Niagara Wheatfield is in familiar territory.
After winning three Section VI titles in five years, the Falcons are preparing for a third consecutive trip to states, and the chance to be crowned champions. But, they’re hoping things will be different this year.
Last year, NW was seeded first but then lost to North Babylon and was unable to break out of their three-team round-robin pod to reach the semifinals. Head coach Richard Sweney and captain Chase Richards have their mind set on changing that.
“It’s our third time up there, we haven’t placed in a couple of years, so we’d like to get into the top four. We got to get out of our bracket,” Sweney said. “… So our goal right now is to work hard and get into that bracket, win our bracket at the state meets, you know win those other two matches up there and try to get into finals.”
Richards and Chase also share their knowledge of the sport with the others, offering tips while wrestling live and working with all weight classes so the team is all-around efficient in what to do, and what can happen, in certain positions.
Richards finished last season with a second-place finish in the 145-pound division at the Section VI Class A tournament and the Division I state qualifier before putting on some muscle and entering the 152-160 pound weight class this season.
The junior is 17-2 overall.
Richards, who has been on the team since 2021, defeated Clarence’s Trevor Mueller by major decision (12-1) to help propel NW ahead of the Red Devils and win the Section VI Divison I Dual Championships, 33-30.
Now, the group must stay focused and motivated, and not put too much pressure on themselves as they head into championships. Having pride in their performances and the understanding that they did not come this far, only to come this far, can allow the boys to hold onto the momentum they clutched after winning sectionals.
“I think the momentum from winning sectionals just gives our team a huge push in confidence,” Richards said. “Winning sectionals gives the guys a different mindset of ‘if we lose, we have so much to lose,’ and I think we just go out there and try our best to dominate, do what we’re meant to do.”
Pride is a motivating factor for Richards as he doesn’t want to let anyone down, whether it be his parents, his teammates or the younger kids looking up to him. His pride allows him to stay focused amidst obstacles.
One of the biggest obstacles in wrestling is making weight, especially with New York State’s 1.5% rule, which limits the amount of weight an athlete can lose per week. While it is set up to help the kids stay healthy, it can make it harder on teams when deciding who should wrestle in which weight class, and when.
Either way, there is a lot of preparation that goes into wrestling before you can hit the mat — strength training, wind sprints and being at the proper weight. While it can be very demanding mentally and physically, acknowledging that dropping weight can benefit the team can help keep athletes’ minds right.
“I think if we all have the same mindset of like let’s do this for each other. Don’t be selfish, do it for our team and do it for our program,” Richards said regarding the difficulties of changing weight classes.
The continual reminder that the athletes have each other to rely on can make things feel less stressful, as well as the comfort in knowing that as long as they gave it their all and worked as hard as they possibly could, there is nothing more they could do.
“We work as hard as we can and whatever will be will be,” Sweney said. ”So once we focus on that and it takes the pressure off a little, we just try as hard as we can and at the end of the day, it is what it is.”