Winter has finally come and that means winter sports have arrived, wrestling in particular. The Middletown High School wrestling team has always been successful.
Senior Brandonn Johnson mentioned the wrestlers that they will miss from the previous year, including Tyler Strube and their heavyweight, Russell Abney. He also noted the players to watch this year: Chad Strube, Cliff Overfield, Russell Berger, Ronnie Long and some of the upcoming freshmen.
Expectations for the team this year are, “to hopefully be first in county, regionals, and states,” said senior Cliff Overfield.
Johnson added, “I expect to be undefeated and a state champion. I want top notch Division 1 wrestling schools to notice me.”
Johnson, a key ingredient to the success of the MHS wrestling team, said “I only lost twice last year. I came in second in the State Championship to a guy that I beat in the Regional Finals.” He explained his role on the team is “Drill Sergeant; I have to make sure nobody is slacking.”
Johnson made it onto the banner in the wrestling room for 100 wins. “Only three or four people are on it,” said Johnson. Strube and Johnson were the only two guys to qualify for states last year. Strube ended up coming in 4th place.
A change this year for the wrestling team is that there are no set captains. Coach Schartner said “We have not picked captains. Each week those who are good and work hard during practice will be captain for the match that week.”
The wrestling team has set five goals for themselves this year: be in the top four of their region, win the Scorpion Duels Tournament this upcoming weekend, Dec. 5th and 6th, win the super duels in January, win County Championship in February, and win the Piedmont Conference.
Schartner said, “in order to do that, we set a standard for practice. We have to go in everyday as hard as we can and get better everyday. Those goals are reachable.”
Schartner said the tough competition this year will be Walkersville High School, Urbana High School, Francis-Scott Key High School, and Southern Garrett High School.
The wrestling teams first match this season will be Dec. 5th and 6th at the Scorpion Duel.