Club Wrestling Team Working Hard to Prepare for Upcoming Season
Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: Sports
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Sports Editor
It all started in the fall of 2005. A team that consisted of only three members has turned into a more serious, 20-person organization with goals of sending wrestlers to nationals in Lakeland, Fl.
"We've got a whole lot of talent in the room from just about every corner of Virginia" said Wrestling Club President junior Alex Vergara. The Lancers will travel along the east coast to compete in invitationals and also host home matches in Iler Gym.
Longwood had a Division II wrestling team since 1976, but the sport was cut on Nov. 3, 2000, when Don Lemish, former director of athletics, announced that Longwood College would discontinue intercollegiate wrestling.
"We do not see appropriate competition in the sport of wrestling relative to the institutions and possible conference affiliations we have targeted in our athletic future," said Lemish. A writer from Petersburg, Va. was told by Lemish that "Longwood's wrestling team has not had a national qualifier since 1995." However, none of the other men's sports teams at the university had qualified either.
Wrestling vanished from Longwood for five years until Shawn Nelson, Keith Huskey and Glen Warrington decided to try to make a club team. Nelson and Huskey had to write a constitution, which was then approved after two revisions. "Shelton Daniels [class of 2007] helped out by coaching, and Glen took care of the paperwork and scheduling our first competitive season in 2006-2007," Vergara said.
Two years later, the Lancers have a team consisting of about 15 members who practice 16 hours per week to be at the top of their game. The final competition roster will be announced on October 1 after incoming freshman have been selected.
"In season varies for each of us," said Vergara, a Greco-Roman state qualifier in high school. "In the summer, only a few of us get involved with other variations of wrestling such as freestyle and Greco-Roman, and we compete at our natural weight. While were in school, we train for folk-style and start cutting weight."
The Lancers practice in the basement of Tabb four days per week, two hours per day.
"Its been a great place to practice for the past two years," said Vergara, "but we're getting to the point where we need more room so we don't get thrown into each other or break the walls." The team is being relocated to another spot that has yet to be determined due to the school's reconstruction plans.
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