St. Benedict’s Prep Team
Our traditional team runs similarly to the way it has in the past. Any student enrolled at St. Benedict’s may participate. These students wrestle on various levels – 7th & 8th Grade, Freshman, Junior Varsity, and Varsity. A wrestler most likely participates on multiple levels throughout the course of a season. Wrestle-offs are used to help determine the Varsity line-up, but the coaching staff ultimately decides who wrestles in each competition.

All levels of wrestlers train together. There may be times when we break into different groups, but everyone is held to a high standard of performance.

7th & 8th Grade Team
This is a new program for St. Benedict’s led by SBP alum and Scorpions Wrestling Club co-owner, Omar Feliciano ('97). This team practices daily as a group; however, more advanced team members have the opportunity to train and compete with the high school team as well. The 7th & 8th Grade Team has a diverse competition schedule that is geared to see to the needs of every level of middle school wrestler in the program.

Seasonal Cycles

We aim to create year-round opportunities for our students in the sport. Here is the breakdown of a typical year.

September 1 – November 1: Building a base
This part of the season aims to build a foundation both technically and physically for our athletes. We will be on the mats two days a week, and training off the mats the other three. most weeks, we also have opportunities for athletes to get instruction on Saturday mornings.

November 2-December 1: Establishing habits
During this part of the year, guys are on the mats five days a week. The emphasis is on wrestling skill and endurance. Conditioning will be a primary focus during this time of year.

December 2 – National Preps in February: Competition
This part of the year will focus on competition. There will continue to be a mixture of dual meets and tournaments for all levels of wrestlers. Our 7th & 8th graders will continue to have their own schedule, and we will try to provide the right number of opportunities to the rest of the team based on their level of development. As an overall program, we will focus our collective energy on peaking for the National Prep Tournament. Each year, we try to broaden the opportunities available to our wrestlers.

March 1-April 1 – A break from competition for most/HS Nationals for Seniors
For most of the team, this period is one of unstructured workouts where they simply run, lift weights and exercise to stay fit. For some of the seniors (hopefully!), we will be training for HS Nationals in Virginia Beach.

April 2 – July 31 – Freestyle
There are many freestyle and Greco-Roman opportunities available throughout the spring and summer. We will provide a “Club-like” environment where athletes can get on the mat twice a week, learn about the Olympic styles and, if they choose, prepare for weekend tournaments. Additionally, we have, in the past, sent a group of kids to the Lehigh University Wrestling Camp every year in June.

https://www.lehighsports.com/sports/wrestling/camps.asp
http://www.njwrestlingtournaments.com/
http://www.usawnj.org/

August – We take a break.