CHCA Wrestling made their first appearance on the mat in over a decade, and started strong with 2 immediate pins in their first two matches! By the end of the day that total would climb to 6 total wins, including 5 pins.

Andrew Ghabrial started things off with a strong takedown in the team's first match of the day, then quickly turning his opponent and earning the Fall in 45 seconds.

Owen Clary followed that up with a Fall in 48 seconds.

So after much anticipation of how this "new" wrestling program was going to fare, the Eagles flew in with confidence and focus under the guidance of Coach Gary Cain and his staff.

The young Eagles were officially out of the nest and learning to fly and compete, while being reminded that there are some really strong competitors and big winds to face.

The day proved to be an appropriate format for the start of a fledgling program as the first rounds were round-robin style in pools - meaning everyone was able to wrestle at least 3 or 4 matches, regardless of wins or losses. The single winner of each pool then advanced to the Championship Bracket.

This format worked especially in favor of Lucas Bauman, who would have been knocked out of most double-elimination tournaments after his first two losses. But Lucas kept learning throughout the day, and rallied to earn his own exciting Win by Fall in 1:34 in his 4th match while picking up valuable experience along the way.

Owen Clary came the closest to fighting out of his Pool and into the Championship Bracket, his only loss coming to eventual champion at 215 lbs, D.J. Truax from Valley View. Clary rebounded from that loss with another Victory by Fall over Wunderlich from Mason, this time in 4:20 in the third round.

Micah Deel also picked up his first win as an Eagle with a win by Fall in his 2nd round match in 2:07, showing his flashes of what is to come.

David Manning and Abe Sanders also competed for the first time, earning hard-fought experience and a little more confidence. Sanders was not able to secure a win, but did come away with an exciting, and confidence-building takedown of the eventual 3rd place wrestler in the first few seconds of their match.

In all, the Eagles came away with 6 victories with 5 Falls, and a lot of great experiences to build from for the rest of the season.

Next up is the Charlie Moore Invitational hosted by Reading High School.