The Ravenscroft Wrestling Team won its 12th conference championship on Thursday, Feb. 5. The Ravens bested eight Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference (TISAC) teams at North Raleigh Christian Academy to defend their title. 

Under the leadership of head coach Garrett Cummings, the team delivered a dominant performance, filling all 14 weight classes, placing 11 wrestlers on the podium, advancing six finalists, and crowning four individual conference champions en route to the overall title. Cummings has led the program since 2008.

“This was a full team effort to come back and raise the trophy at the end of the night,” said Cummings. “Team scoring for tournament wrestling is different from dual meet wrestling, which is highly dependent on singular matchups with a max of six points per weight. We had the most balanced dual team in the conference, but North Raleigh Christian Academy and Cary Christian have some very talented wrestlers who can go far in tournaments. The competing teams shifted weights and came after our guys right away and kept a few favorites out of the finals, but we were able to win four of the six in the finals and got almost every other wrestler to come back for third. That was a major points surge for us at the end of the night, and coaches will always love to see resilience and resolve from their athletes. This team has been a cohesive, bonded unit all season long, and I’m so happy for them that they got to raise the trophy.”

Individual Podium Finishers:

• 106 lbs: Kiyan Bassiri ’31 — Third Place
   
• 126 lbs: Michael Schulze ’27 — Conference Champion
   
• 132 lbs: James Schulze ’28 — Runner-Up
   
• 138 lbs: Jack Oates ’26 — Third Place
   
• 144 lbs: Conor McDonald ’27 — Third Place
   
• 150 lbs: Ryan Tang ’26 — Third Place
   
• 165 lbs: Jack Holt ’27 — Third Place
   
• 175 lbs: Aedan McDonald ’27 — Runner-Up
   
• 190 lbs: Tecumseh Ash ’29 — Conference Champion
   
• 215 lbs: Nick Herbert ’26 — Conference Champion
   
• 285 lbs: Beckett Brown ’26 — Conference Champion

In addition to the medalists, first-year varsity wrestlers Chase Freeman ’29 (157 lbs), Michael Renna ’30 (113 lbs), and Carter Rankin ’30 (120 lbs) played key roles in the championship run, scoring valuable team points and stepping into challenging lineup positions.

The Ravens will next compete at the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association (NCISAA) State Championship, hosted at Charlotte Latin School, on Friday, Feb. 13, and Saturday, Feb. 14.

The conference title continues a long-standing tradition of excellence for Ravens wrestling, reinforcing the program’s status as one of the most successful in conference history.