Young South River Wrestling Continuing to Thrive

Last season, South River wrestling was made up mostly of freshmen and sophomores. The team still had a strong campaign though, finishing the year 18-6. The Seahawks also qualified for regional play in the MPSSAA state tournament. It was a tremendous feat for the young Seahawks considering there were 24 teams in their region competing for just four spots.

The Seahawks would see the team portion of their season end in the first round of the playoffs, losing a close one to Bel Air 38-30.

"All in all we exceeded my expectations," head coach John Klessinger said. "We didn't finish the way I had hoped but for how young we were, it wasn't too bad."

This year the squad is still relatively young, with the bulk of the roster being sophomores and juniors. The team graduated just two seniors from last year's team, and has only one senior in the starting lineup this year.

Despite their age, the Seahawks are excelling once again. The team is 20-6 and coming off a successful winter break campaign which saw them finish second at their own holiday tournament.

The team has had five standouts who have been excellent thus far this season. Brandon Woody is leading the charge in the 285 lbs. division, currently holding a 26-0 record. Ryan Castro is 23-3 while competing at both 126 and 132 lbs. Zach Osborne has also been strong, holding a 20-6 mark at 220 lbs. Chase Lunsford is 19-7 in the 152 and 160 lbs. divisions, as Calvin Brumfield is 18-8 at 106/113 lbs.

"My expectations are higher than last season. In some ways we are where I expected, and in others we are still behind," Klessinger said. "We got work to do with all of our kids to be where I think we can be come February."

While the team hopes to improve and be able to qualify for the MPSSAA state dual tournament again, Klessinger is also hoping to see his wrestlers grow away from the mat. As much as Klessinger has goals for his team in terms of competing, his main goal is that his athletes use wrestling as a way to better themselves for life.

"If they leave our program as a senior and are better than when they arrived as a person and as a wrestler, we have accomplished our most important goal," Klessinger said. "We like winning a lot, but not at the expense of doing things the right way as a student, wrestler, child and community member."