CANTON, Ohio — It’s still Week 1 but St. Edward’s defense already looked like it was in midseason form in Saturday’s 27-10 win at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise for a program that oozes talent at every position like the Eagles do, but after graduating their top two edge rushers in Michael Kilbane, who wrestled for the Eagles, and Wyatt Gedeon, the fact they bottled up three-time defending Indiana state champion Center Grove was nothing short of impressive.
Eagles wrestlers Bradley Eaton, Jonny Slaper and Nate Gregory were a big part of the effort on that side of the ball.
“I mean the buddies, the bonds that we have with the wrestlers are real, especially since they’re all on the defense, too,” Eaton said. “We go and grind in the wrestling room all year practicing doubles, singles, everything, we come out here and it’s the same thing. You know, the guy comes through the hole, you hit a double leg on him, you know, he’s outside of the pocket, you wrap them up with a single, I mean it’s literally the same fundamentals in both.”
Several Eagles played a significant part in their complete defensive effort. Senior Notre Dame commit Loghan Thomas was as dynamic as advertised and the secondary, including Eaton, was flying around. Center Grove didn’t find the end zone until there were 20 seconds left in the game, and had it not been for a muffed punt it never would have gotten into field goal position.
St. Edward held Center Grove to 71 rushing yards, in large part because of how Slaper and Gregory filled holes and gaps. That’s on top of keeping QB Tyler Cherry in check with six sacks and holding him to 140 yards on 17 of 23 passing, most of which came on the final drive.
Neither Gregory nor Slaper was hesitant to talk about how the work they put in on the mat makes football easier.
“Wrestling really is just the backbone of everything I think. I think wrestling is one of the greatest sports ever,” Gregory said. “I think it helps with leverage hand fighting to get off blocks, and the biggest thing is mental toughness. I mean, it really gets you tough. In wrestling when you’re in that third period and you’re sucking wind you find it in you to push out and win that match. And that translates when you’re in the fourth quarter here. You’re like, man, I’ve done this before. I’m in a wrestling match. You know, I pushed through it and I’m not gonna give up.”
“I just think its just the way we’re coached at Ed’s from Coach (John Heffernan), he’s an amazing guy, amazing coach,” Slaper added. “The way he coaches us and the mentality of wrestling, like the sport brings to us it’s just ... it makes us fly around. We want to make every single play. We want to have 30 tackles a game. Like that’s our goal. If we can do that then we know we’re winning, or at least have the best chance to win.”
That trio was among the 14 St. Edward wrestlers to qualify for the state tournament in March. That’s a state qualifier in every possible weight class, and 11 of those 14, including Slaper and Eaton, placed in the top eight at their weight. The Eagles’ storied wrestling program won it’s eighth consecutive Division I state championship and 36th overall.
Switch back to the football field, where head coach Tom Lombardo’s guys are vying for a third consecutive state championship, and there are a lot of expectations to live up to year round.
“The nerves are there and everything, but once that first play starts you just zone in. At least for me, I zone in, I lock in. I can’t let the moment get to me,” Slaper said. “I’m the type of person not to let the moment get ahold of me. I like being in the bright lights. I like making the plays. Star players make big plays at big times. I keep that mentality and I just try to go forward with it.”
And if they fall short of those lofty expectations, the work that put them in a position to achieve greatness in the first place is what the Eagles fall back on.
“So a lot of people will tell you to live in the moment, which is great, but like this past year, we won the state football championship, and then it’s wrestling,” Eaton said. “Like, yeah, we lived in the moment. We lived in it for one night. And then I woke up the next morning, and now I gotta go do it again in wrestling. So it’s constant.
“We’re used to it by now the pressure is like, you know, we’re always supposed to win, but yeah, we’ve been in it now for two years, so now I’m kind of used to it. I mean, if you come up short, like in the state (wrestling) finals like I did last year, that’s not good enough. I mean, it eats me every day. I can’t wait to get back in the state finals again next year. So it’s kind of hard to not think about, you know, wrestling during football and not think about football during wrestling.”
For now, the Eagles’ goals involve running through a tough schedule to try and end their season in the same place it started, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, with a Division I trophy hoisted in the air for a third straight season.
“We built off of every game, you know, we look at film. What did we do wrong? The little things, the little things, they mean so much,” Gregory said. “So overall, you know, we get (Center Grove) out of end zone but there are little things that we can improve on every single game. I think that’s going to project us into a state championship.”
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