The Regionals Tournament started off on Friday, which was, “a long day from cutting weight and the nerves,” said junior Dominic Frankmore. Frankmore was not the only one starting to feel the pressure prior to the tournament.

“I was honestly really nervous prior to the tournament because I knew I had to wrestle a couple of guys that had already beaten me before, and I felt that I was not going to wrestle the way I usually do because I was getting myself nervous,” stated junior Michele Payce.

The tournament went smoothly, with state on the minds of the wrestling team, four members of the team battled to the semi-final constellation putting them one win away from state. Of the four, senior Ryan Carpenter was the only one to move on to be guaranteed a spot in the State Tournament. “When I won that match I was really happy because I knew I had achieved my goal of making it to state, but I also wanted to place first in the Regional Tournament,” said Carpenter.

Although Carpenter was the only one to achieve his goal of going to state, some other members of the team also achieved their goals at the Regionals Tournament. Frankmore set a goal at the beginning of the season to win thirty matches throughout the season. Going into the tournament Frankmore had twenty seven wins under his belt, he achieved his thirtieth win and advanced into the semi-final constellation where he missed out on a state spot by loosing that match by one point.

Through the duration of the long fought Regionals Championship Tournament, Carpenter was crowned Champion of his weight class, and three others were a mere win away from state. More importantly, they learned lessons on how to become better wrestlers. “I just need to get back in that [wrestling] room, and work harder,” stated Payce.

By Sam Weiss