Malden team wrestling against the Everett team. Photo from the Blue and Gold archives.
The Malden High School Varsity Wrestling Team began their 2018-2019 season on November 26th, 2018. Under the coaching of Rin Van, the team will be competing in 11 meets in total throughout the season, three of those meets being tournaments. The team, which is currently made up of 11 wrestlers, is looking forward to a successful season with many wrestlers hoping to qualify for the state tournament.
Sophomore Jason Yao, is one of the members in the current 106/113 lb weight class on the varsity team. When asked what has went well so far for the team, Yao stated “[they] motivate each other to do better and improve. If one of [them] [havs] a bad day, [they] will try to lift their spirits.” Yao expressed the fact that they are a close team, they are dedicated and look out for each other.
The aspects of a good wrestler is having love and dedication for the sport in itself, as said by Yao. His “expectations are that [they] all [got] better collectively because [he] really [like] this team and hope [they] continue to improve,” stated Yao.
Junior Captain Ved Grey, the 160 lb wrestler on the team, is entering his third year on the wrestling team and is “ecstatic” for the new season. As a captain of the wrestling team, Grey would like this year to be more of a learning experience for the new wrestlers and an opportunity to fine tune all the returning wrestlers. He believes they will go “pretty far throughout the season,” and stated that “a big thing [he] think[s] [they] can work on is coordination, and making sure all of [their] wrestlers are thinking and working as one.”
A big aspect of having an excellent and successful season would be having good team chemistry, so they can all push each other. They are looking forward to winning more matches this year in hopes of qualifying for the state tournament, individually and collectively as a team.
“Physical strength and cardio” is what needs to be improved upon in the eyes of Grey, performing and giving 100% during every single practice, as well as learning new moves to use in matches will only help them in the long run.
