'Christmas is family and they are my family': Wooster feeling festive in wins over Lex
WOOSTER — "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey was blaring inside Chris Matthew Natatorium on Thursday night.
With Christmas less than five days away, it felt festive as Wooster hosted Ohio Cardinal Conference rival Lexington in a rare regular-season showdown. In fact, it was the first time since 2017 that the two programs had collided in the regular season.
In the end, Wooster got the gift opening started early with a pair of wins over the Minutemen as the boys won 114-72 and the girls picked up a 130-55 victory.
"Lexington is a really good team," said Generals senior Andrei Dordea.
"They are our big competition for the OCCs," added junior diver Colleen Frantz. "It was nice to see them and to go against them."
Next up for the Generals? Christmas.
"'Wonderful Christmas Time,' by Paul McCartney is my favorite song," said Dordea. "But the team's favorite is Mariah Carey's, 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' which we all scream."
Sophomore Piper Udell chimed in about her Christmas movies.
"My favorite Christmas movie to watch is 'Home Alone,'" she said.
And Frantz talked about her favorite tradition.
"My family and I, we drive around Wooster looking at the different lights on houses."
It's no surprise that all three are looking forward to Christmas as they all played key roles in the Generals win over Lexington.
Frantz posted a six-dive score of 195.05 to win diving and was joined inside the top four by teammates Lila Wright (2nd) and Melia Brown (4th).
"I did pretty good, and my dives felt good, and it was a good meet," said Frantz. "Towards the middle, I started clicking and it was nice to have this, to have some practice as we work towards OCC."
Udell was lights out with wins in the 50 freestyle (:26.09) and 100 freestyle (:58.61) and helped win the 200-medley relay (2:00.16) and 200 freestyle relay (1:45.93). She was excited about her two PRs in her individual events.
"I set some personal records, so that's good," she said.
As for it being a midseason marker, Udell felt the Generals have passed the test.
"I feel like we are better already than we were last year," Udell said. "As for myself, I think I am pretty good, and I am pretty happy with where I am at with my own performance."
Her coach couldn't be happier with her sophomore.
"She is very good, works hard, is very motivated, puts her head down and works and I love her," Chris Matthew said. "Her soccer injury has held her back a little bit, but she is in it and is locked in."
Along with Udell, Matthew gave props to Lauren Hershberger, McKenzie Grimwood, Allessandra Gerber and Ellie Hansen. Hershberger won the 200 free, Grimwood took the 200 IM, Gerber the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, and Hansen picked up the 100 backstroke.
"Grimwood, Gerber and Hansen all are all freshman, Udell and Hershberger have been great, and Hershberger is definitely most improved. She is crushing it," said Matthews. "In the past we have had no one who could swim the fly, back and breast. Now we are solid from the IMs, the breast, the fly, the back and now we are really well rounded. They are a YMCA swimmers, well-rounded and can swim four strokes."
Her boys swimmers are anchored by seniors Luke Boucher, Caleb Kostohryz, Cole Walenciak and Dordea, along with a talented group of underclassmen.
"Our seniors are an amazing group of young men," said Matthews. "They are amazing students, all-around individuals, they lead this team, they are all on the same page and it's amazing."
Dordea helped set the tone with wins by being a key piece in wins in the 200-medley relay (1:41.86) and 200 freestyle relay (1:30.94), and added a second in the 200 free (1:56.21) and 100 butterfly (:56.33).
"I was pretty glad with the 50s, but the 200 right after the 50s, it put me in the blender," said Dordea. "But with all of our training, I am just glad to be swimming the way we are right now."
As for grading his performance:
"I was pretty satisfied with my 50s, would have liked to have gone faster in my other two events, but it's alright. We are training hard."
Dordea was excited for his teammates too.
"I am really happy for my teammates performances," said Dordea. "Cole and Luke, love all those guys and they are a blessing to work with."
Walenciak won the 200 free (1:54.69) and 500 free (5:16.23), and helped win the 400 free relay, Gabe Bosler-Kilmer was the best in the 50 free (:22.44) and 100 free (:50.38) and Boucher won the 200 IM (2:04.57) and 100 butterfly (:55.57).
It all added up to a big win over conference rival Lexington.
"I was super happy with how we did and thankful we have a ton of depth this year," said Dordea. "We have a lot of guys getting better and growing, and I just love being a part of this team for my senior year.
"It definitely set a good tone for what the OCC meet will be like. Lexington will probably by our toughest competition in the conference and we know they also taper like a beast. So, odds are that they will be swimming super-fast times at the meet."
Despite injuries to a pair of key swimmers in Cole Kuzma and Michael Buchholz, Matthew is happy with where her team is.
"They are a force," she said. "This is how you have great teams. We have a great big group of YMCA swimmers; it makes for a great feeder system and it's one that works."
With the win under their belt, the Generals will look towards the holiday season and winter training. It all is part of what Christmas means to Matthew.
"Christmas is family and they are my family," said Matthew said of her teams. "I get to be with these guys and gals every day except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day. We do a lot of fun training, and no one loves training, but they truly come in and do it. They do everything that I ask them to do.
"So we are with family, I love being home, I get to come and swim with them each day and it's an amazing group of kids. It's why I keep coaching and I don't ever want to leave them."
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Swimming: Wooster dominates OCC rival Lexington
