For Bridgeport High School’s wrestling team there was neither victory nor defeat this past weekend. The reason for that was simple – the Indians had the weekend off.

 

“I like to give the team one weekend off per month to allow their bodies to recuperate,” said Coach Adam King. “Wrestling is such a grueling and demanding sport that you have to watch for muscle and energy fatigue.  I feel like giving them a Saturday off each month gives them a little incentive to work hard.”

 

So far, whatever strategy King has been employing has been working. The Indians have several wrestlers with impressive records as the season begins to approach the postseason.

 

Juniors Noah Markley and Brier Anderson are the club’s top two performers. Right now, Markley (285) leads the team with a 28-4 mark, while Anderson (220) is at 27-6 on the year. Several others are also doing well including Carter Householder (152) at 24-8, Nick Muller at 22-8, Justin Massie (138) 14-3 and Cooper Hineman (126) at 18-6. It should be noted that all six of those wrestlers were recently winners of individual titles in Harrison County.

 

“I think right now the jury is still out on this team.  I'm not sure we will really see how much we are progressing for another couple weeks,” said King. “Getting consistent practice time has been key and I think that will pay off.  We take two steps forward and one step back a lot of times.  That goes with the territory of having nine freshmen and sophomores in the starting lineup.”

 

The Tribe will look to take several steps forward with another home meet Wednesday. The Indians have a triangular meet with Fairmont Senior and Lewis County. 

 

“Both of those programs have been strong for a lot of years and continue to be.  Fairmont has a real nice young group and Lewis County will have two AAA state champs in their lineup,” said King. “We will need to save points where we can and get bonus points to have a chance in those.”

 

King said Bridgeport Middle School will also be in a triangular meet that night as well. The matches with BHS and BMS begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Both will take place at the high school.

 

Bridgeport will be back in action this coming weekend. The Tribe is in Williamstown Saturday to compete in the Williamstown Rumble, which is double elimination tournament.

 

“Several of the top Class AA/A programs in the state have historically attended this tournament, including the defending Class AA/A state champ and current number one-ranked Independence,” King said.  

 

Editor's Note: Pictured is Coach Adam King. Photo courtesy of Fred Smart.