MCC wrestlers have plenty of matches ahead
Jordan Anderson and Steve Isley could only hope their wrestlers heeded their advice about working out Monday after school was canceled yet again because of adverse weather conditions.
Anderson’s Kamiakin Braves have five Mid-Columbia Conference dual matches this week, while Isley’s Southridge Suns have three ... weather permitting, of course.
“I think what will be tough is keeping their weight down for a week with three weigh-ins,” said Anderson, who sent a message to his guys that they would only have a one-pound allowance for Tuesday’s weigh-in. “We all know what it takes, and they are willing to sacrifice. We have great leaders who are pushing the pace, and everyone is following.”
The Braves will wrestle against Kennewick and Chiawana on Tuesday at Chiawana. They travel to Hanford on Thursday and will finish the week hosting Richland and Southridge on Friday.
The hardest part of all of the cancellations is the lack of practice.
“If we see something that needs to be fixed in a match, we don’t have the practice time to fix that,” Anderson said. “It’s been tough on all the programs. Brian Meneely (Kamiakin boys basketball coach) is frustrated too. With all the football players, they are trying to get caught up. It’s all about staying healthy, and we are doing a good job of that.”
Southridge will be at Walla Walla on Tuesday, host Richland on Thursday and finish at Kamiakin on Friday. To put things in perspective, the Suns and Braves were originally scheduled to wrestle Dec. 14.
“In 20 years of teaching, we haven’t missed this many days of school in one year,” Isley said. “You can go out in a basketball game at center and be 185 or 220. In wrestling, when you miss that many days in a row, it is hard to maintain your weight. You start to miss those days, you are sitting around and eating more. This may come to haunt us. There is no substitute for getting in there and practicing. After the makeup matches, we will have a solid week of practice before district and again before regionals.”
Isley said most of his guys are committed to staying in shape and eating healthy, and have taken steps during the snow days to keep active.
“We have a couple of kids who have memberships at the court club,” Isley said. “Zayid (Al-Ghani) went out and ran in the snow. This weekend (at Rumble in the Valley in Prosser) he didn’t look like he missed a practice. That’s what makes him the kid he is.”
The Braves got a boost to their lineup a couple of weeks ago when Zach Borisch returned to the mat. The quarterback of the state champion Kamiakin football team, Borisch took time off before joining his teammates in the wrestling room.
Borisch missed the Dream Duals last weekend in Spokane because he made an visit to the University of Idaho.
“He is a welcomed addition to our team the second half of the season,” said Anderson, who noted Borisch will wrestle at 182 pounds. “Having him be able to work with Sione (Halo, 160), Jacob Olson (170) and Cyle DeLeon (152) will make them all better. They are there to scrap. They are wrestling really well and they are fun to watch in the practice room — when we do get to practice.”
The Chiawana Riverhawks are in the same boat as Kamiakin and Southridge, having to wrestle four duals this week.
“It’s tough on the kids,” Riverhawks coach Jack Anderson said. “A lot of them want to train and get better. It’s tough to miss out on quality mat time.”
Chiawana will wrestle Kennewick at 5 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a match with Kamiakin at 7:30 p.m. Kamiakin and Kennewick will wrestle between the two matches.
The Riverhawks hope to finish their MCC schedule with a match at Hanford on Thursday and a home match against Pasco on Friday as part of a tripleheader with girls and boys basketball. The wrestling match will be sandwiched between the two games at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 7:14 PM with the headline "MCC wrestlers have plenty of matches ahead."