WGHS Wrestling “Pins” the Competition

Walnut Grove Wrestling tells us the before and after of the Walton County Duals being held on Wednesday, December 6th at WGHS. 
by Dylan Calvo, Ane'J Beers, and Brooklyn Hayes

The Walton County Duals is a very beneficial and motivating event for both the students and the schools that participate in it. With our Walnut Grove athletes anticipating their upcoming success, Christian Middleton (12) filled us in with his high hopes, “We will do our best and hopefully come first. We will have a really big team at the meet so the goal is to come first but who knows. We're just gonna go out there and show out.” Thomas Butler (11) also exclaimed his enthusiasm for the team, “We’re gonna win obviously because we are the best.”
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As the team wishes to carry out these goals, they’ve spent the last few days prepping to make sure they are at their 100% potential when they step on the mat. “Working hard as usual. Going over basics and looking at all mistakes from previous weeks and just working on stuff to better ourselves for the next upcoming weeks,” Ezekiel Adams (11) shares with us the team's plan to better themselves. Christian Middleton (12) shares his input on what he believes the team should be doing before the meet, “Getting in shape is number one. That's probably our team's biggest problem, we're all actually kind of out of shape. Make sure we rest up and that everyone is doing their part on the line-up.”  

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While a big part of wrestling is having the support and enthusiasm of your teammates, once you get on the mat it is solely a single-player sport. Brandy Rangel Mendoza (12) shares with us how he gets ready for when he is alone on the mat waiting to wrestle, “Just do all of the running you want but it's really about the mental aspect and just preparing yourself mentally hours and minutes before the match. You always picture yourself winning at the end of the day.” 
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After the big event, the athletes had very mixed emotions on the outcome. “Overall we did good, we don't do bad, but we could have done better. We had some weak spots and some strong spots on the team, but I think most of our guys went up there and put up a fight. Even though we did not get first place we fought hard and we will go back to claim our title in January,” Ezekiel Addams (11) states. Thomas Butler (11) adds, “We did pretty good, the same thing happens every year, the same placements.”

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While the athletes can review over the team performance, they also took a moment to self reflect. “Individually I hold myself to a higher standard. I know I could have performed better than I did. I overall could have done better,” Brandy Rangel Mendoza (12) declares. “As an Individual I did great, it is what it is,” Christian Middleton (12) discloses.

After this self-reflection, Brandy Rangel Mendoza expresses what the team should work on before the next challenging match in January, “We need to improve on first getting our weights down because a lot of the guys are not at the right weights. We need to stop giving up forfeits and work on our lungs and mentality.” Ezekiel Addams (11) added to this, “Narrow down on social circles because they are known for wrestling and just keep getting better.” 

The athletes ended our conversation by telling us what they believe their team succeeds in. “We were unified,” Christian Middleton (12) states. “Bringing it in together because it got a little weird vs Monroe and we won,” Brandy Rangel Mendoza (12) affirms. While Thomas Butler (11) adds to this, “Getting Second.” His answer was much more simplified showing his optimism for the team, or as some may say, family. 
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Overall, we couldn’t be more proud of our Walnut Grove Wrestlers. Make sure to come support Walnut Grove Wrestling in January to see them “pin” the sectionals.

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