With the regular season ending on Jan. 31, the wrestling team has been avidly preparing for the postseason, which is when many athletes begin to excel and advance deep into the tournaments.
On Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17, the team took part in the UCBAC Championships, according to countysports.zone. Regionals will be taking place the last weekend of February, says junior Bryn Cespedes. She added that the state wrestling competition will take place on March 4-6, at a “show place area in Middletown.”
Reflecting on the season, junior Ian Lewis feels that he “did good in meets this year” finishing with a “20-10” record. Lewis stated he thinks he will qualify for the regional tournament. The junior set an expectation for himself to place “at least third at counties.” If Lewis is to make it to the regional and state competitions, it will be his first time. From the whole season, his favorite meet “was Havre de Grace.”
Cespedes expressed that she has “done well this season” as “wrestling boys is definitely tough, because they are stronger than [her], but [she has] improved a lot since the start of the season.” The junior added that during her past two years of post-season wrestling, she has “done well.” She already knows who she is set to compete against which is helpful as well. “States is going to be a challenge, but it is always a good experience,” Cespedes added.
She has hopes to make it back to the state finals this year. Reflecting on the season, Cespedes’ favorite meet was “senior night against Edgewood” because the “teams energy was at an all time high” and everyone was “having lots of fun.” At the beginning of the season, Cespedes set a goal for herself to make the varsity team; she accomplished this goal “and wrestled the whole season on varsity.” During her freshman year, Cepedes got second in the region and second at states. Last year, during her sophomore season, she took first in the region and third at states.
Senior Mason Raab feels that he has “done pretty good over the season,” while he is “not sure how [he] will do at regionals and states yet.” Raab has traveled to regionals in the past, but has not been to the State competition yet. He shared a favorite meet with Cespedes, being the Edgewood senior night meet.
In the UCBAC Championships the wrestlers performed well. Lewis placed 5th and scored 13.0 points. Junior Tommy Blankenship took 2nd, scoring 21.0 points. Fellow junior, Caleb Kerr placed 6th, adding 12.0 points. Junior Holden Young took 2nd as well, scoring 22.0 points, while Raab placed 4th scoring 20.0 points.
Three hawks took first in their respective weight classes. Senior Clay Lawrence took first scoring 26.0 points, as did junior Jordan Lawson and Cespedes.
