The wrestling season is coming to an end. With the regular season ending, the Hawks have been preparing for the upcoming postseason, which includes more intense tournaments.
Senior Bryn Cespedes says that the postseason is “a lot harder than the regular season because you have to win in order to keep wrestling.” First, she says they have the “UCBACS Championship” which is where athletes can qualify for regionals. Following that, if they place in the top four at regionals, they can go to states, according to the senior.
She says they “warm up together” to prepare for meets, and then everyone does their own thing. Cespedes says she uses her headphones and “jogs back and forth to stay warm” after warmups, and it gets her “focused” before the match.
The senior has been wrestling since sixth grade, and her favorite tournament this year was “War on the Shore” in Ocean City, Maryland. The whole team went to Ocean City, and they all stayed in the same hotel, which she said was a good “bonding experience.”
So far, she says they have been “doing well with what we have.” They have had “a lot of injuries,” she says, and they haven’t been winning a lot. She said they have been trying to the “best of their ability.” Cespedes says they need to work on how hard they work in practice. In wrestling, she says, “you practice how you would wrestle in a match.”
Junior Andrew Coakley says he has been wrestling for six years recreationally and three in high school. The thing he likes most about wrestling, he says, is the “teamwork aspect” and that they all “push each other and support one another.”
Before the meet, Coakley says he likes to “listen to music and get hyped up. The junior says his goal for himself is “to qualify for states with some of my other teammates.” One goal he has for next year is to “qualify for states and get up to fifth place or higher.”
Senior Tommy Blankenship says, “The season is going well, and everyone is locking in.” During the postseason, Blankenship says, “I tend to seek as much extra work as possible” to sharpen his skills and increase his conditioning.
Regionals and States will be competitive, but it’s “just another title for me to gain,” says the senior. He says his goal for himself is to “roll through everyone and win states.”
