Three-peat! Cardinal Newman wrestling extends its SCISA championship streak
Cole McCarter got a little emotional thinking about how far the Cardinal Newman wrestling program has come since he took over in 2018.
McCarter, a Cardinal Newman alum and the school’s all-time leader in wins, endured some early struggles with four straight semifinal losses while rebuilding the program.
But the Cardinals have become a juggernaut and captured their third straight SCISA wrestling championship at home with a 54-22 win over Ben Lippen on Wednesday.
“We have been through it,” McCarter said. “But all glory to God because there were times I wanted to quit. But also, credit our administration for just to a total belief and buy-in from everyone from principal to athletic director to teacher and staff. There is a really big emphasis on culture here and it makes it easier.
“... Today was a little bit of up and down, but these guys just love to wrestle. It is one of those things that is hard to find and rare. They are all in on wrestling and want to be a part of this program. It makes it easy as coaches to keep kids locked in.”
It was the second straight year the two teams have met in the championship. The two programs have combined for the last six state championships with Ben Lippen winning three straight from 2021-23.
It also was the second time the two teams faced each other. Cardinal Newman won, 64-18, earlier this season on Jan. 14, but got a much tougher run — especially early on — in the rematch.
Ben Lippen won the first two matches with pinfall victories by Preston White (126) and Zikiem Angeles (132) to lead 12-0.
The Falcons led 23-12 before the Cardinals were able to take control of the match. Newman’s Luke Gjoklaj (175) won by pin over Thomas Yarborough. Then, Ethan Ash’s comeback win at 190 pounds gave the Cardinals and fans the boost it needed. Ash trailed before rallying to pin BL’s Jackson Flynn to put Cardinal Newman up 25-23.
Flynn defeated Ash in 45 seconds earlier this year.
“I just wanted to go out there and win it for my team,” Ash said. “If you really want anything enough, you can get it if you try hard enough.”
McCarter said Ash’s effort was typical of athletes he coaches and was definitely the turning point in the match.
“Ethan has just been a worker and no one deserves it more than he does,” the Cardinal Newman coach said. “He had some ups and downs this year and just wrestled that guy a couple weeks ago and got beat. But we had full belief in him. That was a massive momentum swing for us.”
The Cardinals won the final five matches and clinched the title on LJ Murphy’s win by decision with two matches to go..
Other CN winners were Ken Clark (215), Sami Touma (285), Carter Lirgg (113) and Eli Lorang (120), Triston Johnson (138), Cooper Smythe (144), Shayne Ross (150).
Other BL winners were Stone Porter (157) and Will Fitts (165).
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 9:44 PM.
