The Cumberland County High School Jets have been hunkered down lately in the wrestling room at the school.
Coach Brad Eich and the Jets have been trying to fine tune the little details of each wrestler’s game.
CCHS, just like every other team in the state, is getting ready to participate in the District Duals Wrestling Championship, Jan. 14-16. Tuesday’s matches are set for Stone Memorial High School, while Thursday’s competition will be at York Institute in Jamestown.
“Our team numbers are down this year,” said Eich. “Because of this, we are having to focus more on individual wrestlers’ results instead of team scores.”
The four teams competing at SMHS will be Cumberland County, Stone, White County and Upperman. Thursday’s matches will include York, Livingston, Stone and CCHS.
A duals competition is a head-to-head team competition which two teams from the district will advance to the region duals on Jan. 21 at Alcoa.
“There are no individual honors; however, the individual matches will help with seeding criteria for the individual region tournament later on this season,” Eich said.
Despite smaller roster numbers, Eich said he’s been pleased with the progress he’s seen from his wrestlers.
“Our strength,” said Eich, “is the work ethic of our wrestlers. Our weakness as a team is our lack of wrestlers to fill every weight class.”
Eich said the blue and gold have come on strong as of late and would not be surprised to see several of his grapplers make some noise in the district.
“JJ Voss, Benjamin Hulburt, Matthew Patton and Gavin Kerley have been putting some of their best matches together lately,” Eich said. “We do have a few more that are working their way back from some sickness and injury that I am excited to see once our individual season truly gets underway.”
Eich labeled success in the district duals to be highlighted by more than just wins and losses.
“Our success will always be measured by our wrestlers’ effort and improvement,” the coach said. “As long as we improve each time we touch the mat, we are having success.”
After this week, Cumberland County will be focusing its efforts on the individual region tournament scheduled to be held later this month.