A solid blend of veteran leadership and promising youth will help Coach Mark Sullivan continue his outstanding work in returning Saint Ignatius’ wrestling program to state and national prominence.
Seniors Jim Ferritto and Tommy Zeigler and junior Anthony McLaughlin are among those who will help show the way for the endless potential that stems from the underclassmen.
“In a nutshell, we’re dedicated and disciplined.” – Jim Ferritto.
“We know what it takes, and we’re willing to do it.” – Tommy Zeigler
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright November/December 2012
Ohio City – Standing just outside the Wildcats’ training room late Tuesday afternoon, Saint Ignatius’ talented senior Jim Ferritto, in a calm, respectful and mature manner, spoke of the areas of strength as he and his teammates embark on another step in the resurgence of the Jesuit Preparatory School’s wrestling program.
“We’re really a close-knit team,” said Ferritto, who after finishing eighth in the state last season at 106 pounds will be wrestling in the 113-pound class this winter. “We do have a lot of older guys, but also a lot of young guys who are going to step up this year. And the seniors and the juniors are going to lead the way to help them take over.
“We have a good work ethic in the room right now,” Ferritto continued, emphasizing that a summer of lifting weights and running has helped make his move up to 113 pounds a smooth transition. “Coach (Mark Sullivan) has been pushing us, so I think we’re going to head out strong to Solon.”
After opening their season at the tradition-rich Solon Comet Classic this weekend, the Wildcats go from the frying pan to the fire – next weekend’s nationally acclaimed Ironman tournament at Walsh Jesuit.
While Ferritto continues to sharpen his technique and escape, and points toward a state championship in his weight class, 170-pound junior and district qualifier Anthony McLaughlin says he sees a bunch of new faces on the team this year, but faces that are going to be very good.
“Tommy (Wildcats two time state-placer Tommy Zeigler) and Jimmy (Ferritto), as seniors, are going to be paving the way for these young and up n coming kids to come through,” McLaughlin said.
A wrestler who epitomizes Saint Ignatius’ work ethic, McLaughlin went through grueling 6 a.m. workouts and two-a-day sessions while training for the Nationals in Fargo (N.D.) this summer. He hopes to take what he learned on a national level to a state-qualifying season and more in 2012-13.
“This year, what I have to work on is being more aggressive on top,” McLaughlin continued. “That’s the main thing I have to work on, because last year I noticed that my top game was bad and usually I had to just kick people into neutral. This year, I have to put an emphasis on grinding and riding people.”
McLaughlin said he looks at his neutral game as one of his strengths and that his No. 1 move would have to be his single leg.
A young man who needs no introduction to Saint Ignatius’ wrestling faithful and, as far as that goes, wrestling fans throughout the area, the good-natured, tough and talented Zeigler is no longer the Wildcats’ second man, if you will.
After complementing the most celebrated wrestler in Saint Ignatius history – two-time undefeated state champion George DiCamillo – Zeigler is looking forward to his lead role this winter. DiCamillo, by the way, if off to a great start for the Virginia Cavaliers as he has won 11 of his first 12 matches and is ranked nationally at 133 pounds.
“It (George’s graduation) basically puts Saint Ignatius under the radar again,” Zeigler said. “We have a team this year in which a lot of kids were working over the summer, a lot of kids were lifting and a lot of kids were in here (the training room) wrestling at least two days a week. And those are the kids we needed to get better. People are going to overlook us, and that kind of puts us in an advantageous situation, where we can come through and win matches when people don’t think we will.”
After recovering for a couple of months in the spring from an injury he suffered at states, Tommy began to hit the weights hard.
“It’s (the extra strength) really what I am going to need, since last year I was 113 and this year I am wrestling at 126,” said Zeigler. “So I really jumped up. I put on a lot of muscle and on the feet, I think I have really perfected what I am trying to do this season. In the offseason, I figured out what I want to hit.”
As a sophomore, Tommy took fifth place in the state at 103 and last year he was sixth at 113, so it has been a steady, although demanding, progression in weight classes.
Like Ferritto, Tommy has only goal this winter – “State champ!”
A young man who values the sport he competes in, Zeigler is also very excited about the current freshmen wrestlers and the potential of the seventh and eighth graders who have their hearts set on coming to Saint Ignatius in the future.
Among the current freshmen mainstays is Ben Cray (182), who is also a standout in football and the brother of Wildcats All-Ohio senior offensive lineman Mike Cray. Like his older brother, Ben came to Saint Ignatius from St. Thomas More in Brooklyn.
Zeigler also pointed to some of the key upperclassmen, including senior Dan Lynch at 145, who in Zeigler’s words “has really stepped up.” Lynch’s goal is to be a state qualifier and Zeigler is confident he can do it.
Ferritto referred to Ben Cray, saying that despite Ben’s youth he looks for him to step up this season and Jim also pointed to senior Isen Vajusi (195), whom Jim said put in a lot of work in the offseason, is looking really tough and could surprise a lot of people this year.
As for other wrestlers to watch now and in the future, McLaughlin’s pick was sophomore Joe Conway, who can go at 160 or 170, and Zeigler said to remember the name Hunter Toth, a freshman at 106.
In the upper weights, look for senior Max Baughman, a nose tackle in football, to do his thing at 220 and to resume his storied lighter-weight move, and junior Dan Cartolin, another football lineman, to continue his progress as a heavyweight.
“I think it’s a well-balanced team,” Coach Sullivan said of his 2012-13 Wildcats as he prepares for what is now his 10th season as Saint Ignatius’ head wrestling coach. “We have great senior leadership and we have a core of underclassmen who I think have potential to become great wrestlers.
“They have all bought into the fact that they have to be good citizens outside of the wrestling room,” Coach Sullivan continued. “That’s what we demand of our guys, to be good kids and be good with the academics as well as the wrestling. It seems to translate to success on the mat. That formula has worked pretty well with George DiCamillo, as last year I think he became the school’s first individual national champion in any sport.”
Coach Sullivan, who has produced five state champions since 2009 and has done an outstanding job developing and working with the Wildcats’ youth programs, pointed out how great it is to have alums like former Wildcats wrestling, football and baseball great Mike Buddie ’89 come back and talk with him and the kids and lend his encouragement.
“That’s huge for the program,” Coach Sullivan said. “Because it gives credit to the hard work the kids have done and the legacies they are starting to build here. It’s a great situation.”
Coach Sullivan emphasized that the Wildcats’ wrestling program is back to a level where over the next few years he and his staff will be looking to build a state and national championship team.
“This team right here, each year they bought into the work ethic,” said Coach Sullivan of his 2012-13 veterans. “It’s that hard work will translate into state championships. From where we left off from last year, with George DiCamillo, Tommy Zeigler and Jim Ferritto all state placers, it just kind of rolled off into this season. We’ve picked up where we left off.”