Multiple Triad Wrestlers Earn Top Eight Finishes at Granite City Tournament

GRANITE CITY - Triad High School’s wrestling team competed in Granite City’s 64th annual William Red Schmidt holiday tournament, a challenging event featuring tough teams from Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky. The tournament took place recently, with Triad finishing 14th out of 27 teams.

The Knights had several notable individual performances, including Will Kelly, who placed second at 132 pounds. Other wrestlers earned top-eight finishes: Colin Crouch (fourth), Glen Henry (sixth), Brody Smith (eighth), Cohen Albatt (eighth), and Alec Gilomen (seventh). Additional top 16 placements were earned by Aidan Vanmater (16th), Gavin Woolverton (15th), Saxton Jenkins (12th), and Marc Leahy (14th).

Triad head coach Lucas Bernal expressed satisfaction with the team’s progress. “I feel pretty good with where we're at,” Bernal said. “We have a lot to build on, but we had a great tournament here, a lot of guys stepped up, and we're moving in the right direction.”

Bernal noted that the team has improved significantly since the start of the season and is optimistic about future success. “We're having guys starting to figure it out,” he said. “We're having guys learn how to be tough, gritty, with determination. We've just got to keep fine-tuning a couple of things, and we'll get to where we know we can be.”

Looking ahead, the Knights will prepare for a mega dual against Belleville West next week.

Bernal acknowledged the challenges that remain in the season’s final stretch. “January's our tough part of the season; we have some more tough competition. We have a couple of more duals, a couple of more tournaments, but our whole goal is the postseason. That's our big goal as a team and as individuals.”

Reflecting on the team’s work ethic, Bernal added, “I'm feeling good. Our guys are putting in the work; we have a couple of things we've got to change, but I'm proud of where we're at, and I know we can find new ways to evolve as a group. I'm just happy to be doing what I'm doing.”

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