Spotlight on SBA Wrestling

This month’s Athletics Spotlight Article has been contributed by Sam Bima, class of 2024.

In this month’s article, I would like to highlight a winter sport that doesn’t get a lot of recognition, Wrestling. Wrestling has been one sport that has been a part of my life since I could remember - whether it was my father showing me videos of Hulk Hogan lifting up Andre the Giant over his head or staying up late on Sunday nights in April watching WrestleMania.

One thing I realized quick during my time in high school is that WWE and SBA wrestling are polar opposites. Wrestling is a very interesting sport. You always need to keep your head on a swivel and be ready to make your next move at any time. In this article, I talk about the current state our wrestling team is in and I get the opportunity to sit down with Senior Captains Hunter Savage and Casey Shearer. We also get to hear from Freshman Gavin Gillan about differences between youth wrestling and high school and the ins and outs of being a freshman wrestler.

Mr. Sam Allen, who is in his seventh year of being the head coach of the wrestling program, had lost two four-year wrestlers in Michael Shaw ‘23 and Ryan Migliorini ’23 over the last year. He also lost a two-time sectional qualifying junior, Jake Migliorini ’25, since he had made the switch to play basketball for the Bruins. Even with the losses, he still has managed to maintain an experienced roster. The Bruins are headlined by Seniors Hunter Savage, Casey Shearer, Yigit Arslan and Evan Englehaupt, while Juniors Logan Pineda, Garrett Connelly, Marco Rizzi, Jack Maschmann, Jordan Conventry and Grady Gillan are tough opponents on opposing teams' radars. Only two underclassmen make the cut for the Bruins’ lineup in Sophomore Weston Heersink and Freshman Gavin Gillan.  I have first-hand experience of this team and I’ve seen the hard work that they have poured into this season and also seasons in the past. The individual records of the wrestlers are a piece of evidence that mental toughness and passion for the sport is evident with these young men.

Savage, a four-year varsity letterman for the Bruins, told me that wrestling is a sport that has taught him a lot about himself. He said, “It is a very mentally and physically demanding sport.” The Bruin Wrestling Program has developed to such a strong fraternity that past wrestlers under Coach Allen will come back to visit and workout with the team. Savage also stated the athletes before him changed him for the best “as a person and a wrestler.”

Shearer, a senior captain who transferred over in the middle of last season, said that wrestling seemed like a fit for him because he knew people that were on the team and his prior school didn’t offer wrestling unlike St. Bede. He also said that some of the life lessons that he had learned from this sport “will be with him for the rest of his life” and he will always have a “soft spot in his heart for wrestling”.

Savage and Shearer, alike, played football for the Bruins this past fall. Savage said, “Wrestling translates to football unlike other sports.”

He spoke highly about the different aspects of each sport that translates to each other. Shearer said, “without wrestling and football, I would not have made the friends that have made my time at St. Bede so special.”

Gillan, a freshman from Peru Catholic, made his first varsity appearance on the wrestling team this winter. He said there is a major difference in youth wrestling and high school wrestling. Gillan talked about the different moves that are taught in youth and high school.

He said, “the intensity of practices in high school don’t compare to youth wrestling.”

He is one of two underclassmen on the roster for the Bruins. He believes that with roster filled with juniors and seniors, “he has made his presence known” and they have taught him so much more about a sport that he thought he knew a lot about. Gillan has an older brother on the team, Grady, he said, “it is so much fun that I can share a love for a sport with my older brother” and also, “he has taught me a lot.”

“Coach Sam Allen has a wonderful group of young men that he gets to call his team. Wrestling is a sport that lasts with you forever and it shows that each and every one, that wrestles or has wrestled, has a dire mentality to win and out-work everyone. The alumni that I have talked to or met, carry this throughout their lives as well. I want to wish the SBA Wrestling team good luck on the rest of their season and seasons to come ahead,” - Sam Bima, class of 2024

Sam Bima, class of 2024