Oakville Wrestling Edging Closer to Postseason Hopes

With five seniors on this season's roster, the wrestling team is determined to get back into the Missouri state wrestling championships this February. But the season is early, and much is yet to be decided.

"Right now, I really don't have a gauge as to where we're at," said Head Coach Brett Lieberoff days before his team headed into last weekend's Mascoutah Tournament.

"We've got five seniors in the lineup and two of them are up on the varsity team for the first time."

Senior Dan Suda believes that the Tigers have a lot of potential. Suda wrestles at 125 pounds and is one of the team captains.

"As a team, we could be better right now," Suda said. "We've got seniors this year and I'm expecting a lot out of them. I just think that in order for us to be successful, we've got to stay motivated and work hard every day."

Lieberoff believes that Suda's leadership qualities both in practice and during matches will help along those seniors that are spending their first season on the varsity squad.

"Dan's one of my captains because he's a really good leader," Lieberoff said. "He's a tough kid that's taken on that role and hopefully we can get him down to Columbia this year."

The Tigers are currently 2-3 in duals. Senior Brandon Brown is 14-4 after his third-place finish at last weekend's Mascoutah Tournament. Sophomore Josh Lorenz is 11-4 and placed first at Mascoutah. Senior Matt Jackson is 9-6 and placed second last weekend.

Brown, wrestling at 160 pounds, acknowledges the Tigers' rough start to this season.

"So far, things are going pretty rough, but we have a bunch of first-year varsity wrestlers on our team," Brown said. "For right now, I think that we just need to focus on the next match at hand rather than our previous matches."

Said Lieberhoff, "Brandon's another one of our captains who's been on the varsity since his freshman year. He's like Dan (Suda) in that he's a really tough kid."

Lorenz thinks that by the time the Missouri Class 4, District 1 rolls around, the Tigers will be ready to improve on last season's 11th place finish. Lorenz is in his second season on the varsity squad and wrestles at 112 pounds.

"By the time the districts come around, I think we'll do pretty good," Lorenz said. "Our coaches push us really hard during the season and that will get us ready for districts."

Another sophomore to keep an eye on is Juan Quintero at 103 lbs.

"Juan's a second-year wrestler and this is his first shot on the varsity," Lieberoff said. "He's really raw, so we're working with him to build him up to be a varsity wrestler by the end of the season."

Junior Justin Kriska is seeing time at 130 pounds as is sophomore Jon Bromeier.

"Justin's a second-year wrestler that's found his way up to the varsity team this season," Lieberoff said. "But as soon as Jon gets in, I think that he'll be a starter for us this year."

At 135 pounds, Jackson is looking to qualify for the state championships after being just one match away from qualifying as a junior.

"Matt's a vocal leader in the room and was just a match away from going to state last year," Lieberoff said. "I think he's got a really good shot at making it this season."

Senior Austin Leicht is spending his first season on the varsity squad at 140 pounds and the Tigers coaching staff is looking forward to seeing what he'll be able to do this year.

"Austin's a tough kid that's on the varsity for the first time this year," Lieberoff said. "We're really excited to have him on the team and look forward to seeing what he can do this season."

Junior Nick Chinea is another wrestler who's spending his first season on the varsity team and is a solid threat at 145 pounds.

"Nick's another first-year member of the varsity that we're excited to see where he's at and what he can do for us," Lieberoff said.

Senior Connor Woods also moved up to the varsity team after showing a lot of promise last year on the junior varsity squad at 152 pounds.

"Connor had a decent campaign on the JV team last year," Lieberoff said. "We've been able to work with him and hopefully he'll be able to have that same success as he did last season."

Lieberoff is also interested in seeing the progress that sophomore Dan Zehnle has made in the offseason at 160 pounds.

"Dan's probably got the biggest heat on our team," Lieberoff said. "He just doesn't stop and we're really excited to see him this y ear."

Sophomore John Black has been moved up to the varsity team this season.

"John's our backup at 215 pounds, so he doesn't have a whole lot of experience," Lieberoff said. "So it's going to have to be a growing process for him over the next year."

In the heavyweight division this season is sophomore Jimmy Broderick, who's in his second year with the Tiger varsity squad.

"Jimmy's a tough kid that came into our lineup last season as a freshman," Lieberoff said. "He really wants to get bigger and stronger and we're excited to see what he can do this season."