LF_120618

LakeForestLeader.com SPORTS
the lake forest leader | December 6, 2018 | 29
Wrestling
LF’s 10-0 start sign of good things to come
Brittany Kapa, Sports Editor
After a 10-0 start to the season,
the Scouts are hoping to set another
record this season.
That is the best season start
coach Matt Fiordirosa has seen
in his eight-year tenure with the
team.
“Our big thing is that we set the
big school record in 2016 winning
16 dual meets; we tied that
in 2017 and 2018,” Fiordirosa
said. “One of the goals this year
is to break that record.”
With a 10-0 start, the Scouts
are already on their way to accomplishing
their biggest season
goal.
With only two seniors on the
squad this year, Fiordirosa has
seen his squad step up in the
preseason. This group of players
has quickly become the mostdedicated
group he’s seen to date.
That work ethic has allowed the
Scouts to hit the ground running
this season.
“I think the kids committing
and really buying into the program
is the difference,” he said.
“We have 30 kids in the program,
spread out enough to where we
cover every weight class.”
But that wasn’t always the
case with the Scouts wrestling
program. Regis Durbin, Fiordirosa
believes, was the key to the
program’s interest and success
for the last few years. Durbin
won the 2013-14 IHSA Class 3A
195-pound title, and after that the
coach saw the tide turn in favor of
wrestling.
“We had low numbers leading
up to that, and he wins the state
championship and that was the
turning point,” he said.
Lake Forest has since dropped
down to Class 2A competition,
but Fiordirosa sees that as a benefit
to his team.
“We compete against schools
more our size,” he said. “This
year we’re focusing on being a
team. Now that we’re at 2A we
Lake Forest junior Chase Waggoner gives it his all in an early-season wrestling match; Waggoner has helped his team achieve a 10-0 start
to the season in match play. Photos submitted
can compete and focus on winning.
Winning is contagious.
Winning is fun, and I think that
gets kids to buy in.”
The Scouts 2018-19 varsity
team has two more specific goals
they want to accomplish this season.
Fiordirosa said the Scouts
want to qualify more than one
wrestler to state this season, and
win all three big tournaments
they compete in. They’re already
two thirds of the way to that last
goal.
After winning its own quad
meet Nov. 21, hosting Grayslake
North, Hinsdale South and Palatine,
Lake Forest went on to win
the Carmel Catholic High School
dual tournament held Nov. 22-23.
The Scouts won all six matches
against Carmel, Richmond Burton,
Geneva, North Chicago,
Notre Dame and Solorio Academy.
The Scouts faced another
Lake Forest sophomore Bennett Duggan gets the best of his opponent in a match.
early-season test, against Mundelein,
Friday, Nov. 30, and won
that dual meet.
That momentum continued
into the weekend, and the Scouts
celebrated another tournament title
after winning the Tom DuBois
Wrestling Classic in Richmond
Burton.
The team scored 205.5 points,
besting the second-place team by
45.5 points.
T.J. Cottam returns this season
as one of two seniors on the
squad, wrestling at 145. Several
freshman have stepped up on the
varsity lineup as well, and sophomore
Bennett Duggan is back
but wrestling at 126 this season.
Junior Chase Waggoner adds veteran
experience at 170.