift (’23) placing fourth in their divisions, and Scotto, who also won the TISAC Conference’s Wrestler of the Year Award, placing fifth.

About two-thirds of the team was comprised of freshmen or middle schoolers, including fourth-place finisher Swift. With so many underclassmen wrestlers, the team could sometimes be hard to handle.

Scotto even compared it to “herding cats,” adding that getting everyone’s heads in the match could sometimes be difficult. Despite that, “It was fun, it was so fun. I felt like a coach,” he said. “Even though I didn’t always perform my best, I left more behind for the kids, and that was my legacy rather than just how well I wrestled.”

The underclassmen will have to step up even more next season, with Fekete and Scotto as departing seniors. Based on this season, though, they look more than ready for the challenge.