The Wellington Wrestling Club qualified two wrestlers, Nik Bonadies and Josiah Cleghorn, for the Super 32 Preseason National Wrestling Tournament held the weekend of Saturday, Sept. 14 in Greensboro, N.C. This is the first time Wellington has qualified more than one wrestler for the prestigious event.
In order to qualify, the wrestlers had to place in the top four in their weight class in the Super 32 Qualifier last weekend at Kissimmee-Osceola High School, where more than 400 wrestlers competed.
Both Bonadies and Cleghorn are seniors at Wellington High School and will make the trip to Greensboro to compete Oct. 26-27. Bonadies placed third in the most difficult weight class of the tournament (129 pounds) and qualifies for his second straight year. The 129-pound weight class had 48 wrestlers, including 26 state qualifiers and place winners. Cleghorn placed second in the heavyweight division (288 pounds) by defeating a state place-winner and a state qualifier from last year.
“We are very excited to be bringing two wrestlers up to this exciting preseason event,” Wellington wrestling coach Travis Gray said. “This tournament in known for having weight classes with more than 250 wrestlers competing in them. Bonadies and Cleghorn both started wrestling in ninth grade and have worked very hard to reach their goals. The Super 32 Wrestling Tournament is the premier high school national wrestling event of the year, so they are hoping for some great exposure to college coaches from around the country.”
ABOVE: Nik Bonadies and Josiah Cleghorn.
