Great teams build on success. Both Elgin Public and Pope John had successful wrestling programs years ago. When they joined together to form the EPPJ Wolfpack, that success continued.
A look back at the accomplishments of the 2014/2015 Wolfpack wrestling team shows how success breeds more success.
Led by state medalist junior Andrew Fangman, the Wolfpack overcame low numbers to produce big-time results. Fangman earned a fifth place medal last month at the NSAA State Wrestling Championships held at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.
Fangman was one of three Wolfpack wrestlers to participate in the state wrestling meet. The others, junior Ryan Pelster and freshman Logan Henn, both won matches at the state meet prior to being eliminated during second-day action.
The fourth member of this year’s squad, sophomore Geoffrey Carr showed promise of better things ahead.
He reached the double-digit mark in victories (12) this season.
In terms of statistics, Fangman led the team in victories with 37 and falls with 23.
Henn led the “fantastic four” in reversals with 14, and near fall 2’s with nine.
Pelster was second in takedowns. His numbers in all categories would have been higher had it not been for injuries which kept him off the mats for a period of time.
Coach Doug Jones was very positive about the accomplishments of Wolfpack wrestlers this year. “These guys had a great season,” he said. “We were fortunate that they were close in weight and that really helped in the practice room. Logan had a great freshman season. He worked very hard at controlling his weight to stay a 106 and it paid off for him. Geoffrey more than doubled the amount of wins from last season and showed a great deal of improvement. Ryan had to give up quite a bit of weight and in spite of being small for his weight class was extremely competitive this season. Andrew showed continued improvement throughout the season. Wrestlers he lost to earlier in the season were defeated by Andrew later on. It was great seeing that improvement during the year. Congratulations on a fantastic season!”
