Wrestling: St. Bede fights hard for senior night triangular

The Saint Bede wrestling program celebrated senior night Wednesday by inviting in a pair of historically good programs in Orion and Morrison to the Academy for a Three Rivers Conference triangular.

The Bruins lost their first match 55-13 to Orion, and after the Chargers beat Morrison 66-15, St. Bede fell 33-27 to the Mustangs.

“Those are two really good teams, and our guys fought hard all night, and we needed a night like this heading into regionals to sharpen us up,” St. Bede coach Sam Allen said. “I’m very proud of the team, especially our two senior captains who had great nights. Ryan [Migliorini] and Michael [Shaw] are our senior captains and have been an important part of this program for four years. Ryan lost a tough one to a state-ranked kid then came back and moved up a weight to get a pin to end the night, and Michael won a tough match by decision and then finished the night with a pin. The example they set, I could not ask for better captains.”

Shaw began the evening for the Bruins at 285 pounds and battled Noah Parr to a hard fought 5-4 victory with a takedown in the final seconds of the match to put SBA up 3-0.

“The first guy was tough. He was stiff, and I had trouble throwing him, but I just outworked him and it paid off,” Shaw said. “In the second match, I was looking for a pin and I almost had it at the end of the first but got it in the second. That’s how I wanted to end my time here. I was really proud of how hard we all fought tonight. It’s been an honor serving as a captain. Migs and I have been at this for four years, and we are workout partners and push each other everyday. I think it is paying off now.”

After a series of forfeits, the Chargers took an 18-3 lead before they got three straight pins from Cole Reskins, Gavan Terry and Caden Wegerer to build a 36-3 advantage.

In the 145 match, Logan Pineda notched a pin at the first period buzzer to grab six points for the Bruins.

At 152, Orion got a pin from Mason Anderson to extend its lead to 42-9.

That’s when the match of the night occurred when the Bruins’ Garrett Connelly outdueled Kaden Edmunds in an exciting match, 8-2.

The next three matches went to the Chargers as Talden Rodney, Arden Fisher and Maddux Anderson earned decisions over Willy Sramek, Jake Migliorini, and Ryan Migliorini, who lost by a 4-2 margin.

“I thought I had him,” Ryan Migliorini said. “We were pretty equal and he just got me at the end there, but he is a good opponent and it will make me better for regionals. I am really glad coach Allen gave me another chance to win tonight and I was pretty determined to go out with a pin and I was able to do it.”

The second match saw Orion have another dominating performance with a 66-15 victory as the Chargers got pins from Luke Moen, Cole Perkins, Mason Anderson and Noah Parr. The Mustangs countered with pins from Zach Milder and Logan Baker.

In the finale, the Mustangs broke out to a 24-0 lead on the strength of a pair of forfeits and a Milder pin before the Bruins got on the board as Pineda scored a 6-4 decision to earn his second win of the night.

But the Mustangs scored a pair of pins by Anderson and Logan Baker to build a 33-3 lead. After Sramek and Jake Migliorini accepted forfeits, things tightened up to 33-15.

That set the stage for the two seniors to do their thing and they did not disappoint as Ryan Migliorini bumped up to 220 pounds and scored a pin with 20 seconds left in the opening period. That left Shaw to compete in the final match and he dominated from the start, nearly scoring a pin at the end of the first period before closing the door at 1:09 in the second to complete his perfect night.

“I have had a great career here and have really enjoyed being a leader this year,” Ryan Migliorini said. “Honestly, these guys all work really hard and it is pretty easy to be a captain. The room is always high energy and the boys are there to work and we also have a good time doing it.”

Shaw said he’s enjoyed watching the younger wrestlers improve.

“My favorite part of being here and being an old guy in the room is watching everyone progress and work hard to get better,” Shaw said. “I am going to miss this when it’s over, but I am lucky to have had the experience. I have made some friends for life like Migs.”