Competing in a tournament is hard enough, but it becomes even tougher when you do it five men short.

Red Bank Catholic traveled to Holmdel for the 29th Holmdel Christmas Invitational Wrestling Tournament last Friday, and despite being short-handed, walked away with a bronze medal.

John Bannon took his fifth seed into the quarterfinals where he beat Jeff DeCruz, 19-5, before losing in the semifinals by a pin against the soon-to-be tournament champion Anthony Castro (St. John Vianney).

Bannon was awarded the victory in the consolation round when his Rumson-Fair Haven opponent, Greg Redman, gave an injury forfeit.

The Caseys’ only other win in the tournament was from Mike D’Allessandro, who recorded a 3:45 pin in the preliminary round against his wrestler from Manasquan. D’Allessandro then lost his 215-pound quarter-final bout to third-place winner Mike Goff (Monroe).