Historically, West Forsyth has been dominant on the mat, this season being no different. Varsity wrestling finished the regular season with an undefeated record of 20-0 overall going 7-0 in the conference to win the Central Piedmont Conference (CPC) Championship once again. As with many success stories, however, the team’s accomplishments did not come without struggle.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity with injuries and COVID, and had some big tournaments canceled. Despite that, we’ve had a good season and continue putting in work everyday,” coach Jason Hooker said.
Even with the challenges that the team has faced, they still found a way to prevail.
“It’s difficult coming back from anything in general, but we’ve all been doing our part and everyone’s been contributing. we’ve taken it match by match and have always been ready to roll,” junior Ziggy Malave said.
Malave has been a key piece of wrestling’s dominance on the mat this season, being one of the most talented wrestlers in the 182 weight class with a record of 30-5.
“Ziggy’s really put in some good work, he’s been going out there and getting it done on the mat. All our guys have done their part, but Ziggy’s definitely been an important piece,” Hooker said.
The postseason state duals became the focus of the wrestling team as they looked to continue their regular season success.
“We’re hoping to get through state duals then to individual regionals and states. We have to keep working everyday and be ready for any challenge,” Hooker said.
While the team has made it to this stage before, it’s importance was not lost on the wrestlers- especially the seniors.
“I’ve got a point to make and want to go out with a bang,” senior David Eldridge said.
Eldridge is the team’s wrestler in the 285 weight class and has a record of 28-4.
While the main goal of the postseason is to win matches, it serves another purpose as well; it is an opportunity for potential to grow in younger wrestlers which keeps the program in good shape moving forward as it helps coaches plug the holes left by graduating seniors the following season.
“The young guys are working hard and we are seeing growth. Overall we are building character and integrity, we’ll see where we are in a few years,” Hooker said.
Wrestling saw the whole team go to the regional meet as individuals, and had two state tournament qualifiers, junior Aidan Meagher and senior David Eldridge. Meagher finished 2nd in the region and 4th in the state in the 195 weight class, and Eldridge finished 2nd in the region and 5th in the state in the 285 weight class. The team also had 10 wrestlers earn All-Conference honors: freshman Clayden Glass, sophomore Parker Broadus, junior Damian Cisneros, junior Aidan Meagher, senior Lamont Monroe, senior Landon Hairston, junior Ziggy Malave, senior David Eldridge, senior Denizhan Kilic, and senior Emmanuel Jarquin. On top of All-Conference, Jarquin was also selected to team NC to wrestle against team SC.