Marini Eager to Lead Lions Wrestling to New Heights

After winning 29 matches his junior year and earning a trip to the Region 7 wrestling tournament, Mike Marini has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches at Cherry Hill West.

Now, he wants to carry the program to a place it has never been: The playoffs.

Marini returns for his senior season looking for personal and team achievement. He said the desire to reach the playoff as a team has driven him throughout the offseason.

“It’s so important,” Marini said. “It’s been the goal and the whole talk over the summer. We talked about the power points and how we can adjust our schedule to get more points so we can get into the playoff spot. It’s a huge deal, not just for me, but for everyone in this program.”

Marini wrestled at 145 pounds last year, placing third at districts. He ran into some tough luck at regionals and wilted a bit after a few calls went against him. Marini said he learned from that experience has worked to build a never-say-die attitude that will carry him through any future adversity.

“I learned that I need to be able to be a little more resilient,” Marini said. “Last year in my region matches, some calls were a little messed up, but I learned I need to be a lot more resilient, and this year I will take that and go with it.”

Step one in this process was locating any mistakes he was making in past matches and working to correct them.

“I’ve been watching tape to see what I have been doing wrong, then going into the room and working on it for hours,” Marini said. “I really think that’s resilient, just showing that I am going to keep working to get better.”

Like other top wrestlers, Marini has developed a needed mix of strength and endurance. His move set is diverse enough to keep challengers on their toes throughout a three-period match, but he also has the right amount of aggressiveness to end matches early. His focus entering his senior season wasn’t on one particular area of style, but rather sharpening up everything.

”I think I have improved throughout every single part of my wrestling game,” he said. “That’s a credit to my teammates who have been working hard with me through the offseason and my coach (Zack Semar) who taught me every single thing I need to know from neutral, top and bottom.”

Marini enters the season as one of the Olympic Conference’s top middleweights. He understands there are expectations for him to collect six points just about every time he touches the mat, and he embraces the pressure. Marini has set big goals for himself and his teammates and is eager to get started on them.

“I was one win away from the big 30, so I want to get that. My goal is 95 wins for my career and to make it to states this year and be the first person to make it to states under my coach.”