Mater Dei High School - Hi Lights Yearbook (Evansville, IN)

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' Dual ' ing dynamite! cont. TAKEDOWN TIME: Junior Matt Bequette gets two points for a takedown in his 119 pound match in the Castle meet. Bequette finished with 38 takedowns on the season, (Photo by Alan Burdette) CELEBRATE: Senior Brian Helfrich had a lotto cheer about at the Mater Dei-Reitz dual meet. MD de- molished Reitz 35-18 before 2000 westside wres- tling fans. (Photo by Alon Burdette) INDIAN WRESTLER: Junior Vince Boots awaits the referee ' s signal to start his match with Jeff Sellers from Castle. Boots decisioned Sellers 4-3 in a close match. (Photo by Alan Burdette) i

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' Dual ' ing dynamite! What can one say about a team that finishes its season with an unblem- ished 14-0 dual-meet record, wins City, wins SIAC, wins Sectional, and wins its fourth straight Regional Title? The MD varsity grapplers with coaches, Mike Goebel, Randy Hel- frich, and John Schroeder achieved all of this. In addition to these accom- plishments, the team also captured the Bloomington North and Trinity Tournaments, sent eight wrestlers to Semi-State and one wrestler to State. Although the finish of the season was a disappointment to grappler Coach Goebel, he stated, Before Semi-State it was the best season MD had. The season finish wasn ' t what we planned, but you can ' t overshadow great things. This is the most dual meets and tournaments we won in one season. We won all 14 dual meets. According to Goebel, There were two high points of the season — our dual meet with Reitz and our ending of Castle ' s undefeated streak at 29. When the Wild cats met with their arch-rivals, the Reitz Panthers, the coaches from both teams were call- ing the event the match of the year. The MD gym housed 2,000 anxious Westside wrestling fans. It was soon evident, however, that the match of the year would never develop as the Wildcats went on to crush the Panthers 35-18. Goebel felt that the best match of the season, however, was when his grapplers defeated the highly regarded Cas- tle Knights by a score of 54-3. Castle Coach Marc Anderson commented after the meet, Mater Dei probably has the best dual-meet team in the state. It may be the only team without a weakness any- where in the line up. Everybody is solid. According to Goebel, It was up to the individuals to motivate themselves throughout the season. It helped them knowing that wrestling is a tradition here at MD. Goebel continued, They were easy to coach be cause they were fairly intelligent. They understood what you meant when you told them to do something. They worked hard and were willing to sacrifice. Goebel liked the support of the fans and the attitude they had towards wrestling. I feel this is the best place in the state to coach wrestling, stated Goebel. He went on to say, referring to his two co- coaches, Schroeder and Helfrich, We have one of the best coaching staffs here at MD. Sectionals was a big night for Coaches Goebel, Helfrich, Schroeder, and their squads, as the Wildcats accomplished the incredible feat of getting all 13 wrestlers into the final Mater Dei probably has the best dual-meet team in the state. It may be the only team without a weakness any- where in the line up. — Castle Coach Marc Anderson ANXIOUS?: Respected head coach Mike Goebel and assistant Randy Helfrich direct a close match during the Castle dual meet. Goebel didn ' t spend much time on the edge of his seat that night as the Wildcats rolled to a 53-3 victory. (Photo by Alan Burdette) rounds and then advancing them all into the Regionals. Once again, the Wildcats rose to the occassion to secure another wres- tling Regional and sent on to Semi- State Tom Knowles, John Dewig, Clay Allison, Joe Bassemier, Vince Boots, and Matt Crowe. Stated Goebel, At certain times in the season the team was awesome. At the Semi-State Tournament in Bloomington, the team suffered its first loss of the season. The Wilcats finished in eleventh place, and only heavyweight Matt Crowe advanced to the finals where he was decisioned 5-0 by eventual State Champion Jesse Newkirk of Decatur Central. Seniors Tom Knowles and Joe Bassemier finished fourth in the tournament. Finishing second in Semi-State, Crowe was the only MD grappler to compete in State competition but was beaten 9-3 in the first round. According to Goebel, This year ' s team was great. It ranks up with the best from MD. The MD Reserve wrestlers also con- tinued their reign over the city, finishing with a 12-0 record, a City Title, and the Evansville Invitational Title. According to sophomore reserve wrestler Greg Clausheide, This year was a pretty exciting year. A lot of wrestlers were successful. We really showed our ability and determina- tion. Coach Randy Helfrich ' s squad outscored its opponents 683-88 in dual meet competition. Junior Dave Wanne- muehler and sophomore Greg Clausheide both finished with 12-0 records. The freshmen also finished their season capturing the City and Evansville Invitational Titles. Coaches Tony Bergwitz and Mark Hermann led their team to a 6-2 record, going unde- feated in city matches. Both of the team ' s losses were suf- fered to Princeton. This year ' s team was good all around, because every- body wrestled really well, stated freshman Bob Martin. Rob Maurer led the team with an 11-0 record while both Bob Dezember and Martin finished with records of 10-0. It takes a lot to be an MD wrestler, Clausheide said. Your opponent knows you have worked hard to be where you are at. He knows you have to be something. You see the outcome of the crowds. You know what is expected of you and you have to come through. Both Clausheide and Martin agreed, The hardest thing about being an MD wrestler was living up to the tradition. — Tammy Hollander — Brian Johns 63

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Tipping the scales Click-clash-click . . . no — sorry, according to the scale, you ' re still three pounds overweight. You have until tomor- row afternoon to lose it ... if you want to wrestle. When losing weight is the issue, a picture of starvation instantly enters many minds. This is only part of what a wrestler goes through to make weight. I practice with all these sweats on, eat one meal a day (breakfast), and swim at the Executive Inn, said senior varsity wrestler Tom Knowles. Sophomore grappler Andy Voelker stated, Exercise is the main thing, You can eat vegetables and meat but you can ' t drink. That makes it hard to sleep at night. Most of the wrestlers agree that you sweat off most of your weight. This is why they insist upon wearing enough clothes to ski in while they run their daily 25 laps around the gym. At out-of-town matches, some wrestlers have been known to dress so snuggly only to sit in a motel room with the thermostat pushed up to the limit. This type of quick weight loss does, however, cause the wrestlers to become weak. Voelker commented about the need for vitamins in his diet. Senior John Dewig added, After weigh-in you get to eat a lot, Then, you just get fired up! Most agree the hardest part about trying to lose weight is watching everyone else eat and drink at lunchtime; they know they ' ll have to run their laps on an empty stomach. Of course, when a person like junior heavyweight, Matt Crowe, eats assorted goodies in front of them, the willpow- er is put to the test. (Heavyweights are not required to stay under a certain weight.) Knowles commented, You can just smell the food; it drives me nuts. Voelker laughted, If I was as big as Matt, I ' d hit him. At times the wrestlers do get depressed, trying to lose that last pound, giving it everything to be a Mater Dei wrestler. What makes it all worthwhile? Voelker explained, After you win and the referee raises your hand, and everyone claps, and then the coach tells you you did a good job, it makes you feel good. Dewig smiled, Winning! You feel like you did some- thing. Why do these men push themselves so hard to make weight? Knowles summed up the feeling as he stated, It ' s be- cause this is Mater Dei and it ' s a tradition. — Mary Schenk 65 VARSITY AND RESERVE WRESTLING: FRONT ROW: Dean Happe, Dan Elpers, Blake Titzer, Tom Knowles, Tom Zenthoefer, Matt Bequette, Alan May, Greg Clausheide, Matt Bartek, Keith Layman. SECOND ROW: Mark Weinzapfel, Tim Martin, Andy Voelker, Bernie Mayer, Paul Day- ton, John Dewig, Mike Bergwitz, Jim Weinzapfel, Mark Toelle. Coach Tony Bergwitz. THIRD ROW: Nathan Moutoux, Randy Plump, Kevin Wilde- man, Andy Hoefling, Clay Allison, Joe Bas- semeier, Ron Maurer, Joe Gerber, Larry Luigs, Ted Kares. BACK ROW: Coach Mike Goebel, Jeff Adler, Dave Wannamuehler, Vince Boots, Matt Crowe, Dan Knight, Jeff Happe, Steve Anslinger, Joe Steinkamp. (Photo courtesy Dr. Johnson, West Side Nut Club)