Photo of Ved Gray. Taken from the 2017-2018 Blue and Gold archives.
Ved Gray is a junior at MHS and a member of the varsity wrestling team as the 160lb varsity wrestler. This is Gray’s third year on the team and he is one of the team’s captains. Gray is seen by his peers as a motivating individual who provides them with positive reinforcement.
Being a captain for a sports team requires certain skills and traits. Gray believes that “[his] greatest strengths are [his] experience and [his] physique.” Participating in a certain sport for a numerous amount of years, such as Gray, greatly improves skill and knowledge in the sport while maintaining a good physique is a literal strength.
Gray says that his greatest motivator while participating in meets and practices is himself. Having already done the sport for a while, “[he] knows what to expect at meets and practices, so [he]knows how hard [he] needs to work in order to be ready for various upcoming events.”
Jason Yao, a sophomore at MHS and a member of the varsity wrestling team and the powerlifting team, has known Gray for numerous years due to them going to middle school together at the Linden STEAM Academy. In Yao’s personal opinion, “[Gray] is dedicated to the sport and [he’s] seen no one like [Gray]” in terms of his “love for the sport.”
Yao mentions that Gray is also very cool and collected when it comes to high stress situations. Gray had actually encouraged Yao to join both wrestling and powerlifting and Yao mentions that “[he] wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for [Gray].”
Gray is certainly a confident athlete with high hopes for himself and his fellow teammates. Aside from being confident, he is also humble, stating that he does not look up to any specific wrestlers other than the MHS wrestlers who came before him.
Those who go above and beyond in their sports such as athletes like Gray hold a certain love for the sport. Gray states that “what keeps [him] coming back are the thrills. Regardless of whether or not [he] wins a match, [he gains] enjoyment from the competition itself, and that’s why [he sticks] with the sport.”
When asked about his overall opinion on the team, Gray states that “the whole team needs to get stronger physically. They’re great at learning the concepts, but they still need to get stronger if they want to be able to use said concepts.”
Nearing the end of his junior year and his third season with the wrestling team, Gray adds that “like every other year, [his] goals are to go far and do great, in everything that [he] can.”
