North Carolina State University Athletics
Opening Day Excitement (1/15/08)
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
RALEIGH, N.C. It’s now the day of our opening match. It’s kind of like the day before Christmas; just without all of the Christmas cookies and presents. It is exciting, though, especially since it’s the Big Ten Challenge. This is why we run stadiums at Carter Finley during the pre-season; this is why we cut so much weight; this is why we are in the weight room at
This is what wrestling season is all about. The time to prepare is over and it’s time to compete.
I think the Challenge is great for both sides but it’s especially great for the ACC and for our team. It pits us against some of the best competition in the country and gives us a barometer to see where we are at, right at the beginning of the year. To be the best, you have to challenge yourself with a tough schedule and there’s no better way to do that than opening with
A lot of us are going to have ranked guys but I look at that as more of a positive than a negative. Wrestling ranked kids right off the bat just lets you know what you have to work on to accomplish your goals but at the same time you can’t pay too much attention to the rankings. I have seen kids psych themselves out from looking at their opponent’s ranking.
Personally, I think you just have to go out there and worry about what you can control: which is how you wrestle. I don’t worry about who I’m lined up against or their ranking because I can’t control that. Every kid that starts for a Big Ten school is going to be a good wrestler so instead of wasting energy worrying about my opponent; I just worry about how I wrestle and my game plan.
Going into my fourth year on the team, I think this is the hardest we’ve worked as a team during my career. We have a few holes in the lineup right now and a few injuries but again that is something that no one can control so you can’t get hung up worrying about it.
If we continue to work hard and get better every day, everything will take care of itself and we’ll be O.K.
