GRANITE CITY - Will Kelly, a senior who competes at 132 pounds for the Triad boys wrestling team, enjoyed a successful 64th William "Red" Schmitt Holiday Tournament at Granite City, finishing second to Riley Sumner of Rockwood Lafayette in the title match 1-0, the only point being scored on a first-period escape by Sumner.
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Kelly won four of his five matches during the tournament to finish in second, and in an interview conducted shortly after his bout, Kelly agreed that finishing second in a highly competitive and loaded tournament at Granite was not a bad thing at all.
"I came into the tournament being an underdog," Kelly said. "I still am an underdog, but we'll still get after it every second I get. I will just keep working. I have had some tough competition these last couple of days, and I just went out there and tried to let it fly," Kelly said.
The tournament is also traditionally a good measuring stick to see how much both wrestlers and teams have progressed, and Kelly feels that things are going along very well for him.
"This season, I've done pretty well," Kelly said. "My only loss has been to the top two in the state, so it's OK. We'll get back at it and pull out some bigger wins."
The Knights have established a very good wrestling tradition in the past, and Kelly knows that will continue on, and he also credited his head coach with his success.
"We're building a great program," Kelly said. "Coach Lucas Bernal is doing a great job. He's building the team, and he's working us hard. So, the team will do great things."
As far as the second half of the season goes, Kelly plans on using his underdog mentality to help himself, and the Knights do great things.
"I'm really just going to try to get after it," he said. "No one's ever won a state title in December, so we're just going to keep getting better, and keep working at it in the practice room."
He's also feeling confident about enjoying much success in the new year.
"I'm getting a lot more confident," Kelly said, "especially in these tough matches. I am pulling out some crazy outcomes, so we'll just keep getting after it."
