Gaels Wrestling is all in as they look to turn heads at the state championships. 

The team is stacked with four returning state medalists: Ashton Lampman ’23, Colin Kirkpatrick ’23, Alex Fonte ’23, Jacob Norcross ’24, 13 total state qualifiers, and returning state champion Kage Mir ’25. The team is currently 6-1 in league dual play and is in sole position of 2nd place in the 4A Mountain Region. 

But despite all the team and individual accolades, like the old saying in sports goes: “It ain’t a thing without the ring,”  Varsity wrestler Kage Mir commented on his view on a state title’s importance.  “It just isn’t enough, you look at all these little tournament wins and our dual record and they’re great, don’t get me wrong, I’m more than proud of this team, but the real prize is getting your name -your family on the wall. Winning state is the overall goal, and it means more than anything else we do this year.”    

The team has competed in several events during the winter break including the Virgin Valley Grappler: where the team went 2-0 in Dual play and had seven individual tournament placers:
190 1st place Kage Mir, 157 2nd place Ryan Kuckler  ’23, 165 2nd place Colin Kirkpatrick ’23, 144 3rd Vincent Vogan ’24, 126 3rd Ian Watt ’25, 120 3rd place Jacob Tabasa ’25, 113 4th Adam Jimenez ’25.

Varsity heavyweight wrestler Jacob Norcross ’24 shared a bit about the team competing over the break, “There’s just so much time that we get off. You got to be spending that time training rather than sitting around the house like all these other teams that don’t train during the break, that’s how you go ahead of them, work during the break is just foreshadowing your success in the postseason.” 

The team split up over the break and competed in other competitions as well, with a number of wrestlers competing in the JV Henderson Tussle and Varsity Bulldog Grappler. But with success in the Las Vegas valley, Nevada isn’t the only state that the team has looked to take over. Some of the Gaels’ finest Wrestlers traveled to Buckeye; Arizona, Carlsbad; California, and Fresno; California, looking to test their will and compete against the best in the West Coast.

Danial Gostanian ’24 commented on the team’s competitions out of state, “I think it’s essential that we go out of state because we face better competition, and with better competition, the postseason will be easier and this prepares us the best for [Las] Vegas competition.” 

The Gaels have refused to fade. The team has been able to take home some hardware as well. In particular, at the Jerry Benson Invitational in Buckeye, Arizona, the team was 7th in team points with 302 and had seven tournament placers: Adam Jimenez 3rd, Ian Watt 7th, Kage Mir ’25 1st, Ashton Lampman ‘235th, Vincent Vogan ’24, 3rd, Daniel Gostanian ’24 7th, Jacob Norcross ’24 5th. At the Hamada Classic at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California, the Gaels had three medalists: Colin Kirkpatrick 5th, Ryan Kuckler 7th, and Jacob Norcross 3rd, and was 11th in team points out of 51 total scoring teams.

Varsity Wrestler Ryan Kuckler stated, “It’s just a testament of how hard this team works, this sport isn’t easy and just how close this team is and how hard we work. It’s awesome to see the results. La Costa isn’t easy, in fact no big tournament in California is, and to be able to compete with the big named teams is awesome.” 

With Regionals looming, the Gaels look to qualify as many wrestlers as possible for the 4A State Championships, and with the talent that can be found in the Gaels’ wrestling room, that may not be too hard to accomplish. “We have a chance to rewrite the script, to make Gorman wrestling popular again, and to put this school back on the wrestling map. We’re gonna need to work harder than ever, and we’re ready for that,” conveyed Colin Kirkpatrick.