PHOTO BY TOM LINDER

Walsh Jesuit senior Nic Skonieczny won both of his matches at 132 pounds Wednesday night in a tri-meet against St. Vincent-St. Mary and Archbishop Hoban.

AKRON, Ohio -- Wrestling is an individual sport and, in spite of the fact that a team score is kept, at this time of the season wrestlers are focused on preparing for the upcoming run for an individual state title.

If Wednesday night’s tri-meet hosted by Archbishop Hoban is any indication, it is safe to say that once again it should be a banner year for local wrestlers.

Walsh Jesuit finished the night 2-0 with a 42-28 win over St. Vincent-St. Mary, winning six of the eight contested matches.  The Warriors stopped host Archbishop Hoban 46-27, winning nine of 10 matches.  St. V-M topped Hoban 56-24.

In a much anticipated matchup of ranked wrestlers Walsh’s Michael Kostandaras and defending state champion Mike Rix of St. V-M faced off at 126 pounds.  Kostandaras used a tilt in the third period to break a scoreless tie and made it stand up for a 3-0 win.

Rix, who was a state champion at 106 a season ago was wrestling up a weight class.  “He’ll be at 120 pounds come tournament time,” Fighting Irish coach Anthony Gary said. “There was no reason for him to cut weight, and we were shuffling our lineup a bit hoping to compete with Walsh tonight. He learned that you can’t hang out in a match against bigger guys or they will make you pay for it.”

Several wrestlers returned to action following season-long injuries.  Ray Stone (220) of St. V-M, who broke his hand in the Iron Man quarterfinals earlier this season, won by forfeit against Walsh and dominated Hoban’s Jo Lewis Washington, securing a fall at the 2:09 mark of the second period.

“He is really coming on and is in great shape,” Gary said.

Senior Nic Skonieczny (132) of Walsh returned to action following surgery to repair an ankle injury sustained in football.  The twin brother of state champion and Iowa signee Nate Skonieczny, Nic went 2-0 on the night with an 8-2 win and a 17-2 technical fall.

“He’s just so happy to be out on the mat again,” Walsh coach Fred Daugherty said. “He’s about 90 percent right now and is getting stronger.  I wouldn’t bet against him making big noise at the state tournament again.”

Maybe the person who missed Nic most was his brother Nate.

“He has been my drill partner since we started wrestling as little kids,” Nate said. “People don’t realize the mental affect not being able to wrestle has had on him.  He has had to sit and watch his competition get better week after week and wonder how much he may have been falling behind.  Now that he is back in the room and practicing full-go he has gotten his confidence and is ready to go.  That’s a good thing for me too.”

The youngest of the Skonieczny trio, Ryan, who wrestles for St. V-M, proved he is ready to join his older siblings on the podium in Columbus with an impressive night of his own.  The sophomore stopped Nolan Whitely of Walsh 20-10 and finished with a 25-8 technical fall over Owen Mellon of Hoban.  Skonieczny wrapped up his night’s work  with 20 takedowns in two matches.

Jake Huber (113) and Peter James (160) of Hoban were the only Knights to secure wins that weren’t  forfeits.

NOTES:With two wins on the night, Nate Skonieczny is now six wins away from the career mark of all-time Walsh wins leader Johnny DiJulius (176).

St. V-M’s Aaron Adkins has not lost since December when he finished seventh at the Iron Man.  His record is 33-5.

Fighting Irish freshman heavyweight Dre’k Brumley continues to impress picking up his 30th win against just seven losses.

Michael Kostandaras should see his stock continue to rise with the win over state champion Mike Rix.

Walsh went 2-0 in the meet in spite the fact the Warriors gave up 24 points due to forfeits in each dual.