Victoria Rothenberg

Junior Theo Rothenberg takes home third place in the 120-pound weight class.

Competing in his hardest test yet against an undefeated competitor, sophomore Jacob Sheib was fighting for the title of champion in the 138-pound weight class. Shieb had defeated his prior competition with ease, but he knew this match would be different. The match was back and forth with many lead changes but ultimately was tied with 30 seconds left. Sheib was unable to come away with the win, but still earned himself a second-place title.

The varsity wrestling team competed in the Henry Wittenberg Invitational on Feb. 14-16 at the Frisch School in Paramus, N.J.. The CESJDS team at the tournament consisted of only five players–sophomore Danny Singerman, senior Ari Kittrie, Sheib, junior Theo Rothenberg, and sophomore Adin Kahn–compared to the usual 14 players on a team. This put the Lions at a disadvantage, but the team was still able to win two individual medal places, and seventh overall out of 12 teams. 

The team’s smaller size made it very difficult to do well in the tournament, according to head coach Chuck Woolery. Despite this, he was very pleased with his team’s performance.

“We held our own, we really rocked for having only five guys and placing seventh, I’m just thrilled,” Woolery said. “And all of our guys are young too, so they’ll get to go back, and if we can take more people and more experience we could take that thing.”

The Lions attended the tournament for the first time, competing against other Jewish schools around the country. The tournament took place Friday through Sunday, meaning the team experienced a Shabbat in N.J.. There were two options for team lodging: a player either stayed with a friend or family member who lived near by or in a hotel with the rest of the out-of-town teams. Shabbat consisted of praying, and then time for the athletes to hang out and meet new people.  

“It was actually a really nice experience, because with the hotel, it was kind of like a Shabbaton,” Sheib said. “It was just a bunch of kids and chaperones from the different schools, and we just hung out the whole day.”

The team’s success in the tournament was heavily impacted by performances from Sheib and Rothenberg. Sheib finished second in his weight class, while Rothenberg finished third in the 120-pound weight class. 

Rothenberg won his quarterfinal match but lost his semi-final match sending him to the consolation bracket. There, he won the consolation semis and earned his spot in the third place match. His third-place match was against a player from Frisch that he beat in the quarterfinal round.

“I got my takedown, and then I was trying to break him down, get him flat, and pin him,” Rothenberg said. “I got a cradle in, which is probably the most common way to pin someone. But when I got him in the cradle, I heard him say, ‘not again,’ because I pinned him in the cradle on Friday too.”

With this cradle, Rothenberg was able to win his match, putting him on the podium. Shieb came just short of a first-place victory, but was still happy with his performance. 

“It was a really tough loss, and I felt really upset about it at the time, but I tried to hide it, and now I understand that a silver medal is still really nice,” Sheib said.