To be a successful high school wrestling program, one needs a few ingredients.
It takes a group of student-athletes who don’t mind going beyond the norm in terms of self-sacrifice and training.
It takes a coach who has a solid background in the sport and who knows how to push the right buttons for his team.
And it also takes a complete roster from top to bottom in each weight class to be successful at the highest level.
Apalachee High School certainly has the first two parts of being successful down and, in time, its coach believes the third part of the ingredient will be added.
The Mat Wildcats competed at the area team duals this past weekend and while the overall points were not enough to put the team into the state tournament, Stoudenmire certainly can’t fault the effort of many on the squad.
“Competing will pay off for us down the line,” AHS coach Jim Stoudenmire said. “We need to get everyone healthy and competing at full strength.”
During the area team duals, Blaze Shaw suffered an injury and his coach knew right away it had to be serious.
“Blaze never shows emotion,” Stoudenmire said. “So when I saw him with tears in his eyes, I knew the injury was a rough one.”
Shaw suffered an elbow injury at the tournament. Tony Hoard also suffered a knee injury.
Getting both wrestlers back will be key for the success of the team the remainder of the season.
“Blaze has really been wrestling well,” Stoudenmire said. “He had been at 130, but is now competing at 140 and you can count on him staying in the fight the whole time.”
Austin Sheppard and Aaron Segars are two of the top competitors for the AHS Mat Wildcats. Both are capable of winning each time they step on the mat and both have compiled victory after victory for AHS.
Stoudenmire also points to the efforts of Reaggan Parks as a sign of what it means to be a team player.
“She weighs 90 pounds and 75 of it is heart,” the coach said. “She is always outweighed but she refused to be pinned. That helps save us points during matches. You have to admire what she does each time she competes.”
At the team area duals, Loganville, Rockdale County and Clarke Central were the top three teams.
Since the tournament did not start until Saturday because of weather conditions, Stoudenmire said there would have been some issues since teams cannot wrestle more than five times in a day.
“As it worked out, everyone finished up,” the AHS coach said. “It turned out to be more of an inconvenience than anything.”
Prior to the area team tournament, AHS went 2-1 at Oconee County High School Jan. 5. The Mat Wildcats posted wins against Monticello (43-30) and Salem (55-21).
Aaron Roberts, Trey Dobbs, Ryan Fowler and Shaw each finished 2-1 during action at Oconee County.
