Though the Indian River High School Indians’ wrestling team put on a slightly below-average performance at the annual War on the Shore tournament last weekend, head coach Jeff Windish saw it as a teaching tool on a much larger scale.

Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor:
An Indian River wrestler battles an opponent at the War on the Shore tournament this past weekend at Stephen Decatur.
The tournament, hosted at Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin, Md., welcomed 25 schools, spanning four states on Friday and Saturday. Indian River finished 17th, but with plenty of upcoming matches this season, Windish remained optimistic.

“I was not, overall, pleased with our team’s performance,” he admitted, “but in hindsight, we’re starting the season with a very young team. We didn’t have the full lineup, but everyone was able to take something from it, and that’s important.”

Indian River had four freshmen wrestlers enter in the middle range, a competitive class for less-experienced athletes.

“It’s a very tough tournament,” Windish added. “Our guys took their licks and, hopefully, they can learn from it. We definitely saw some positives, too.”

First-year starter and junior Chris Smith pulled out victories at the 140-pound weight class with wins over an Archbishop Curley High (Baltimore, Md.) wrestler and a Sussex Tech opponent.

“Chris showed some mental toughness,” said Windish, “battling back from a first-round loss and rattling off two wins.”

Sophomore Elijah Foreman won three matches at the 152-pound weight class against opponents from Rising Sun High (North East, Md.), Mount Saint Joseph (Baltimore, Md.) and Decatur for a sixth-place finish in the War on the Shore.

“He was very powerful in the tournament,” Windish added. “The biggest thing he’s gotta do is string together matches. In a tournament setting, you can’t have a bad match. He’s got to put positive matches back-to-back-to-back.”

Junior Matt McDowell weighed in at 160 pounds for the tourney and placed third with a 5-1 record on the weekend.

“Matt had an outstanding tournament,” the coach added. “He very easily could have been in the finals. He just made a mistake at the end of a match, but I know he won’t make the same mistake again.”

Senior Bo Wilkinson went 2-3 in the tournament, earning an eighth-place finish. Sophomore Katteem Harmon also had an impressive day, battling to an eight-place finish in the heavyweight category.

“Katteem is really showing the coaching staff that he’s improved,” said Windish. “He’s controlling the match and at a heavyweight position, you really have to grind those out.”

He added that a slip-up like this performance is better for the team when it comes early, as it did, rather than later in the schedule.

On the plus side, the Indians were able to use the tournament as a guide, with plenty of things to look over at practice this past week.

“There were definitely some positives,” Windish said. “We would have liked to finish higher, but we know where we have to work. That was our biggest thing on Monday – working to correct mistakes we made. A lot of the guys felt that they underperformed.”

The team will head out again this weekend, this time, traveling to Lancaster, Pa., for the Solanco Invitational Tourney on Friday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 13.

“There are quite a few big teams coming into a tournament, like Solanco,” he added, “and our main goal is to put together a team who, by the end of the season, should be prepared. I’m definitely expecting a better team performance in Pennsylvania.”

Next Wednesday, Dec. 17, the Indians will be tested in their first conference duel of the season, at 7 p.m. at Seaford.
Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
An Indian River wrestler battles an opponent at the War on the Shore tournament this past weekend at Stephen Decatur.
“Tournaments are important,” said Windish, “but dual meets are critical. Seaford’s coming off a good showing at Polytech, and this meet is going to be a good one.”

That weekend, the Indians will host the “Holy Grail” of tournaments, one of the most highly anticipated showings in the Mid-Atlantic region, Battle at the Beach. Scheduled for Friday, Dec. 19, and Saturday, Dec. 20, the tournament will welcome 22 teams, boasting state-ranked teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Delaware, as well as nationally-ranked wrestlers.

Among the athletes in the tournament is 189-pound New Jersey sensation Andrew Campolattano, who in his ninth-grade year ranked 2nd in the country last season, an unprecedented accomplishment for a freshman.

Fellow Garden State wrestler Brendan Ard, who ranked seventh last year at nationals, will also compete at the Battle at the Beach. The tournament will run from 12:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19, and start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday with finals at 6 p.m.

“There will be some impressive wrestling this year,” assured Windish. “It’s one of the best tournaments you can see.”