Victory on the mat gives IR wrestling a confidence-booster
At the start of the season, Indian River High School head wrestling coach Jeff Windish was expecting a collection of tournaments to get his roster primed for the team dual season. Despite a shaky start against a well-coached and ready Delmar team at the turn of the year, the Indians seem to have found the intensity they were looking for this past Friday, Jan. 6, as they defeated the Bulldogs of Laurel, 68-9.
Indian River's Phillip Bradford (132 pounds) contends with Laurel's Humberto Hernandez during last Friday's match. The Indians came away with a comfortable 68-9 win.
The hosting Indians came out ready, opening the match with four straight pins from Devontae Mitchell (152 pounds), Max Wilkinson (160 pounds), Matt Selba (170 pounds) and Jake Troublefield (170 pounds).
The Indians followed up nicely, too, as Davontae Waters pulled off a decision win at the heavyweight class before the smaller classes went to work. Rashaun Odom picked up his victory with a technical fall, while Garrett O’Neal, De’Andre Holland and Jalen Griffen finished off the evening with three more pins.
“We definitely came out for this matchup a little more inspired,” noted Windish. “The team had a nice long chat on Thursday,” he said, following the team’s two-point loss to Delmar, “and our coaches really laid it on line that, if the guys want to go anywhere this season, they’d have to start wrestling as a team, and everyone has to do their part.”
There was no shortage of wrestlers pulling their weight against Laurel, though, which is what Windish was hoping the early season tournaments would inspire in them.
“Our guys came out aggressive,” he noted, “and that’s the tempo we want to be bringing to the mat every time we’re out there. It’s that hard-nose wrestling that’s going to win you matches. I think the kids really bought into that during the last few days of practice.”
The Indians will head to Mt. Pleasant High this weekend, where they will try their luck at another tournament before wrestling a challenging season of dual meets through the first week of February. Windish said he hopes to have the performance he saw against Laurel reverberate in the team through the rest of the year.
“I’ve been seeing some really good things from everyone, especially our young kids,” noted Windish. “Everybody is stepping up. Laurel is in a little bit of a down year, but anytime you’re putting up 60 points against a team, there’s something to be said for that.”
Following the Mt. Pleasant tournament, Indian River will have a full week to rest before hosting Lake Forest on Friday, Jan. 20, for Alumni/Teacher Appreciation Night. Later that weekend, they will square off against St. George’s Tech, Delaware Military Academy and Seaford in a quad-meet.
In the meantime, Windish said he is hoping to have his guys rest up and tweak the technical aspect of the game that will help them stay consistent.
“We have a couple of guys who need to nurse some injuries,” he said, “but we want to get back at it for Mt. Pleasant. Hopefully, with this comfortable win, we’ll rebound right when we need to. If things fall our way, we might be able to get some gifts from some other teams and make it into the postseason.”
The key to doing that, though, is entering each match with a confidence.
“When we come out to wrestle,” Windish added, “we have to be there with somewhat of an attitude, a chip on shoulder, and even a little swagger. When you can start a match off with that, other wrestlers on the roster see that, and it trickles down. Once you can get it going from the start, you can get everything rolling together.”
