Senior Spotlight: Vernon Hills Cougars Wrestler Kevin Halley

Halley talks about younger wrestlers stepping up for the Cougars and preparing for a career in the automotive industry.

Vernon Hills senior wrestler Kevin Halley has had plenty to be pleased with down the stretch of his final varsity season of high school wrestling. I spoke with him after an individual win in a dual with Highland Park on Thursday, Jan. 19.

CSL Varsity @CSL_Varsity

Vernon Hills’ Kevin Halley defeats Highland Park’s Jacques Munkhjargal 8-4 in a thrilling match, but HP wins a tiebreaker in a 33-33 dual. So many tiebreaker situations involved, refs had to bring out rulebook. CSL Tournament is this Saturday at Evanston. I’ll be in attendance.

(This interview has been edited for relevancy and clarity.)

CSLV: What’s a win like this before the conference tournament like? 

KH: “There’s no better feeling than winning honestly. It’s the reason I wrestle. The feeling of winning really was amazing.  I was nervous going into it because  knew I needed it for seeding Saturday.”

CSLV: How has the season gone for you overall?

KH: “We didn’t have too many returning guys. But all of our underclassmen that have stepped up have stepped up huge. They’re wrestling phenomenally and all of our older guys are having great seasons, not giving up pins when they have to and going out and getting extra points when we needed them.”