Lake Catholic wrestling coach Nate Skonieczny is philosophical when it comes to gauging success in early season tournaments. Do the Cougars want to wrestle well out of the gate? Absolutely. But are early season tournaments the know-all, be-all of success? Not in the least. Related Articles News-Herald boys Basketball Top of the Crop for Dec. 19 Lake Catholic vs. Benedictine boys basketball: Cougars emerge with wild 74-71 OT road win Beachwood’s Grant Keilin garners repeat All-American soccer honors; five others net all-region Mayfield vs. Lake Catholic boys basketball: Wildcats’ spark-plug mentality jolts them to 68-62 victory PHOTOS: Mayfield-Lake Catholic boys basketball, Dec. 10, 2024 That’s why Skonieczny is happy with where his team is heading into this weekend’s North Canton Holiday Tournament. Current progress is fine, but the end goal — what happens in March — is much more important. “Right now it’s not about winning first, second or third on the scoreboard,” Skonieczny said. “We’ll worry about those things later. Are we getting better? Are we fixing positions? Are we developing as a wrestler? After two or three months of development and getting better, podium finishes and what happens on the scoreboard will improve simultaneously. The early returns are promising, though. The Cougars are coming off a performance at the Solon Comet Classic in which they placed fourth out of 32 teams despite not having their full lineup on the mat yet. Chance Wuhr (106 pounds) and Danny Zmorowski (215 pounds) both finished first, while Tyler Ineman (126) placed second and Tommy Slack (132) placed third. “I’m pleased with how we are progressing,” Skonieczny said. “We’re a young team, very young. There are a lot of things to work on. Some of the young guys still don’t know how to maintain weight or weighouts, but we’re getting there.” Wuhr was a state-placer last year as a freshman 106, an undersized 106 at that. He won by 17-2 technical fall over Revere’s Mason Massouh to win the Solon title. His coach likes how much more aggressive he is in his sophomore season. “Confidence, aggressiveness, building a lead and scoring points — that’s what he’s doing really well,” Skonieczny said. “He’s beating guys 17-2, 20-5 … he’s putting points on the board and blowing guys out of the water.” Another sophomore — Zmorowski — is coming off a freshman year that saw him win 40 matches and place third in the Division II state tournament. He pinned Westlake’s Sammy Salem in 2:46 to win in Solon. Zmorowski was recently listed as an honorable mention preseason All-American by Sports Illustrated. “He’s one of the biggest competitors I’ve ever seen,” Skonieczny said. “He still trains like a rookie. He’s all ears and wants to learn. He’s a true wrestler and he acts like it. He wants to be great and he acts like it.” Freshman Ineman is a fast-riser in the state rankings. He backed it up with a second-place finish at Solon via a 13-1 major decision loss to Reynolds’ Logan Stewart. “Tyler is a super high-level kid, but he is a freshman,” Skonieczny said. “It’s fun to watch him handling the pressure of facing juniors and seniors very well. He does a great job of letting it fly.” Slack, too, was a state-placer as a freshman. He had a strong performance at Kenston with a third-place finish via a 4-1 decision over Kenston’s Brady Baran. He’s an undersized 132, but will be dropping in the coming weeks. “He’s a really aggressive wrestler and likes to push guys around,” Skonieczny said. ‘But when you’re wrestling up two weight classes, you’ve got to learn to win with technique and skill. He took third at Solon and was five seconds away from being in the finals. He’s doing a great job.”