The Commons area was packed with chatting, laughter and food on Sunday as the Mount Vernon Boys Wrestling Team celebrated its outstanding season with a record of 20-10.
Before the banquet started, Assistant Coach Kyle Jaspers framed the meeting with a statement, “True success isn’t measured by the absence of obstacles, but by the grit displayed while climbing over them.” He incorporated this because of the challenges the team faced with injuries, but showing resilience even when the odds were stacked against them. The team motivated themselves to overcome everything with all of the 25 varsity wrestlers that competed over the year.
Jaspers then gave recognition of how the boys wrestling team did overall during the season. Most notably the team has won 20 or more duals five years in a row as well as being Regional Dual Qualifiers for 13 of the last 14 years. Jaspers then followed up with the new all-time Mount Vernon Wrestling rankings with senior Mikey Ryan being first with 182 wins all-time and senior Caysen Curran moving into ninth all-time in pins with 76, passing Jase Jaspers (75).
Moving forward with awards, the team awarded Ryan with Most Valuable Wrestler, Curran won Most Dedicated, and freshman Camden Meyer won Most Improved Wrestler. The meeting then transitioned into State awards with Ryan awarded IA Wrestling top 7 Class 2A Wrestler of the Year Finalist and First Team All-State.
For Academic All-State, Will Goodlove and Curran won honorable mention and Ryan won First Team Academic All-State. Collectively as a team, the boys won First Team Academic All-State with a 3.59 GPA (Varsity for State Regionals/Districts).
With the end of the season, seniors expressed their feelings once the realization hit. Ryan came into the season wanting to have a fun but good season overall and had the goal to be a state champion. “I am grateful for everything I have accomplished but I wish I could’ve reached my goal,” Ryan said.
Senior Will Goodlove saw a big challenge at the beginning of his season with injury and this posed regrets, so with limited time and goals to be made, he tried to make the most of the time he had left. “My biggest regret is not living in the moment more, I loved the opportunity I had and I know that I will miss them,” Goodlove said.
After the awards, Kyle Jaspers directed the parents and wrestlers to the PAC lobby to watch the wrestling team’s highlight video. The video showed a variety of all of the wrestlers, JV and Varsity, and the highlights they submitted to highlight for a recap of the season.
At the end of the highlight video, the banquet came to a conclusion and the area was filled with gratitude for all the coaches’ help, support and effort throughout the season.
