By Will Willems/The Lebanon Reporter
Indianapolis — The Lebanon Tigers wrestling team knew they had a difficult task Tuesday night when they traveled south to face the Cathedral Irish in a dual meet.
Not only are the Irish ranked No. 17 in the state, but the Tigers are banged up, preventing them from throwing out their optimum lineup. And although the Irish won 51-9, Lebanon head coach Derek Bocock was pleased with the way his Tigers competed.
“I think overall we competed well,” Bocock said. “Coming into tonight we had a couple of goals. We wanted to wrestle all six minutes hard and wrestle really hard in the first and last 30 seconds. And our kids did that and I am proud of them for that. Obviously Cathedral is a really tough team and a really tough program, they are a top-5 team in the state and for good reason.”
Because of injury or illness, the Tigers were missing four wrestlers from their starting lineup.
They also had to move two wrestlers (Kyle Lafeber and Jacob Hale) to higher weight classes to fill in holes.
“We have been banged up since the beginning of the season,” Bocock said. “Our lineup hasn’t been right at all. I think here in the next couple of weeks you are going to see our lineup get a little more solid and get some guys in the right weight classes to where they can compete in the conference and sectional meets. We have a lot of guys hurt, but that is why you have a lot of guys in the room to try and get the job done. It is phenomenal experience for our guys who are stepping up to the plate.”
