Wrestling team falls in Sweet 16 round
photo by Karson Cuozzo
senior Jacob Maldonado is throwing his opponent. He went on to win his match. The team won this dual against Windermere.
On Thursday, Jan. 14 the boys varsity wrestling team came out strong aganist Windermere with a 67-12 win, and nearly all wrestlers won their matches. Which advanced them into the championship round against Timber Creek. The team fell short against Timber Creek and suffered a 45-30 loss. They got knocked out of the tournament in the Sweet 16 round and will not be attending 3A-1 State duals.
The wrestlers have been preparing all season for this tournament. It is an important tournament that determines whether they move onto the State Dual tournament as a team or not. Last year the team made it, but lost in the first round to Fleming Island.
Many have been doing extra workouts to build up their stamina outside of wrestling practices which are held everyday. “I prepared for the regional dual by going to daily wrestling practices and crossfit after school everyday,” said sophomore Kamdon Harrison.
They have also been perfecting their technique and drilling non-stop this past week. Practice this week consisted of wrestling live which are 6 minute matches. Running several laps around the campus. They do a lot of running, and live wrestling because it helps them build stamina and motivation. Wrestling back to back for 6 minutes can become very tiring and it is important that you can wrestle hard for all 3 periods, each period is 2 minutes. Some wrestlers have even been watching films to prepare themselves for the upcoming competition.
“I have been reviewing some of my old films against Timber Creek and Windermere to study their moves and help me prepare,” said junior David Mejia.
Even though the outcome did not favor Hagerty’s way they still have more tournaments to look forward to and prepare for. The next tournament is at Celebration High School, on Saturday, Jan 16.
“I think that our team mostly just needs to work on technique. We have quite a few first year wrestlers on the team so teaching them the proper technique is very important,” said Harrison.
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