As the wrestling season is getting underway, the Patriots participated in their first tournament of the year at Aberdeen High School.

The tournament was mostly out of county teams, but Springbrook was present from Montgomery County. Juniors Eric Liau and Jason Liau went undefeated at the tournament. Senior Henry Woolley went 4-4, senior Benham Sari went 3-2, but had to leave the tournament early due to a migraine. Senior Charlie Cornfield also went undefeated. Senior Ben Bloch was at the tournament, but his weight was reported incorrectly so all of his matches became exhibition matches. Jason Liau said, “It was a good start to our season and it was a good workout in preparation for our long season.”

During the tournament Eric Liau wrestled in the 120 weight class, Jason Liau wrestled for the 126 weight class, Wolley wrestled in the 160 slot, Cornfield in the 180 slot and Sari was representing the Patriots in the heavyweight class. These will most likely be the weight classes these wrestlers will be in during the season. Cornfield said, “I’m excited for the season to start and for matches to finally get underway.

Despite not having any scrimmages or games yet, the Patriots are not taking any time off and are practicing harder than ever. They start most practices off with runs to places like the Shell gas station, a little over a mile away. If they are not doing a team run, they do a metcon, combination of workouts done in a certain amount of time. These workouts are done in rounds and can include push-ups, sprints, sit-ups and other exercises.

After this the team moves into drilling. They practice previously learned skills and use drills to help reinforce technique and correct moves. After drilling it is common to learn new techniques. After all of this the team spends the rest of practice going live against other teammates. The wrestlers match up with someone close to them in weight and try to not only apply moves they have just learned, but other moves in their repertoire. Bloch said, “The practices can be long and hard, but they are getting us in shape for our matches. The conditioning and drills can give us an edge over our opponents.”