Calhoun wrestlers faced a multitude of opponents
at the 26th Calhoun Invitational Saturday
Coach Mike Stump (right) watches intently
as his team rises toward the winning circle
By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
For the past nine seasons the name at the top of the leader board on the
final day of the Class AA-A state tournament has been Oak Glen.
Most years it has not been close but a few years back Calhoun actually led
the powerful Golden Bears midway through the final round.
The Red Devils'
title hopes came up 19 points short.
But it is the closest anyone has been
to Oak Glen since it began its string of championships.
This year Calhoun may be able to make another honest-to-goodness run at the
Golden Bears.
Saturday Calhoun won its own tournament - the 26th Annual Calhoun
Invitational - by whopping 51 points over second place Clay County.
The Red
Devils had 201 to Clay's 150.
Braxton with 127.5 was third.
 Scheduled wrestlers wait to wrestle at ...
 ... Calhoun High before a large regional crowd
The impressive part of the Red Devils' victory, however, wasn't the margin
of victory but rather the margin of victory considering Calhoun was
wrestling without the starter in one weight class - 119 - and very
inexperienced wrestlers in three others - 152, 160 and 171.
So basically Calhoun was going for the title with veteran wrestlers in only
10 of the 14 weight classes.
Of those 10, nine wrestled for the championship and the other wrestled for
the consolation title.
Calhoun took five individual titles, four seconds and
a third.
That strength and Oak Glen having a bit of a down year (by Oak Glen
standards) is the basis for optimism when it comes time for another shot at
Oak Glen this year.
Calhoun should advance 11 wrestlers to the state tournament. All 11 could
place in the top six.
And many of them should.
One Red Devil - Paul
Goodrich - is the odds-on favorite to win the state title at 189 pounds
while two or three others could win a state title.
If all this happens - and it has to happen on the mat - then Calhoun would
have a reasonable chance of giving Oak Glen a run.
But between now and then the Red Devils have to take care of business.
That
means that everyone has to stay healthy.
It means that everyone has to make
weight.
It means that everyone has to work as hard as they have been
working.
And, most of all, it means they have to shake off accolades like
this as meaningless.
A match has never been won in print.
The Red Devils are at the Williamstown Rumble this coming weekend as they
begin final tune-ups for the Little Kanawha Conference Tournament, where
they are the defending champion, and the Class AA-A Region 4 Tournament,
where they are also the defending champion.
The possibility is there, now its up to the wrestlers.
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