Blue Devils Wrestlers Prepare for Season

The Sault High Blue Devils Wrestling Team is gearing up for another successful season. Thanks to combined team fundraising efforts and significant donor support from the Sault High Athletic Booster Club and the Ausdemore family, the high school team along with the Sault City Youth Wrestling team, has a new space that is dedicated solely to wrestling to practice in. Sault High Head Coach Jacinto Arreola spoke of the new space. “The new mat room was finished up a couple of weeks ago with a big help of the Sault City Youth Wrestling team & and high school team coaches. November 15th was our first official practice on the new mats. It is a great space for us to have uninterrupted space with our own equipment.”

Arreola is joined by returning Assistant Coaches Brendin Cryderman and Matt Vieira. Also returning this year are seniors Will Ohman and Chris Kiekhaefer; juniors Cody Russo, Calvin Aldrich, Sawyer Kuenzer, Chase Tracey, Brett Siesel, Max VanDoren and Trevor Anderson, and sophomores Caleb Klier and Wyatt Peabody. Newcomers to the team, but not the sport, this year are sophomore Marc DeWildt and freshman Brady Rondeau who were involved with the youth wrestling program. Also new to the squad are sophomores Jonah Rishmawi and River Amend, and freshman Sam Kiekhaefer whose athleticism and hard work ethic will no doubt contribute to the team’s success this year. The roster will nearly fill all of the 14 weight classes required for team dual and individual competition.

The team’s schedule is nearly set, with the most up to date version available on the high school’s athletic webpage. Reigning champions, the Blue Devils are once again in the Straits Area Conference with almost weekly rotating duals against St. Ignace, Rudyard, Newberry, Cheboygan and Pellston. The team will also compete in a number of large tournaments across the UP and Northern Lower Michigan. New to the schedule this year will be a Team Invitational down in North Branch, which will be the farthest regular season tournament the team has traveled to since Arreola has been with the program. Traveling to this team tournament will give the wrestlers a chance to compete against wrestlers they are likely to see in individual district competition at the end of the season. The Blue Devils will host a home SAC dual on December 13, and the Bridge Brawl just two days later on Friday afternoon. The Bridge Brawl brings an even number of teams from above and below the bridge to compete against each other in team duals.

The team has just one more week to prepare for its first competition, a SAC dual in Cheboygan on December 6. Arreola is looking forward to another successful season. “I’m excited for our team to grow and make their mark as one of the top teams in Northern Michigan. We’re motivated to capture our first team district title after our close match last season.”