Wrestling team prepares for another successful year
Tyree Dabney
– Sports Writer –
The Magic wrestling team is gearing up for what they hope will be another successful run at the championship this season. The wrestlers are getting ready for round 2 and ready to pin any opponents that step on the mat. They are working to defeat competition every day of the week in order to come out victorious every meet.
Last season, the Magic program placed 13th at nationals, and some wrestlers won individual awards. “The program prepared to wrestle their best that they could give, and we will have a successful year,” said Deron Winn, Meramec Magic wrestler.
Coming back are two athletes that Coach Miriktani described as hard to replace: T.T. Prayther (125 pounds) and Wimm (184 pounds), both returning national champion athletes. Prayther finished the season last year 13-6 and was also named All-American as a freshman.
This year, the hopes are even higher. Prayther said, “I felt like I wasn’t at my best last year, and I knew I could’ve done much better. That’s why, this year, I will train harder.”
The other returning champion, Winn, finished 17-1 in the 2007-2008 season is coming back from a redshirt season.
Winn’s taste of the top level in college wrestling offers this warning to new recruits: “High school wrestling is way different from college. The dudes here are bigger, faster and stronger than the dudes they faced in high school.”
When asked who he felt would be the Magic’s greatest challenge, he responded, “There are many greats that we would face this year, but the one I know would be Iowa Central College. They have many great competitors.”
The Magic should not be undersold, however. Active recruiting and a strong reputation seem to provide the necessary fuel for incoming wrestlers to up their game, and for last year’s stars to strive to continually improve. Hopefully this round will be as successful as the last.
