Cove wrestling team places in tournament
By SEAN HANEY
Cove Leader-Press
During the past week, Bulldawgs wrestling traveled to Bowie High School to take part in the Capital Classic tournament.
The girls’ team finished in 8th place out of 53 schools and the boys’ team finished 10th out of 53 schools.
Among both their teams, two people stood out, as they both placed 3rd in their bracket. Matt King and Vera Hathaway were those two.
“I’ve been preparing by getting as much mat time as possible. watching old film everything i can to get better,” Matt King said.
When asked how it makes him feel that he placed so high in this tournament King said, “It makes me feel amazing. I’ve been looking forward to this season for a long time and placing in this tourney was a great way to start the season.”
When asked if he had any specific goal set in mind for this season King said, “My biggest goal for the season is to always place top 3 in each tourney make it all the way to regionals. I just trusted the process and listened to coaches and here we are.”
“I think we’ve all been preparing mentally and physically,” Vera Hathaway said. “In every match you have to keep pushing past your limits, but it’s not that your body can’t take it it’s a battle in your own mind saying you can’t do it. I’ve been mentally preparing sooner; I’ve been trying to stop looking at my ranking and other girls ranking so I don’t freak myself out.”
When asked about how she felt about placing in this tournament Hathaway said, “I think placing in general is a big accomplishment, but I also think it’s just a steppingstone of what we’re all capable of.
“My goals are to help these girls on the team and try to get them far, I also want to get myself at least a placing in regions, but that also means I have to work extra hard to gain my muscle and stamina.”
For 5th year coach Ryan Robbins, the feeling is different.
“It feels really good,” Robbins said. “We have a very young team this year, so really my main goal is for them to compete hard and be aggressive early in the season. Matt and Vera are both regional qualifiers from last year, so it is nice to see them pick back up where they left off.”
“I don’t feel like I’m training them any different than other schools in the area,” Robbins commented when asked about if there was a different approach this year versus last year. “We have the athletic period and then we hold practice until 5:45ish. I just try to keep the cardio up and have them constantly moving throughout the practice.
“Thankfully the program has grown and outperformed itself every year. That’s really the goal. To always improve year over year.”