15-4

 Neil had a limited wrestling season due to not being able to start until after the new year.  The increase in snow helped in some ways with all the canceled tournaments/duals but he still didn't wrestle as much as he would have liked to.  Even with all of that, he went to practice and worked hard and I believe his coaches saw that.  Due to the lineup in his weight bracket, Neil ended up wrestling on JV.  It was somewhat disheartening at first but I am proud of him for knowing his body enough to know he wasn't ready to cut to a weight he didn't feel comfortable at.  I know many who gave him grief over it but we always said we would not risk health for this sport.

Neil tried to get to 145 but didn't like the way he felt when he cut weight, especially when he hit a plateau.  This forced him onto the JV squad.  Many kids quit when they don't get what they want.  Neil just continued to work hard.  He was a team leader and went out there and worked hard on the mat.  He has an undefeated JV  season for two years in a row now.  He did get a chance to wrestle Varsity for a home dual where he won his match with a major decision and he went with the Varsity team to a tournament where he finished 6th.  He went 4-4 which was a huge improvement from last year when he didn't win a single match.  Unfortunately, he came home with a concussion which left him out of the last big tournament of the season.  We are so proud of his work ethic and that he never quit even when others told him they would.