The Corry Beavers wrestling team beat the Northwestern Wildcats 54-9 Wednesday, February 2, under a spotlight in the old gymnasium here at the high school. Because they beat the Wildcats, they are able to continue on with their season at the Team Tournament in Sharon Saturday, February 5. Counting the Beavers, there will be eight teams present, and many good matches.

On Wednesday, there were countless “nail-biting” matches, as many fans would agree. Each match the crowd grew louder and more engaged on what was happening on the mat. Though the score may have made it look like the Beavers breezed through Northwestern, each match was hard-earned and sheer determination was ignited within each wrestler. Head Coach Travis Proper even said going into the match that, “I thought our chances of winning were high going into the match last night. I knew there would be several great individual bouts.”

So many of the wrestlers evidently gave it their all on the mat and were awarded with an individual victory, as well as pushing the Beavers’ ahead of the Wildcats with a devastating lead.

New aggression, quickness, and precision was seen Wednesday night. And to that, Coach Proper said that in regards to takeaways from Wednesday, “It was nice to see all but one match go in our favor. The kids are wrestling better now than they have all season. They have put in a lot of work and dedication in the practice room. We are learning how to manage and win those close matches.”

Senior Hunter Savitz wrestled Wednesday night and pinned his opponent. When asked about the fluidity of his pin, he responded with “Our coach said he wanted us to get on the mat, then get back off. So that’s what I was trying to do.” He was rewarded the pin with an important 6 points for the Beavers early on in the match. He noted how he also feels like he has been, “wrestling my best that I ever had” this season.

Savitz was also asked that as one of the captains of the wrestling team, how does it feel to lead the others into this Saturday’s crucial tourament? He said, “It feels good. I feel like we could do very good.”

In relation to what Savitz said, Coach Proper stated his feelings about heading into Saturday’s tournament by saying, “We are looking forward to this weekend’s challenge. The plan for this weekend is to win one match at a time. I’m expecting great things from our team!”

Being able to conquer opponents takes humility, dedication, patience, and hard work. With this mentality going into the tournament, there is a good probability the Beavers will begin to show just what they can do. Good luck to the wrestlers this weekend.