Wildcat Wrestling off to a Strong Start
By Kelly Bledsoe
kellybledsoe@triad.rr.com
With an influx of freshmen into the
program, the South Davidson High School wrestling team is laying down the foundation for years to come under head coach
David House.
The Wildcats have 23 wrestlers on the team, which is up from last season,
and 9 are freshmen. Coach House’s drill-heavy, hands-on approach has helped this year’s team understand the values
of the program.
“I think the thing I keep saying the most is a push for the program,”
House said. “These kids are putting in a lot of work, effort, and we want to refine their skills with how they manage
things, and the ultimate goal for a lot of them is to find themselves in a successful program.”
The Wildcat Wrestling team started the season off with 2 wins last week over Carson and North Stanly. Going
2-0 for the Wildcats were Logan Johnson, Hunter Cockerham, Tristan Hale, Zach Lewis, Gavin Gathings, Jordan Cabrera, and Joseph
Akers. Going 1-1 were Gabby Akers, Seth Johnson, Caleb Skeen, and Aaron Soles. The wrestling team will traveled to Forbush
last weekend to wrestle in the Falcon Duals.
“I thought our guys wrestled really
hard and got after it. We made some mistakes and we are going back to the practice room to clean those up. I am excited for
our team, to come out and get two wins in our first night out with so many new faces. It is exciting for our future. If the
guys will keep working hard and pushing each other we can be pretty good this year,” House added.
Coach House has started calling the gym “The Rack” and he is so thankful for the support shown
last week. He noted, “The Rack was rocking and the kids really fed off of that energy. I hope we can continue to get
more and more fans to pack the Rack every home match. Our vision is to have standing room only one day.”
On Saturday, November 20, the Wildcats traveled Forbush to wrestle in the Falcon Duals. According to Coach
House, “Our young Wildcats took the mat against some of the best in the state. Our Wildcats wrestled the number 3 and
4th ranked 3A teams in the state. St. Stephens the number 3 ranked team beat South 66-9.”
Winning for South was Tristan Hale, Zach Lewis, and Joseph Akers.
Then the
Wildcats took on the 4th ranked 3A team in Ashe County and lost 54-24. Winning for South was Tristan, Zach, Joseph, and Jacob
Gordon.
After wrestling those two teams the Wildcats took on Forbush and beat them
48-35. Winning for the Wildcats was James Cockeram, Zach Lewis, Tristan Hale, Seth Johnson, Caleb Skeen, Carter Cashatt,
Joseph Akers, Jacob Gordon.
The last match was against North Stokes and the Wildcats
beat them 59- 24. Wildcat winners included James Cockeram, Zach Lewis, Tristan Hale, Timmy Porter, Gabby Akers, Seth Johnson,
Caleb Skeen, Aaron Soles, Joseph Akers, and Jacob Gordon. This brings the Wildcats record to 4-2 overall.
