Early success: Trojan wrestlers showing signs of progress
Published 6:03 pm Wednesday, January 16, 2019
- The Charles Henderson High School wrestling team is two matches into their inaugural season. The Trojans finished their first two tri-matches 1-2. They picked up wins aginst Reeltown and Houston Academy.
The Charles Henderson wrestling team wrapped up their second tri-match of the season on Tuesday night in Enterprise.
The Trojans fell to Enterprise 48-42. They fell to Northview 36-30. They defeated Houston Academy 39-30.
In just their second match of the season, head coach Matt Raiti saw a lot of improvement.
“The improvements from day one to day two has been very impressive,” Raiti said. “It seems like they are really catching on to the sport.”
The Trojans are now two matches into their season. They finished their first tri-match of the season 1-2, with a win over Reeltown.
The Trojans have been practicing for weeks, but nothing can prepare the wrestlers for live wrestling against an opponent. It’s going to take time for the inexperienced Trojans to fully pick up the sport.
“Wrestling isn’t a sport that you pick up and your good at,” Raiti said. “It’s rare to have that. When I say rare, I mean really rare. You have to be a strong heavy weight to be able to do that.”
So far this season sophomore Jaquan Pollard sits at 5-1. In the five wins, four of them have been by pin.
“He is pretty tough,” Raiti said. “He is a first-year guy.”
It’s going time for the Trojans to build up enough experience. But in addition to time, the Trojans are going to have to learn the ins and outs of wrestling and all that comes with competing in the sport.
“There are so many moves to learn,” Raiti said. “There are so many different angles when looking at things. It just takes years to grasp all the concepts when teaching the basics. You start from the beginning and work your way up to the more difficult moves.”
Raiti has experience with the sport of wrestling. He competed for 10 years and wrestled in high school in Pennsylvania.
Apart from winning as many matches as they can, the Trojans hope to be competitive throughout the rest of the regular season.
“I want them to be as competitive as they can possibly be,” Raiti said. “I know they are going to wrestle kids that have been wrestling for five, six seven or eight years. They are rally at a disadvantage in that aspect. If they just continue to do what they are supposed to do and continue to work hard in the wrestling room, then we will continue to get better. Day one to day two, I’m excited I’m so proud of these kids.”
The Trojans will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Smiths Station.