This was a difficult season at times, and a satisfying one. Cathedral High School wrestling in 2023-2024 maximized its potential, earned its way into a familiar place among the state’s elite programs. “I thought we put together our best team when the sectional came around,” Irish wresting coach Sean McGinley said. The Irish, after pushing through injuries at several weight classes, peaked late in the season and turned in a strong postseason that finished with a ninth-place finish at the Indiana High School Athletic Association 2024 State finals. The Irish scored 39.5 points in the finals to return to the Top 10. They finished in the Top 5 from 2013-2022, the first ten years under the current state-title format, before finishing 19th in 2023. The Irish won state titles in 2014 and 2018-2020. “It was good to get back there,” McGinley said. “I thought at the end of the year, as a dual meet team, we were probably where would compete against the top five. Getting back into the Top 10 was good.” Irish wrestling in ’23-24 featured multiple wrestlers competing through injuries, also featuring multiple wrestlers competing in different weight classes to help the team. “We didn't probably have our best team until actually sectionals,” McGinley said. Seven Irish wrestlers advanced to the state tournament – junior John Bissmeyer, junior Nathan Reyes, senior Gavin Bragg, senior Dillon Graham, sophomore Kyle Harden, senior Jackson Weingart and senior Hosia Smith. Graham finished eighth at 144 pounds, Harden finished seventh at 175 pounds, Weingart finished third at 215 pounds and Smith finished second at 285 pounds. “You always hope for more, but we had seven guys in the round to go at semi-state and we went seven for seven in that round,” McGinley said. “There were a lot of matches where we had to beat guys that beat us earlier in the year, a lot of close matches that were supposed to be close on paper and we wrestled really well. “That was good and it carried on to state. On paper, we didn't have any matches at the state that we were like definite wins. We got four through four out of the seven through the first round. That's kind of always been our goal.” The Irish won the Sectional 20 tournament at Arsenal Technical with 321.5 points ahead of runner-up Bishop Chatard with 252 points. They then won the Region 10 tournament at Pendleton Heights with 215.5 points ahead of runner-up Chatard with 101.5 points. They finished second in the New Castle semistate with 124.5 points behind Warren Central with 148.5 points. A look at Irish wrestling in 2024: *Bissmeyer (32-12) qualified for state at 106 pounds, losing in the first round there to Columbus East sophomore Talon Jessup in a fall at 5:12. Bissmeyer won sectional and regional titles, finishing third at semistate. *Reyes (32-11) qualified for state at 113 at pounds, losing in the first round there to Penn freshman Brady Harper in a fall in 5:18. Reyes won sectional and regional titles, finishing third at semistate. *Freshman Caden Rodgers (10-12) qualified for semistate at 120 pounds. Rodgers won the sectional title, finished third at the regional then lost in the first round at semistate 8-0 to Zionsville senior Tommy Frazier. *Bragg (35-9) qualified for state at 126 pounds, losing in the first round there to Brownsburg freshman Braylon Reynolds in a 4-0 decision. Bragg won sectional and regional titles, finishing third at semistate. *Junior Owen Reyes (18-15) qualified for semistate at 132 pounds. Reyes finished as the sectional runner-up, finished fourth at the regional, then lost in the first round at semistate 9-1 to Eastern Hancock senior Cameron Volz. *Sophomore Brian Thomas (10-11) qualified for semistate at 138 pounds. Thomas finished third at the sectional, finished fourth at the regional, then lost in a fall in 1:43 the first round at semistate to Warren Central senior Kyrel Leavell. *Graham (33-13) finished eighth at state at 144 pounds, losing in the seventh-place match in a 6-1 decision to Warren Central junior Christia Arberry. Graham won the sectional and regional titles, then finished second at semistate. “He’s been a foundation of our team for so long,” McGinley said. “He had a great career.” *Sophomore Tyler Lavin (22-11) qualified for semistate at 150 pounds. Lavin finished as the sectional runner-up, finished third at the regional, then lost in the first round at semistate 3-1 to Rossville sophomore Jacob Weaver. *Senior Finn Russell (24-13) qualified for semistate at 157 pounds. Russell won the sectional title, finished third at the regional, then lost in the first round at semistate in a fall in 4:27 to Zionsville senior Blake Wahl. *Junior Ben Obst (14-14) qualified for the regional tournament at 165 pounds. Obst finished as the sectional runner-up. *Sophomore Kyle Harden (13-4) finished seventh at state at 175 pounds, winning the seventh-place match over Penn senior Zymarion Hollyfield in a 7-3 decision. Harden finished as the sectional runner-up and won the regional, then finished third at semistate. Harden’s strong finish came after he retuned from a knee injury that kept him out until early in the posteason. *Senior Oscar Kirch (18-13) qualified for the regional at 190 pounds. Kirch won the sectional title and finished fourth at the regional before an ankle injury ended his season. *Weingart (38-6) finished third at state at 215 pounds, winning the third-place match in an injury decision over Brownsburg junior Caden Brewer at 4:20. Weingart finished as the sectional runner-up, won the regional and won semistate. *Smith (40-8) finished as state runner-up at 285 pounds, losing in the state final to Center Grove senior Nate Johnson in a fall in 1:47. Smith won the sectional and regional titles, then finished second at semistate. “Both of them really did well,” McGinley said. “They had a great relationship and they pushed each other. It definitely helped both of them. Having both of them being there together made it special.” With four state qualifiers graduating, McGinley said the Irish will be young in 2024-2025 – and “we’re going to need some young guys to step up again.” “Some young guys we had this year got a taste of it,” McGinley said. “Our schedule's so tough. They realize you have to be ready to go. It will depend on the offseason. It starts now.”