Krauss and West medal at wrestling state championship
Benedictine senior wrestler Connor Desautels won the Region 1-AAAA 132-lb championship with a pin over his opponent. This title marks the fourth region championship of Desautels’ high school career, a feat only three Cadets had accomplished before Connor.
“Every time that you won the year before, you’re held to a standard. You have to win again,” Desautels said. “I definitely hold myself to a higher standard every time I wrestle these tournaments, especially the ones I’ve already won, because I know that my goal is to be the best.”
The four-time champion holds a 25-2 record this year despite missing much of the offseason and December with injuries.
“I missed 3-4 weeks, but I just made sure to keep my head in the right space, watching wrestling, being at practice, and studying my past wrestling,” Desautels said.
Desautels is a team captain, and his four-peat inspires the wrestlers on his team.
“It gives the younger guys a wrestling role model to say, ‘Ok, I want to be that good, and here’s the process of how it’s gonna happen, and it’s evidence that it can happen,” said Benedictine wrestling coach Joe Tvrdy. “As a ninth grader, his only responsibility was to himself, and to do everything he could to make himself better. Now he has a responsibility to the team, and as a captain, he has a responsibility to the coaches. Over four years he’s really grown into that.”
The Benedictine wrestling team had a strong performance at the 1-AAAA region championships! Qualifying 14 student-athletes for the sectional meet is an outstanding achievement. Desautels has won the region title all four of his high school years. It is truly impressive and his hard work and dedication have paid off. Being just the fourth wrestler in BC history to achieve that goal speaks volumes about his skills. The sectionals Feb. 8 at Harris County High School will definitely be an exciting step toward the GHSA Class AAAA State Traditional Championships at the Macon Centreplex on Feb. 13-14.
Cadets qualifying for the GHSA Sectional Tournament were:
106 lbs - Wallace Glover (4th Place)
113 lbs - Aiden Simmons (3rd Place)
120 lbs - Waylon Pederson (4th Place)
126 lbs - AJ West (1st Place) Region Champion
132 lbs - Connor Desautels (1st Place) Region Champion
138 lbs - Michael Adams (4th Place)
144 lbs - Walker Minnich (4th Place)
150 lbs - Jackson Garber (4th Place)
157 lbs - Zachary Krauss (2nd Place)
165 lbs - Peter Fallon (2nd Place)
175 lbs - Aaron Pritzker (3rd Place)
Tvrdy also praised Desautels’ selfless attitude, saying, “Connor is also the kid that’s in here before practice cleaning up, mopping the mats, all the little things that we have to do that nobody wants to do.”
Desautels also competes in off-season tournaments to refine his craft and broaden his wrestling experience.
“I just have to push myself, even in the offseason, to be the best,” Desautels said. “The tournaments are a lot bigger in the offseason, you’ve got the national tournaments. You’re wrestling kids from coast to coast, which definitely helps, seeing a lot of different categories of wrestling, different states of wrestling, seeing how other people train. It really gets you ready for the season.”
Now, with his fourth regional championship in the bag, Desautels is on the path to winning the state championship after finishing second in his junior year.
“Winning the silver medal definitely adds a lot of motivation. Doing it as a junior, and being a senior now, my thing is I can’t get worse than I did last year,” Desautels said. “I have to make sure that I’m working harder than the kid across the state, working in a different room. That’s always my mindset; don’t be thinking about the dude who’s working harder than you, be the dude who’s working harder than everyone else. Be the person that people want to be.” The Benedictine wrestling team had a strong performance at the 1-AAAA region championships! Qualifying 14 student-athletes for the sectional meet is an outstanding achievement. Desautels has won the region title all four of his high school years. It is truly impressive and his hard work and dedication have paid off. Being just the fourth wrestler in BC history to achieve that goal speaks volumes about his skills. The sectionals Feb. 8 at Harris County High School will definitely be an exciting step toward the GHSA Class AAAA State Traditional Championships at the Macon Centreplex on Feb. 13-14.
Cadets qualifying for the GHSA Sectional Tournament were:
106 lbs - Wallace Glover (4th Place)
113 lbs - Aiden Simmons (3rd Place)
120 lbs - Waylon Pederson (4th Place)
126 lbs - AJ West (1st Place) Region Champion
132 lbs - Connor Desautels (1st Place) Region Champion
138 lbs - Michael Adams (4th Place)
144 lbs - Walker Minnich (4th Place)
150 lbs - Jackson Garber (4th Place)
157 lbs - Zachary Krauss (2nd Place)
165 lbs - Peter Fallon (2nd Place)
175 lbs - Aaron Pritzker (3rd Place)
