Gilleard, Petersen to lead Mission wrestling program
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ST. IGNATIUS – Only a week of wrestling practice has passed since the season began, but Mission wrestling head coach Lyle Cronk is taking advantage of his experienced team to get more mat time during practice, stating the experience has helped give his team an advantage early-on. Cronk says he is excited for his loaded team, which has a strong senior class, talented incoming freshmen class and two returning Class B-C State placers.
“We have really good depth this year,” he said. “This is the most experienced team I’ve ever had. They all bring experience with them, so that’s exciting.”
The Charlo-Mission co-op team returns Class B-C State placers Scotty Gilleard and Jacen Petersen. Last year, Gilleard took third at State in the 130-pound weight class, but has proved to be a force throughout his high school career. As a sophomore, Gilleard placed fourth at State, and took sixth as a freshman. Junior Jacen Petersen placed fourth at State in the 152-pound class.
“I’m obviously looking for great leadership from them,” Cronk noted. “I expect them to do well this year.”
Cronk is also expecting big things from seniors Russell Schultz and Chad Anderson, who both placed in the Divisional tournament last season. Another big addition to Mission is Casey Nitschke, who wasn’t a divisional placer last year, but was an instrumental part of his team as a leader.
Mission also returns junior Barrett Sargent, who has nearly missed placing in the Divisional tournament in the past few years.
“He’s a very successful wrestler,” Cronk said. “I’m looking for him to break through this year.”
When it comes to season goals, Cronk says his team only has one.
“Our goal is to beat Ronan, and we have a team to do that,” he smiled. “I’m excited to wrestle against them.”
Mission currently has 18 on its roster, which Cronk says is a decent number for his team.
“We have fairly good grouping as far as weight classes go,” he added.
Cronk says in order to beat Ronan, his team needs to wrestle tough, take care of business, and rise to the occasion.
“Our seniors need to do their jobs,” he noted. “If we do that, we should be in good shape.”
