Bullet Shot: Athlete of the Week
By Michael Boncardo, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Gettysburg Athletics. Sophomore Quinn Merrigan pinned several opponents to the mat in Saturday’s Messiah Open.
Sophomore Quinn Merrigan has been a standout on the Gettysburg men’s wrestling team since his first year with the squad.
Merrigan lead the team in wins as a first-year last season, but shares that his experience as a sophomore has helped him to grow even more as an athlete and individual. “Last year…I don’t think anyone saw me as a leader on the team. I was not very vocal. This year I feel I’ve accepted more of a leadership role. I went from not knowing what to expect to being one of the more experienced kids on the team,” said Merrigan.
This increased role as a mentor has clearly not distracted Merrigan from the sport. He has followed up a breakout first season with an equally impressive sophomore year. Merrigan is 19-5 this season, and has placed at both major tournaments. This is even more impressive considering the sophomore spent most of the first portion of the season recovering from a rib injury.
Merrigan is optimistic about the team’s performance in the late season. Merrigan said, “I want to place at both conferences and regionals and be a national qualifier. As a team we want to wrestle well and have a good showing at conferences and regionals. We have a very young team but we want to make some noise in the postseason and place a bunch of guys at both and have a few nationals qualifiers.”
Merrigan’s dedication, good attitude, and leadership ability have earned him the title of “Bullet of the Week!”
