MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four high school wrestling teams, Brooke, No. 4 Buckhannon-Upshur, Preston and host No. 7 University, gathered Saturday morning in the UHS gym in front of their families for the opening match of the 2021 season.
“We certainly didn’t think we would even have a season this year,” Knights coach Bradley Reed said. “And the reality is that we have had very little contact with the kids since last March. It’s been kind of a pause in their progress – no team workouts, no summer practice sessions, no off-season camps. So, we’re trying to play catch-up with conditioning and technique development.
“But when the news came down that we were a go, we thought we had safe protocols in place at Preston, so that as long as we remained diligent and careful, we could do our part and give ourselves the best chance to have a full season.”
Hawks coach Ken Maisel also recognizes the challenges involved with a close-contact sport during a pandemic, but he has an interesting perspective to share as well.
“Of course, each match has two kids locked up in clinches,” he said, “but they are only interacting for a maximum of 10 minutes, not for a couple hours. Of course, we can’t slip up – not once – so we are staying vigilant and careful for ourselves and each other.”
Both Preston and University are relatively young, with three and four seniors, respectively, which always brings a mixture of challenge and excitement for any coach.
“We are pretty inexperienced as a team, so at this point, any mat time is huge,” Reed said. “But we’ve jumped into the year 100% dedicated as a team, and we’re working very hard and have great team chemistry. And I love that we’re starting early against teams that are in our region, because we will have film to look at for later. We want the bar raised every season, and we want to qualify for states. That’s our goal, and we’re ready to go for it.”
As for the Hawks, this opening match also served as Senior Day, and for their coach, seniors Timmy Cargill, Matt Bokos, Will Miller, and Fahad Al-Rawy inspire respect and leadership.
“They’ve all stayed dedicated to the sport and their team despite all the obstacles of the past year,” Maisel said. “Timmy has really stepped into the leadership role, Will has stayed on task every step of the way and I’ve known Matt literally since he was born. And I really respect Fahad for staying engaged with his teammates, even though he may not compete as often as he’d like, because we are so strong in his weight class. Yet he’s here, supporting his team.
“We have the potential to be very good, but time will tell. But no matter how this season goes, I know that we are so happy to be together, happy to compete. We have a poster in our wrestling room that mentions gratitude, and it’s something we stress all the time. There are so many people that don’t have the opportunities we are given every day, and COVID-19 is a real reminder of that fact. I know that we are going to embrace and appreciate every day of this season. We’re fortunate and grateful, and can’t wait to see what we can become.”
RESULTS
UHS 45 , B-U 29
UHS 76, BHS 6
UHS 65, PHS 12
Undefeated: UHS 7 (106 – Trip Ryan; 138 – Dom Parker; 152 – Matt Bakos; 160 – Elijah Wellings-Osha; 170 – Dakota Hagedorn; 182 – Hezekiah Taylor; 285 – Corbin Turney)
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