Lake Station Thomas A. Edison Jr. Sr. High School hosted their annual Super 8 Wrestling Tournament on Saturday. The Goshen High School Redhawks topped a field that included Lake Station, Fairhaven, Hammond Gavit, Mishawaka Marian, Calumet New Tech, Hammond Clark, and a combined team of Hammond High and Hammond Morton.
Super 8 marked the final event of the year for each school, other than the state tournament, and served as cap for one of the most difficult seasons the teams had ever faced.
“We did good,” said Wrestling Coach Jim Pickard. “It’s been a long, tough season with a lot of downs for us – we’ve had a lot of guys out. I’ve coached 29 years and this has been my longest season, just trying to get matches in. I’m glad Lake Station had an opening and invited us down, because we’ve been trying to get our schedule filled.”
For Gavit and Clark, this season was special for a very different reason – it will be their last year competing as the Gladiators and Pioneers. The two schools are set to close and merge with Hammond High and Morton High starting next school year. Gavit Head Coach Chris Sojak said that in many ways. the challenging season energized the team.
“It’s been great actually,” he said. “We got all the pieces back in the room, and they were ready to go. With the quarantine and everything else going on, they were ready to get out of their houses and into the wrestling room. That,and this being the last season were big motivators, and we’ve been having a lot of fun this year. We’re looking forward to finishing off the way we’ve all envisioned it – getting these guys down to state.”
Full Super 8 Results:
- Goshen High School
- Fairhaven Christian Academy
- Hammond Gavit
- Calumet New Tech
- Mishawaka Marian
- Hammond High/Hammond Morton
- Lake Station
- Hammond Clark