Senior Night for the Westside Boys wrestling team was a mix of emotions. Each team recognized the late Becky Geiger who passed away earlier in the season. After recognizing Geiger they took time to recognize each senior on the team. The seniors for the boys team is an amazing group and have been amazing to the team’s message of hard work. The group consisted of Anthony Thomas, Abe Jimenez, Kameron Pilege, and Jack Tarr.
Pilege had an amazing night and ended his 10-1 match with a pin and added six points for the teams’ dual score; they won the dual over Gretna. Pilege got a special recognition and a 500 dollar scholarship for his dedication the past four years.
“Senior night was great. I got a win and earned a 500 dollar scholarship and was getting lots of support from family and friends that I don’t usually see,” said Pilege.
After senior night the boys team had a two week long break to recover from senior night and past competitions. They are getting ready for the district tournament and planning on qualifying a good group of guys for the state tournament.
“The team is looking very good for districts. We have a lot of confidence going into it, Charlie Hall, Chase Meyers, and Gable Jerniga, have a pretty easy district and are very likely to punch their ticket to state, but we are confident Mason Bruber, myself, and Anthony Thomas can get in as well,” said Pilege.
Last year the team qualified two wrestlers and is confident that they will be qualifying more. They have a strong mindset and culture that they stick to during the season. All the wrestlers meet before practice and talk about the positives and the improvements of the week. The team also has a peak season. This is the part of the season where other teams aren’t doing as well as they should be, and have already had their best performances.
“Our peaking season is focusing on discipline and having the best practice we’ve ever had every single day,” said Pilege.
The team is trusting the process after seeing how the team did on senior night. They are ending the last part of the season with confidence high and are confident in sending a full lineup to districts. The boys on the team have good records and an easier road to qualifying later this week in Grand Island. Pilege will be leading the team at districts with a lot of hope in bringing them to the state tournament.
