This year, the St. Pius X wrestling team had a knockout season, even making it into the National Federation Wrestling Record Book with their perfect score against Lakeside. Over the three-day tournament, the team placed 23rd in the state competition, with seniors Vincent Casal and Gene Smith placing fifth in their weight class. Junior Luke Pinson and freshman John Soha qualified for the state tournament this year as well.
When asked about the state tournament, Casal said, “There’s definitely a lot of emotion, especially in the last couple of days. A lot of people are very emotional about their wrestling career being over with the season.”
So why did Casal and Smith join wrestling in the first place? Was it a passion of theirs since they were little? Did it just happen by accident one day?
“I did basketball my freshman year but wasn’t very good,” Casal said. “So then I was like, well, I’m not going to be a very good basketball player, so I thought wrestling would get me better at football, which it did.”
“I started wrestling at eight years old, so I kind of had an advantage,” said Smith. “It was in the ‘Genes.’”
This season Smith reached a huge milestone, earning his 100th varsity win.
Casal also mentioned how he enjoyed the fact that even though wrestling is a team sport, in the end, a lot of it depends on whether you individually win your match and perform well.
“When you win a wrestling match, it’s very gratifying and satisfying because that’s the culmination of all your hard work, and it’s very absolute. It’s completely on you. Whereas in other team sports, sometimes, when you win something, it’s not necessarily on you. You can have a good game in football or basketball, but you can still lose, or you could have a bad game and still get carried by your team, but in wrestling, it’s completely on you to win or lose,” said Casal.
Congrats to the wrestling team for such a good season.
