The HC Wrestling season is in full swing, and the boys and girls are training hard and often to continue a strong season. The squad usually plays twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and practices on the remaining days of the week. Practices are joint between both teams, and usually feature conditioning, technique work, and strategy for their upcoming meets. The boys’ team currently sits with a record of 13-4, with the girls’ team continuing to improve as well in their second year of competing. HC staff member and wrestling coach Andy Critchfield goes into further detail on the ins and outs of the team, detailing some of his favorite memories as coach.
The boys’ and girls’ teams participate differently, with each team having separate schedules and games.
“[The teams] compete on most Wednesdays during the week,” Critchfield said, “and then pretty much every Saturday. There’s different types of matches; we have dual matches, and there’s 14 weight classes and we just pair up each weight class and whoever scores the most points within that wins the dual.”
There are also other types of matches such as tournaments which feature more than two teams competing.
“Other big events are like invitationals,” Critchfield said, “where we might be 16 different teams. Each of my wrestlers in a weight class competes with other kids in a weight class in a bracket and you earn points, kind of like a track meet.
The team needs lots of practice to perform well, working on technique and other forms of practices while they train.
“Wrestling is a lot about drills and technique,” Critchfield said, “from different positions, so half the battle is just the conditioning factor of drilling, and learning the moves is really a lot of it.”
Critchfield has been with the HC Wrestling team for 20 years now, and has a variety of wonderful coaching moments.
“It’s hard to pick just one,” Critchfield said. “Years ago, in 2013, we beat Woodford County for the first time in history. They’ve been a state powerhouse and that was a big win for us. Having individuals going on to win the state title in their weight class has also always been a very high mark to achieve.”
The HC team is competing this weekend at the State Dual Championships at the Corbin Arena, and look to continue with a promising season.
