The difficulties are real, and so is the potential. Cathedral High School wrestling has faced adversity in the 2025-2026 season. While it’s not an easy situation, it’s one Sean McGinley said the Irish will handle. This is a proud, tradition-rich program with a chance for a strong postseason. “We’re fighting,” McGinley said. The Irish in McGinley’s 26th season as head coach remain a strong, contending program with multiple wrestlers capable of deep postseason runs. One season after finishing 31st in the 2025 Indiana High School Athletic Association state tournament, the Irish return four state-qualifying wrestlers in 2025-2026. “It's a likable group,” McGinley said. It’s a strong group, too, with the Irish ranked No. 4 in Class 4A in the state of Indiana by Indiana Mat through December 20, with multiple wrestlers ranked in the Top 20 individually by Indiana Mat. The Irish won early-season team championships at the prestigious Super Six and the Coldwater Invitational. They also won the City Championship on December 20. “We’re really strong down [in the] low [weight classes],” McGinley said. “We have a little mixture of both. This is a big senior class. Some of them are first time seeing varsity and they’re nipping at the bit. We come out of the gate pretty strong.” The Irish, after persevering through multiple injuries in 2024-2025, sustained a slew of on- and off-mat injuries shortly before and shortly after the start of the 2025-2026 season. “Going into the year, we knew we could be pretty solid,” McGinley said. “As bad as last year was in terms of injuries we started this year probably worse. We’re piecing things together. We’ve had a couple of surprises come out.” The Irish in 2025-2026 will be led by: *Sophomore Ethan Bayliss, 106 pounds. No. 10 state, No. 2 semi state Indiana Mat as of December 20. “He’s really looked like he has turned the corner,” McGinley said. *Sophomore Tate St. Laurent, 113 pounds. No. 5 state, No. 1 semi state and a state qualifier at 106 pounds as a freshman. “We look to put him on the podium,” McGinley said. *Freshman Jeremy Carver, 120 pounds. No. 4 state, No. 2 semi state. *Sophomore Jackson Lavin, 126 pounds. No. 13. *Senior Cullen Crowley, 138 pounds. No. 4 semi state and a state qualifier at 132 pounds as a junior. *Senior Brian Thomas, 144 pounds, No. 8 semi state. *Freshman Beau Heniser, 150 pounds, No. 8 semi state. *Junor Caden Rodgers, 150 pounds. No. 4 semi state. *Senior Tyler Lavin, 157 pounds. No. 7 state, No. 1 semi state. *Senior James Grimme, 165 pounds, No. 21 state, No. 4 semi state. *Senior Kyle Harden, 190 pounds. No. 2 state, No. 2 semi state and a three-time state qualifier – 170 pounds as a freshman (sixth), 175 pounds as a sophomore (seventh) and 190 as a junior (third). “We've been saying his name for a long time,” McGinley said. “It’s his senior year and we’re looking for big things for him. He's really battled injuries throughout his whole career and if he can stay healthy, we like where he's at. He's working really hard.” Four front-line varsity wrestlers sustained substantial early-season injuries that could be long-term, a group that included Rodgers, Crowley, transfer Jacob Gardner and senior Jimmy Pappas – a running back in football who sustained an injury in the Irish’s season-ending postseason loss to New Palestine. “We’re not sure when we're going to get those guys back if we ever get them all back,” McGinley said. “We are getting some of them back. If we get them all back in the right spot, we’ll be all right.” McGinley said the 2025-2026 Irish “definitely will be a full committee, a full team effort.” “Like it always is, but even more so with so many injuries,” he said. “We have guys wrestling different weight classes that they probably have no business wrestling, but they're doing it because that's just what's needed because of the team.” McGinley said seniors such as Gardner, Geno Duncan and Thomas also should contribute. “You're always hoping for a few surprises and we've had a couple kids that came back, who started wrestling maybe as a freshman and then gave it up,” McGinley said. “We have a couple of those kids come back and they’ve made some impact. “We have some new guys and then we have some old guys who are new, too, who are ready to go. If we can get some of the guys who are injured back, we’ll be pretty strong.”