by Traequan Christian
Two varsity wrestlers secured spots in the VA AAA State Tournament.
Seniors Daniel Dodd (152) and Tyler Church (145) both advanced to the state championships. Senior Jahleel Athey (182) and junior Jemel Mealy (160) placed in the top six at regionals.
“Daniel and Tyler have been the perfect combination to lead the young wrestling team through the season,” Coach Curtis Johnson said.
The Blue Devil wrestlers (27-9) scored over 150 individual wins this season.
The team made it past the district tournament and finished the regional tournament. Every wrestling team makes it to districts, but only the top four wrestlers in each weight class make it to regionals.
“We were supposed to be the underdogs, but we ended up defeating more opponents than we expected,” Jahleel said.
The team practiced daily to make sure that they wrestled at their full potential. Every practice included running, warm-ups, drills and live wrestling to help prepare for matches. Players also prepared for matches by eating right and making sure that they maintained weight.
Junior Lorenzo Taylor (Heavy Weight) said, “I try to work out with people that are better than I am so that I can build up my status.”
“We are really tough as a team, and we don’t give up during matches,” Tyler said.
The team lost a lot of seniors from the past season, which made room for freshmen to step up to the varsity team.
“So far they have been some of the best underclassmen that I’ve coached in four years,” said Coach Johnson, who has been coaching for over seven years. “Even though we have a lot of freshmen, they have worked hard to make the varsity team look good. The freshmen have also helped increase the size of the team so the team does not have to forfeit points for not having enough players.”
Team manager and junior Katie Norman said the freshman have exceeded expectations.
“The freshmen have been doing well, especially with the pressure of being on the varsity team,” Katie said.
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