Competing without their star athlete, the wrestling team made progress but lost to Mt. Lebanon in a section meet on Wednesday.

The only wrestler who won his individual match was senior Noah Bartic.

“I was able to pin my opponent in 26 seconds, and it was nice to pull out an individual win,” Bartic said.

Bartic also applauded other individual wrestlers, including sophomores Abdullah Makhoul and Justin Bochter, along with freshman Luke Kjelshus.

“Even though they lost, they wrestled well and showed signs of improvement,” Bartic said.

The Highlanders during this meet were without their standout wrestler, senior Connor Sidoruk, due to illness.

The wrestling team continues its season over winter break with a tournament at West Mifflin on Dec. 28.

“We need to practice hard over break in order to prepare for this tournament,” Bartic said.