Jul. 23—After the strange do-nothing summer of 2020, plenty of teenagers probably looked forward to this summer to finally hang out by the nearest pool or lake and engage in traditional outdoor activities.
Although the Delta variant of COVID-19 has thrown a monkey wrench into several fun plans for 2021, three recent Vigo County high school athletes decided going to Fargo, N.D., for a huge wrestling tournament would be a good idea.
When the Tribune-Star talked to the three by phone/text at mid-week, 2021 Terre Haute South graduates Joshua Howell and Nick Casad and West Vigo senior-to-be Torie Buchanan all agreed it definitely was a good idea.
The 2021 U.S. Marine Corps Junior & 16U Nationals, sanctioned by USA Wrestling, started last Friday and will end this Friday. More than 6,000 young matsmen from around the country have been competing in various age groups, weight classes and styles of wrestling.
“Fargo is very tough,” emphasized Buchanan, who went 7-3 and placed sixth in the women’s 117-pound weight class for freestyle.
“The best high schools are here. It’s so packed in the building. Even though I lost three matches, I took them as a learning thing. I had amazing coaches get me there in the placement rounds. My teammates from the women’s team and males were very supportive. I couldn’t ask for a better national team to be on.”
Last Friday, Buchanan said, she took first place in the Last Chance World Team Trials, although that was because the other two females entered did not show up. Still, she will advance to the Senior Nationals on Labor Day weekend in September.
“I’ve met so many people and saw amazing wrestling,” she added. “Every year, I learn more and more. I came here wanting to get first, but I didn’t. But i always tell myself if I win every match, then I wouldn’t learn. I can’t wait to get back into the [West Vigo wrestling] room and start training again and working on the things I got told by my coaches. I also can’t wait to get back into the weightroom.”
As of Wednesday, none of the three had won any major awards this week. But that didn’t keep them from enjoying the experience.
“Although I did compete at 220 [pounds] for freestyle and I went 1-2 [early in the week], there is a lot that I have been learning and improving on,” noted Casad, who turned his attention to the 195 class of Greco-Roman wrestling later in the week. “It has been exciting and fun to wrestle here so far. It is a large tournament, which made me nervous, but I learned to treat it like any other tournament.”
Casad mentioned that his three freestyle scores were a 10-0 technical-fall victory over an Alabama opponent, a 9-7 loss to a Minnesota wrestler and an 11-0 technical-fall loss to an outstanding foe from the state of New York.
“Definitely not what I wanted,” Casad admitted,” but I learned a lot.”
“We came down here for the freestyle and Greco-Roman nationals or better known as the ‘Fargo Nationals,’ pointed out Howell, who competed in the 220 freestyle junior men’s division early this week.
“I started in a 128-man bracket, going 3-2 in the two days. Not All-American, but about top 18. I’m disappointed about freestyle, but I really came out for Greco [which started Thursday].”
In the fall, Casad and Howell plan to take their wrestling skills to Wabash College and Trine University respectively.
Now some of you reading might think that the inside of the Fargodome got pretty hot for a late-July tournament. And with a bunch of sweaty wrestlers battling in match after match . . .
But Buchanan said the air conditioning was more than adequate for the matches. Inside the dorms was another story, however.
“We all have fans in our rooms, but it doesn’t help,” she explained. “We wake up drenched in sweat.”