StC News
Saints Brave the Elements to Battle “The Beast”
Five St. Christopher’s wrestlers and two coaches took on the dreaded traffic of northern Virginia and Baltimore, an impending blizzard that blanketed the mid-Atlantic region with almost two feet of snow, and a plethora of the nation’s most outstanding high school wrestlers to compete at the annual Beast of the East tournament in Newark, DE. Coaches Ray Baldwin and Rob Prebish led the way for Brandon Jeske, Trey Tarr, Loren Phillips, David Wesley, and Chris Gill to wrestle in the nation’s toughest high school wrestling tournament. The top ranked team in the VISAA and sixth ranked team in the National Preps ratings made the trek to Delaware well in advance of the snow; only the traffic slowed down the team's trip. The five-man contingent of Saints wrestlers competed well- all were able to win at least one match, with Jeske, Phillips, Wesley, and Gill reaching the second day of competition.
Despite being seeded ninth, freshman Brandon Jeske proved to all that he is a force to reckon with, by upsetting the number 8, 1, and 4 seeds en route to the championship finals match up against second seeded Mark Grey from Blair Academy. After wrestling to an exciting 1-1 stalemate after six minutes, neither wrestler was able to score in the first overtime period from the neutral position. But Grey was able to hold Jeske down for his thirty seconds of the second overtime period, keeping the score knotted 1-1. Then the Blair Academy star escaped in the third overtime period to win the match 2-1. Jeske earned plenty of respect from the wrestling community with his exciting brand of wrestling and his second place finish.
Competing at 145, senior Loren Phillips was one match away from placing in the top eight, finishing the tournament with a 4-2 record. Gill wrestled well at 215, going 3-2, while junior David Wesley posted a 2-2 record at 152. Tarr went 1-2 on the tournament, but wrestled very well.
Overall, the Beast of the East was an exciting weekend of top notch wrestling with many of the best high school teams in the east competing. St. Christopher’s proved to all that they can compete effectively with the very best, no matter the designation of private or public school. The Saints finished in a tie for 27th place with Smyrna, DE and was the top Central Region team in the event and the third best Virginia team. Frank Cox HS was the top Virginia team at the Beast, finishing in 5th place, while Christiansburg ended up 9th. In terms of National Preps private schools, St. Christopher's was the 4th highest placing team at the Beast of the East behind overall champion Blair Academy, 3rd place Wyoming Seminary, and Mount St. Joseph's, who finished in 20th place. Many attending the Beast complimented the Saints coaches and wrestlers on their outstanding wrestling. Next on the schedule for St. Christopher’s is the James Wood Tournament on December 29-30. The Richmond Invitational, postponed due to the bad weather, has been rescheduled for December 29th. The status of whether or not the Saints will compete in the Richmond Invitational is still up in the air. Then the Saints travel to Hampton, VA to compete in the American Division of the Virginia Duals on January 9-10, making their second appearance at the “Granddaddy of Dual Tournaments at the Hampton Coliseum. The team looks to improve on their top six finish from last year’s Duals
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