Last weekend, the Black Knights’ wrestling season kicked off with a competitive opener at Charlottesville High School. The team had a solid first meet which ended in a 3-3-0 record.
The coaches got to see a new season begin, and with that comes achievements and challenges. Mr. Wilkerson, the head coach for 9 years, explained that “there was a synergy between our veterans and our beginners and our coaching staff,” and this mix of experience blossomed into a “phenomenal warmup and the kids wrestled great.”
When asked about some strategies that performed well, Wilkerson shared “Strategy is always to be in better shape than our opponents and to attack more than they do of course.”
A big part of wrestling is stamina and effort. “There’s a clear line between the effort you put in, the time you put in, and the total commitment that leads to success,” said Wilkerson. “And in this case I think we got the best effort from every kid.”
Wilkerson continued to break down the point of attack “That worked out great ’cause if you attack the whole time and you’re in great shape then they either can’t withstand it, or they can.”
Every wrestler on the team has access to HUDL, a site where athletes can post highlights, and the coaches encourage them to watch their own clips as well as other fighters. “You can learn so much from watching your own mistakes. I figure you either win or you learn something,” Wilkerson said.
Throughout the day, every single wrestler got better and improved their game. Some standout wrestlers were Roman Calvani (5-0), Adriel Pena (5-0), and Walter Pilkey-Chavez (5-0). Some of these grapplers boasted these impressive records even while fighting up a weight class.
But with the wins and success, there were still certain to be some challenges. Mr. Wilkerson explained that, “Leadership is an area that I would like to see us work on.” He continued with, “It’s easy to do the right thing for yourself and to set the tone, but I want it [to be] a little more vocal.” He explained that the impact of one 17-year-old telling another 17-year–old something, “It’s more powerful than anything I can do.”
Wilkerson discussed the importance of experience in wrestling when he said, “The coin of the realm is experience and if someone is just getting started in the sport, invariably they’re gonna run into someone that has exponentially more experience.” This challenge is what the coaches focus on the most in practice. Experience serves as the best tool in wrestling.
When asked about the future of wrestling here at CHS this year he answered, “I think we know who we are now. So conditioning is excellent. We’ll continue to maintain that,” furthering his point that stamina is key. He continued, “It needs to be second nature and that’s, that’s a lifelong pursuit, but certainly a season-long pursuit as well.”
As the wrestling season progresses so will the experience and skill of the team. “We appear to have a handful of kids who are really willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.”
I look forward to checking in with the team throughout the season, and I encourage you to as well.
