St. Edward Grapplers Take National Honors

The wrestlers, which brought the home last month, enjoyed some national recognition this weekend in Virginia Beach, VA.

And head coach Greg Urbas couldn't be happier.

Seven of his Eagle grapplers placed at the National High School Coaches Association Wrestling Tournament.

One of them, state champion 171-pound sophomore Domenic Abounader, was crowned a national champion.

In additional, St. Edward also had six other All-Americans.

“They did a tremendous job,” said Urbas. “Our guys are pretty accomplished so I thought we would do well."

In addition to the tournament in Virginia, St. Edward saw another of its wrestlers, sophomore Dean Heil, take first place at the FloWrestling national competition at Walsh Jesuit High School on Sunday.

 “He was pretty amazing,” said Urbas, who watched his 119-pound wrestler take on some of the nation’s best — including a couple of 2-time state champions from Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Urbas said he stayed in Ohio while a couple of the assistant St. Edward coaches traveled to Virginia.

Ty Walz, a junior who took second in the state in the 215-pound weight class, was a runner-up at the NHSCA national competition.

Rounding out the rest of the Eagles’ roster of All-Americans were: junior Jacob Davis (160), who took fourth place; junior James Suvak (189) and freshman Gabe Dzuro (160), who each took fifth place; sophomore Edgar Bright (125), who took sixth place; and junior Alex Moore (112), who finished the national tournament in eighth place.

For a complete breakdown of the results, visit the NHSCA wesbite.

The season’s not quite over for the Eagles

“It’s the beginning of the off-season,” Urbas said.

Members of the squad are getting ready freestyle wrestling competition set to take place later this spring.

“We’ve got to keep it up,” he said. “These kids are shooting for the top. Theyv’e worked their tails off. They want to compete at the highest levels.”