Ravenscroft’s varsity wrestlers wrapped up their season with a series of strong performances that included the TISAC championship, four place-winners at the state-championship meet and Mikey Leaf ’25’s qualification to the prestigious National Prep tournament on Saturday, Feb. 22.

TISAC Championships Feb. 6

It started with a big win at the Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference Championship, held Thursday, Feb. 6, at Cary Academy. Seven Ravenscroft wrestlers earned conference championships, with three more finishing as runners-up and another in third place. The results gave Coach Garrett Cummings and his team the school’s 11th TISAC team championship in 13 seasons of established conference wrestling.

Cummings noted that the conference-championship win was the culmination of a season’s worth of hard work.

“The team earned the right to be the favored squad in the league at the end of the season, as we’ve really been battle-tested this year. Regular starters on the team have 40-50 matches under their belt this year, and we went undefeated in TISAC duals,” Cummings said. “However, this is a sport where there are no guarantees or predetermined outcomes. The wrestlers in the TISAC all know each other well, and coaches have a lot of data to game-plan against us.  Coach Baende and I challenged all competitors on the team to be ‘prepared and professional’ regardless of their seed. 

“We were really proud to see that we pulled out the team title, and the guys competed well,” he added. “They certainly looked ‘prepared and professional’ and answered the call.”

Congratulations to these top finishers from the conference meet:

Conference Champions by Weight Class

• Michael Schulze ’27 (120)
• Sam Hollingshead ’27 (126)
• Jack Oates ’26 (138)
• Mikey Leaf ’25 (144)
• Nick Herbert ’26 (175)
• Aedan McDonald ’27 (190)
• Beckett Brown ’26 (285)

Second-Place Finishers by Weight Class

• Ryan Tang ’26 (150)
• Robert Barkalov ’26 (157)
• Matthew Bassim ’27 (215) 

Third-Place Finisher by Weight Class

Cole Venters ’27 (165) 

State Championships Feb. 15-16

The team then competed in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Championships on Friday, Feb. 15, and Saturday, Feb. 16, at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte. Four Ravens placed in their respective weight classes at that competition: 

• Michael Schulze ’27 took 6th place (120)
• Mikey Leaf ’25 took 2nd place (144) 
• Nick Herbert ’26 took 3rd place (175)
• Beckett Brown ’26 took 4th place (215)

As Cummings explained, even more good news arrived the next day.

“We learned that senior Mikey Leaf qualified with a wild-card bid to the prestigious National Prep Wrestling tournament in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,” he said. “Mikey got to cap off an exquisite high school career at Ravenscroft by winning three NCISAA matches in a row to make the state finals and getting the opportunity to compete in a highly regarded national event. While the matches and his draw into the 144 Prep bracket were very tough, getting the experience is quite an honor.”

“I am very thankful for all of my coaches and my parents, who have helped me and guided me on my journey to success,” Mikey said of this experience, adding that the opportunity to compete at the national level is something he has wanted since he first started varsity wrestling five seasons ago.

“Every year since I first was on varsity in eighth grade, I have gotten 4th place at the state tournament, coming short of my hopes and expectations. It has lived in my head rent-free,” he said. “All offseason, I put the work in to help me reach success at states and National Preps, wrestling about 65 matches in the offseason — which is more than I wrestle in season. Finally, this year I got over the hump and qualified for the national tournament, which was a beast, and I am glad I got to experience something like that even though I might not have had the success that I had hoped for. 

“I am very grateful to have gone through these difficult challenges, as it has only bettered me, and ‘hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.’ This has been something that I have lived by and will continue to live by not only with wrestling in college but all other aspects of life.”

Congratulations to Mikey and all of the Ravenscroft wrestlers on a winning season.