A mere 10 days from now, the Ralston wrestling season will reach its effective apex at the District A-4 Tournament in Kearney.
After that it's State, but any chance there is all predicated on winning at the District level and RHS coach Jason Fink said he knows his guys are pinning their hopes on Kearney.
"I feel good about our District," Fink said. "We've seen all the teams that will be there with the exception of Kearney, so we should have a good idea of what to expect."
Though the Rams suffered through a relatively lackluster showing at last weekend's Roncalli Catholic Invitational, placing four wrestlers in the finals, but seeing them all finish second, Fink said he's expecting the team will be ready to peak at the right time.
"We got four kids in the finals for the first time all year, all seniors, but we didn't get a championship," Fink said. "It was a little disappointing, but the main thing we think about this time of year is making sure that's a result of the strength of competition, not that they're looking past anyone or have had a drop in drive or desire and I don't think that was the case for us.
"Hopefully we move on from that and get after it in these last two weeks."
The top finishers for RHS at Roncalli were Nick McGrath at 126 pounds, Brandon Nabity at 195 pounds, Trevor Limmer at 220 pounds and Brian Farley at 285 pounds.
Freshman 160-pounder Brandon Cswercko finished third and freshman JC Reid was fourth at 113 pounds.
Fink said the format of the Roncalli Invite follows the District Tournament format to the letter — an eight-man, double-elimination setting — hopefully putting the Rams in the appropriate mindset.
Earlier in the week, the Rams came up just short in a dual with Westside on Thursday evening, 38-36.
Though the team won seven of 10 matches, as has been the case in dual action all season, the Rams were hampered by open weights at 152, 170 and 182.
Nevertheless, seniors McGrath, Nabity, Limmer, Farley and Jake Taylor at 138 pounds, celebrated their last turns on the RHS mat with wins.
Cswercko and sophomore Grant Svagera at 106 pounds also picked up victories for Ralston.
The Rams now turn their attentions to the River Cities Conference Duals, which RHS will host this Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.
In the last tuneup before districts, Fink said there will be plenty of good tests for the grapplers.
"The competition is always really good in our conference and wrestling is no exception," he said. "Skutt's there and they're always a quality team, Beatrice has a good team and South Sioux was second at Roncalli."
And when the RCC Duals end, Fink said he expects he'll have a team more than prepared for what's on the western horizon in Kearney.
"This time of year, you want everyone healthy and in a good mental state," he said. "That's what we hope to have when we get on the bus and head out there."
With a number of his wrestlers also playing football and recalling the Scottsbluff trip the RHS squad took in the state playoffs, Fink said the experience will be similar and should serve to ready the wrestlers for battle.
"In a situation like this, you want to make it a memorable event for all the kids," he said. "They'll be traveling together, talking together and preparing together.
"It's a good combination for success."
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