"There Are No Shortcuts"

For Andy Stone, his coaching staff, and the athletes who participated during that like-none-other winter of 2020-21, the road back has been long, devious, and, let’s face it, sometimes frustrating.

 

Following their return, the Cougars have often been defeated on the scoreboard even before they began matches because they didn’t have enough healthy wrestlers to fill several of the 14 weight classes and because those who competed were still working to hone their skill.

 

Nevertheless, the few and the proud showed up each afternoon at the Jamie Robertson ’04 Wrestling Room and trained as if championships were on the line. They stayed the course. They persevered. They achieved small victories, and they celebrated them.

 

Now, as the 2023-2024 season nears its conclusion with the Prep League tournament Saturday at Woodberry Forest and the VISAA two weeks hence at Potomac School (McLean), the Cougars are progressing well and hoping to make as much of an impact as possible in championship competition.

 

“Individually, we’re competitive,” said Stone, who’s in his 21st year at Collegiate. “We have kids who will compete for league titles and top-four in the state. As a team, I think we’re still a year or two away from pushing ourselves into the top five in the state, but that’s the goal. We as coaches have high expectations. The kids do too. It just takes time. There are no shortcuts.”

 

This year, 48 wrestlers (22 JV and varsity, 26 Cub) comprise the wrestling program.

 

Seniors Braden Bell (175 weight class), Walker Bain (126), Everett Hatfield (165), and Cabell Chenault (who’s been a presence despite injury issues) are veterans from the COVID year and have been the linchpins.

 

Their classmate Kevin Johnson (heavyweight) is new to the program, and junior Alexander Tan (138) has returned after a hiatus. The rest of the lineup is 8th graders and freshmen plus a motivated group of sophomores (among them Pierson Harris, at 144, Ferran Salhab, at 150, and Thomas Shaia, at 157) who joined the program as middle schoolers post-COVID.

 

“Our seniors are the backbone of the program, but they lost a lot of time and couldn’t develop,” Stone said, referencing the 2020-21 downtime. “Wrestling is such a high-skill sport. Even if you’re a naturally great athlete, it takes multiple years and effort and focus to develop your skills. The next jump is being able to do it in a live match.

        

“You also need role models, not just the character things, but you need to see people using the techniques in a live match. That builds on itself. One person does this skill or that technique, and it acts like a positive virus.”

 

Bell, who serves as team captain, joined the program as an 8th grader, persevered through the off-year, and has found fulfillment through the challenges and team experience.

 

“The part of the sport that I enjoy the most is the sense of accomplishment you feel regardless of the outcome of a match,” he said. “If you go out there and fight and fully try your hardest, you feel very accomplished, more so if you win.”

 

As a younger wrestler, he looked up to previous captains, especially Marshall Campbell and Walker Clemans, both of whom competed with passion and intentionality.

 

“I’ve tried to replicate what they did and how they helped me,” Bell said. “I try to help people because I know how they feel. Wrestling as long as I have, I understand a lot of the problems that they come to me with and how they feel after a loss and how they feel after a win.”

 

While he’s looking forward to the championship competitions, he’s trying to process the end of his five-year journey.

 

“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “It’s sad to leave the program. I like the sport. It makes me feel very good, very accomplished. I feel like I’m leaving it in a good place. The future is bright. I’m happy about that.”

 

The journey continues for Collegiate wrestling. Stone’s crew has bought into the premise that achieving success is a process and you pay for that success, however it presents itself, with sweat equity.

 

“That’s definitely true,” Stone said. “It’s not even something we talk about. It’s just the way we do things. We don’t have to raise voices. We don’t have to push them. They motivate themselves. They understand what wrestling is about and what it takes. Kids that stick it out graduate with the skills of hard work, resilience, and perseverance that are built into the process and prepare them for life.”

~Weldon Bradshaw