Gilmer Bobcat wrestlers made the most of June by getting mat time and improving.
Like many sports programs at GHS, wrestlers plied their craft both at home and on the road. The month kicked off with their youth wrestling camps for both older and younger grapplers.
“We had a great turnout and had some alumni come out and help with that because I was not around as much as I had planned on being,” said Waddell, who, along with wife Rachel, welcomed their son Baylor into the world June 6. “My brother (Matthew Waddell) helped, and Jaime Lopez is back as a middle school coach, so he helped out as well. Of course coach (Walt) Monroe was there, as was Tony Olea, who we have coming on staff this year. It was phenomenal.”
Waddell noted they had between 15 and 25 wrestlers attend each practice, which were conducted five days per week.
“The dynamics of our wrestling team are very unique,” Waddell said. “We have a bunch of kids who are working two jobs and doing a bunch of things over the summer. We tried to work around that and give them every opportunity to get better.”
The Bobcats excelled in the neutral position last year, but Waddell noticed they were not quite up to par in other areas.
“Our bottom and top (positions) were just not there with other teams in the state,” Waddell said. “We flipped the script this summer and focused on bottom and top, and then our neutral work will come during the season as we knock some rust off that. In neutral, we could compete with anyone in the state. We just couldn’t get off bottom or finish on top, so we focused on that.
“We also worked on finishing matches in certain scenarios. It was almost like they would lose their mind sometimes. We had been there before, but just not practiced it enough. So we put ourselves in scenarios in the practice room so when they happen in a match they’re ready for that.”
Gilmer traveled to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga June 13-16. Those in attendance received instruction, and the teams also wrestled duals.
“It was an awesome camp and we had Braelyn Nelson make the all-star dual,” Waddell said. “We had a bunch of kids wrestle really well. There were 30 teams there. After every instruction period, we would wrestle a dual. We won every dual but one, and we tied that one.”
Waddell assessed the summer and believes the Cats have the opportunity to make some noise at the state level if they stay the course and put in the needed work.
“I was very satisfied with June, but we still have a lot of work to put in," he said. "We’re going to be very young this year. We had some guys come back who haven’t wrestled for a year or two. I believe they have the potential to help us this year if they’re willing to put in the work.
“We have a lot of potential to be in the race for a state title this year, but we have a lot of work to put in to get better.”