Johnnie wrestling places six wrestlers on the podium

Johnnie wrestling returns to Collegeville on Friday, Nov. 7 for a dual meet against Nebraska-Wesleyan. The Johnnies are looking for contributions from the whole team to repeat last year’s result and come away with a win on their home mats. Head coach Kevin Schiltz, who is in his 26th year as head coach, said he can already see an array of improvements from the upperclassmen.

“The upperclassmen who dedicated themselves to lifting a lot over the summer, I have seen great gains in their physique and strength which boosts their confidence level,” Schiltz said.

At the beginning of every season, Schiltz relays his message for the team. This helps his guys take the message and apply it to their everyday lives.

“I keep quoting the A’s and pins. We focus on those two ideas. When the guys are making decisions, they have to look at how this is going to affect my A’s and pins,” Schiltz said.

Sophomore Thomas Holmquist spent time during the offseason thinking about some goals he has for himself and for the team.

“Personally, I am trying to go to nationals. For the team, we want to win all of our dual meets, especially against Concordia-Moorhead… [and] at regionals getting at least 50% of our lineup to nationals,” Holmquist said.

Looking ahead on the season, Holmquist looked at what a successful season would look like to him.

“Accomplishing all personal and team goals [and] no injuries all around so we stay healthy for every meet [is important for us],” Holmquist said.

Junior Connor Krueger highlighted his biggest motivation for the season.

“My biggest motivation is all of the support that I get from my peers and family… [and the] expectations that I put on myself,” Krueger said.

Krueger says he has a dedicated strategy for dealing with setbacks that may arise during the season, such as losses or injuries.

“[I] always go back to the drawing board. I go back to look at film and critique failures during the meet. I make sure not to hang my head and have a short memory,” Krueger said.

Junior Aidan Wayne emphasized the team’s different approach to start the season and how they will accomplish their goals.

“We are working on keeping up with high intensity in practice. The more times that we do that, the more the guys will want to do that. We need to also stay focused in practice and keep our cardio up,” Wayne said.

Wayne also mentioned which meet the team is looking forward to the most this season.

“This weekend’s dual meet against Nebraska-Wesleyan and tournament… [it] will be good to see the new guys go out there and see how they are doing,” Wayne said.

Wayne recognizes that being one of the upperclassmen on the team comes with some responsibility and some leadership that is built into it as well and said he knows how he can best help the younger guys on the team.

“I know for a lot of freshmen it can be confusing. [We help them out] by making lifting programs for them so they know how to lift and making sure to find someone that they can lift with too, also by talking with them to clear up any sort of confusion. [I have been] talking with the returners as well to make sure that they are also communicating well with them too,” Wayne said.

As the SJU wrestling heads into a busy weekend with a dual and tournament, they look to capitalize on their strengths and showcase their talents to help lead them to what a successful season looks like in their eyes.