The St. Michael The Archangel Catholic boys wrestling team suffered a big loss to their lineup before the season began.
Three-time state champion Sampson Stillwell left St. Michael before his senior year to join the USA Wrestling Elite Accelerator Program in Colorado Springs and will take online courses.
Coming into the 2024-25 season, the Guardians will be without a heavyweight and they had three open spots in the lineup going into Thursday’s dual against Kearney on the road. Even while giving up 12 points right off the bat with opens (Kearney also had an open), the Guardians did just enough to take a 39-36 victory.
Part of the reason for the win came because Infranca moved junior Brodie Purtle from the 215-pound weight class to 285 to net a win by forfeit and give the Guardians six points it needed to win.
Before that, Kearney made a switch of their own. Senior Elijah Helberg was originally slated to face Purtle in the 215-pound weight class but was moved to 190 to face sophomore Lance Barry. Helberg pinned Barry in 1 minute and 50 seconds with a butcher.
That switch normally would have led to defending state champion Carter Temple, a sophomore, to face Purtle at 215, but because of Infranca bumping Purtle up a weight class, Temple won by forfeit. St. Michel did earn the team victory, however, as it won six out of the 10 contested matches.