Wrestling recap: MC takes the country by storm
The Mount Carmel Wrestling Team finished third in state competition this year.
Mount Carmel wrestlers wake before the sun is up and work out for two hours before school. Most of them are wearing hoodies and sweatpants to sweat more and lose the weight that will put them in the right class. Right after school they head back to the Alumni Gym for additional practice, wearing the same layers as in the morning, for at least another hour and a half. They don’t get to eat a lot for lunch or dinner. This goes on for three months, not including those who are involved in club wrestling.
The results of this hard, hard work paid off this year, as Jake Tucker, an MSU commit, took top individual honors for his weight class, at 152 lbs.
In addition, Matthew “Tank” Reyes took second place at 285 lbs., while Yahya Thomas at 126, Jack Mulay at 138, Cameron Lopez at 160, David Riojas at 170, Dru Worker 195, and Leo Ortiz at 220 all finished third in their weight classes. The fifth place finishers were Kendall Coleman at 132 and Johnny Drozd at 182.
Overall as a team, they finished third in the State Championships after a tough loss to Washington and right behind Marion. Team State is when the wrestlers wrestle to score points for their team and try to outscore whichever team they are facing.
In wrestling, a pin is declared happen when both shoulder blades of the wrestler are on the mat for two seconds. While pins are an automatic win, points also can be scored in a variety of ways, including take downs (2 points); reversing a hold (2 points); and escaping a hold (1 point). Takedowns happen you take your opponent down on the mat and control him. Escaping involves getting out of the control that the opponent has over you. Reversing is a combination of escaping and controlling your opponent. It happens when your opponent is controlling you and you escape and take the upper hand of the match.
Most of these wrestlers don’t stop when the season ends. Club wrestling starts right after the final week of high school competition. Club wrestling is something many wrestlers will compete in if they want to wrestle in college.
