Searcy (LP) On January fifteenth, Searcy Wrestling hosted the annual Duals Tournament and left with another victory under their belt. The air inside in the gymnasium where the matches were held was filled with excitement and anticipation as the audience rooted for their wrestlers. Searcy won first place in the Duals against 8 other teams making their official record so far 19-2. But not only did they do well as a team, many of the wrestlers succeeded in accomplishing their own personal goals and further improving their own individual records.
Cullin Fitzpatrick, a Junior wrestler on the varsity team, talks about how the wrestlers prepared for their matches. “We practice almost every day, and I just try to prepare myself mentally before I wrestle.” A usual wrestling practice for the team will include practicing their technique, live wrestling, and lots of conditioning. The wrestlers practice almost every day they don’t have matches, resulting in why the wrestling team is doing so well this year. When asked how he prepares for the match, Fitzpatrick simply replied, “Making weight.” But making weight isn’t as easy as it sounds. Each wrestler must be either exactly at the weight for their weight class or under it. If a wrestler is over his weight class he is disqualified and not allowed to wrestle for that match. Strategies of losing weight include, running, dieting, sweating out the weight, or even spitting just to lose that one ounce. Fortunately all the Searcy High wrestlers were at weight for the Duals. After asking how he felt the team did at the Duals, Fitzpatrick said, “Amazing, we placed first for the tournament and we just really pulled together as a team, and that really reflected over this weekend.”
The Searcy High wrestlers are now gearing up for the Conference Tournament and eventually the Arkansas State Wrestling Tournament in late February. When asked how the team will prepare for the State Tournament, Fitzpatrick said, “We’re going to practice as hard as we can and finish out the season strong.” The Searcy High wrestlers did outstanding work in the Searcy Duals Tournament and its obvious they’ll do great in the upcoming matches and tournaments.
