For a young Summit team working to build an identity, Thursday's 56-13 loss to district opponent Madison is reminder of something head coach Eric Wachtel needs no reminders of.
Despite sitting at a respectable 6-5 mark following Thursday's loss, Wachtel knows that there's still a lot of work to be done if his Hilltopper grapplers are going to compete with the districts "big boys."
"We've got a lot of work to do," Wachtel said. "We're a young team, this is our second year of varsity. [Madison is] usually about the second or third best team in the district so, it just takes some time."
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Thursday night's match saw few Hilltopper highlights as Summit took home wins in just three matches, and gave away 12 points in forfeits.
"It was important because it was a district match, but AJ Iarussi at 195 [pounds] was a nice win and Elijah [Akudugu] at 120 had a nice win."
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Matt Fastiggi got things started for Madison when he pinned Summit's Joe Szymanski in the second period, leading the Dodgers to a 6-0 lead.
After a Summit forfiet to Dan Bauer at 182 pounds gave Madison a 12-0 lead, the Hilltoppers struck for their first win of the night as Anthony Iarussi won a 4-0 decision over Nick Haboj.
A Donovan Mantone 12-0 major decision win over Summit's Jose Netro at 220 pounds, followed by another Summit forfeit, gave Madison 19-point lead through five matches.
Summit responded with back-to-back wins from Nicholas Testa (113) and Elijah Akudugu (120), bringing the score to 22-13, but Madison would run away with the match after that.
Wins from Patsy Davis (126), Nick Picillo (132), John Costa (138), Max Gotsch (145), Peter Willis (152) and Matt Allen (160), closed out the match and helped Madison to the comfortable win.
