Once again, the wrestling team is making their case to defend their division, as the team is off to a great start with an early record of 8-1. They’ve blown out almost every team they have wrestled this year, with one of the exceptions being the close loss to Roselle Park, the NJ.com fifth-ranked Group I team in the state by a 38-29 score.

With only nine matches in the past, the team has already picked up two key division victories against Pemberton (5-6-1), with a score of 56-12, and Bordentown (5-5), with a tight score of 35-30.  Simply said, the team is off to a hot start, but still has matches with West Deptford, Haddonfield, Rancocas Valley and Delran to come over the next couple weeks.

Over the last few years, the team has lost a multitude of wrestlers but a strong middle school program has kept the program rebuilding. After losing strong wrestlers from the 2016-2017 campaign, plenty of seniors, such as Joe Saxton and Andrew Halecki, emerged last year  from their reserve spots, and it could also happen this year with a number of young wrestlers ready to step up for Cinnaminson. The losses of 2017 state place-winner Keith Swartley and a few others leaves openings for younger talent to take, and leaves the big opening for someone to take charge and help guide the team to yet another division title. It seems as if the loss of many talented graduates of Cinnaminson has had little effect on the team. When asked about the young core, and who, out of the underclassmen, stands out, Coach Michael McConnell believes in his team’s depth.

“We had a great freshman class come in this year. As far as numbers, there’s a lot of them. A lot of talented [Junior Varsity] wrestlers are giving us a lot of depth,” McConnell continued.  “One of the freshman, Nick Schuler; he’s a hard wrestler with great work ethic, and his intensity with wrestling matches some of those of the upperclassmen. I think he sets a nice example for these young guys… Another one of the two is Conlan Holt, and between the two of them, (they) bring a lot of intensity and hard work to our lineup. I think the freshman class as a whole is a really talented and I’m excited to see what they can do for us in the future.”

While the team does have an influx of talented freshman, Coach McConnell also talked about how the seniors are doing just as much to set the example of “what it means to wrestle for Cinnaminson”. When he was asked about the leaders of the team, due to the loss of Swartley, the coach had this to say:

“All of our seniors are doing a great job of taking charge and standing out as leaders. Jahmil [Williams], setting a great example with his work ethic and his sacrifices to the team. [Ryan] Teague, of course, has always been an outstanding wrestler, but he’s stepping up his game this year, too. Liam [Wharton] and [Eren] Basyal, and all of them up top are especially working hard and encouraging the lower class, and overall are just doing a really good job as being the leaders of this team.”

Coach McConnell expects this team to do some big things this year with the rejuvenated lineup he has set up, and hopes that his seniors will go farther than they did in years prior. He went on to say that if the team is willing to put in the work that’s necessary to excel, he feels very optimistic about the season ahead.

Even though the team, as a whole, is doing an excellent job, the attention of the team comes down to senior Ryan Teague, who just notched his 100th win against Pemberton on January 3rd. Ryan entered the year as an “Honorable Mention” for South Jersey Group 2 wrestlers in the 152-pound section, but his impressive start of 9-2 has moved him up the sixth seed of his weight class.

Teague feels very optimistic for the team this year, as well as setting the overall team goal for the 2017-18 season.

“I hope to win states this year; it’s been my goal every year. But the overall goal is for our team to have a great season. There are some really good Group 2 teams, but I think that as long as we wrestle to our abilities, we can compete with just about everyone. I think that everyone should have high expectations for us this year.” Teague said.

The Pirates are currently not ranked in the top 15 in South Jersey, despite their hot start, but recent matches will hopefully change their status. As usual, they’ll battle with Delran, who is currently 8-2, for the division, and will look to defend their Patriot Division Title for the 2017-2018 season.

The key stretch for the team will occur from January 27-January 31, 2018 when the team will wrestle four of five teams who are currently ranked in the top ten state group rankings by NJ. com – Haddonfield (Group 2) and Buena (Group 1) on Jan. 27; Rancocas Valley (Group 5) on Jan. 30; Delran (Group 2) on Jan. 31.  The fifth team in that barrage of good teams, Pennsauken, will be on Jan. 27, and is currently slated to make the South Jersey Group 4 playoffs.