by Devon Gillett,
as told to DigitalSports
Note: Hammond
graduate Devon Gillett is a freshman 125-pounder at South Carolina's
Newberry College, as well as a former two-time Class 2A-1A state
champion. His diary has appeared regularly on DigitalSports' Howard
County site throughout the winter wrestling season.
This is Gillett's final diary. And it is his best.
Anticipation. Excitement. Nerves. Confidence. Fear of
the unknown.
All of the above are words that you, the state tournament-bound wrestler, may be feeling as each of you head into the last week of training prior to this frenetic upcoming weekend at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House.
All your months of preparation comes down to this final weekend. Everything comes to fruition, or goes for naught.
Those were the same unique feelings which saddled members of our Newberry Indians'
team last week as it headed into the East Regional Championships.
The Indians finished 8.5 points better than perennial
East Region power Pitt-Johnstown to win their first-ever team championship in the event.
Newberry is the first school, other than Pitt-Johnstown, to win the East Region
championship since Ashland University (Ohio) did so in 2002.
Head Coach Jason Valek also was honors by the coaches of the NCAA Division II East
Region as the 2007-08 Coach of The Year.
Newberry will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to take part in
the 2008 NCAA Division II National Championship tournament on March 14-15. The
Indians will bring eight national qualifiers to the event -- the most in team
history.
Going into states last year as a senior defending Class 2A-1A state
champ, I had so many feelings. I found it was a lot harder to
defend a title than it was to obtain my first one.
It was a lot tougher, mentally. I learned last year that the will
to win is not as important as the willingness to prepare to win.
Those last two
weeks, prior to states, I would leave my brutal three-hour practice with Coach Pedro Barbosa
and my fellow Hammond teammates, and I would then go to Arundel High and spend until 11
p.m. with Ryan Lowder just working from the bottom position.
On the nights I wasn't with
Ryan Lowder, my father was taking me to Jason Gabrielson, who would make
me give everything I could and would never allow me to quit.
My brother, Dylan, who is Hammond's 112-pounder, is my
hero. I wish him well. Dylan was a runner-up at last weekend's Class 2A-1A South Regional Tournament, and I am told that he wrestled well, even in defeat, falling just 9-6 to River Hill's state champ, Scott Mantua.
I took sixth at states during my sophmore year as an Arundel High wrestler when my coach was the legendary Billy Royer. I am rooting for Dylan to
surpass my achievement.
My style, and my attitude, are different from those that are Dylan's.
But from what I hear, Coach Barbosa often mistakenly calls Dylan
by my name while in the practice room, only to then turn, hug him, and apologize.
I was never a wrestler with an exciting style or blow-out moves. I was a much more calculated wrestler, even to the point of being known as "the nice wrestler."
My brother, Dylan, however, has a more bombastic demeanor, which is, actually, an
attitude I wish that I could instill in myself as a college wrestler.
Dylan
has no fear. Although he respects all of his opponents, there is no trepidation when he takes the mat against any of them.
If you to tell
Dylan, for example, that he is facing a wrestler who is ranked third in the nation,
Dylan's likely response might be something like, "So what , I'm No. 1."
Some might perceive this to be cockiness, or even overconfidence. It is, however, just an attitude which reflects his the work he puts into his craft, and his willingness to give it everything he has.
I neither liked getting hurt in a match, nor did I want to hurt anyone else. To me, wrestling was a sport -- not a fight.
Dylan's a fighter, as were most of the wrestlers he idolizes. Dylan considers himself a thug on the mat.
Dylan's heroes are three-time state champ Brandon Lauer and state champs Ryan Mackin and Jason
Gabrielson. For those of you who know these coaches, all of them were very
physical.
Coach Jason Gabrielson taught me one
of my greatest lessons last year -- just pior to states. The lesson: You can keep going long after you think you can't.
My hope is that each and every one of you state-bound wrestlers becomes mentally ready
to perform at your very best this weekend.
Prepare, work, fine-tune
those small details.
My parents would always tell me and my brother this: "If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue
to get what you always got."
So, work on your mistakes and craft your
skills. It takes complete commitment to attain individual achievement in
wrestling, which develops and epitomizes character, confidence, success and domination.
A clean, hard-fought wrestling match is the most honest athleticism.
In wrestling, there are no alibis. You either compete, or you quit.
In the end, only one hand will be raised. When the state tournament is over, will that hand be yours?
I'm coming home to watch states in general, and to support my brother, in particular. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you.
Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Tournament(Click here for general info, tourney brackets)
What: Class 4A-3A and Class 2A-1A state tournaments.
Where: University of Maryland's Cole Field House
When:Friday, March 7 --2:30 p.m. Prelims
6:30 Quarterfinals
8:30 Consolation prelims, quarterfinals
Saturday, March 8 -- 9:30 Consolation first-round
11 a.m. Championship semifinals
11 a.m. Consolation quarterfinals
1:15 p.m. Consolation semifinals
3 p.m. Consolatin finals for 5th-6th; 3rd-4th
5:30 p.m. Championship finals
Admission: Two-day
pass -- $25; One-day pass -- $15; Friday after 8 p.m. -- $8.00;
Saturday after 5 p.m. -- $8.00; Children under 7-- no charge.
Individual returning state champions: (11 total).
Class 2A-1A --
Scott Mantua, River Hill (112); George Scheffel, Southern Garrett
(125); Lester Andrews, Mardela (130); Matt Jackson, Rising Sun (145,
2X); Tony Mack, Owings Mills (160); Jordan Walsh, Walkersville (189);
Class 4A-3A
-- Maurice Fleming, Northeast (140); Bubby Graham, Annapolis (160, 2X);
Josh Asper, Hereford (171, 3X); Ethan Brown, Old Mill (189), Danny
Miller, Stephen Decatur (189).
Former state runners-up: (17 total).
Class 2A-1A --
Chad Strube, Middletown (112); Tyler Strube, Middletown (125, 2X);
Brian Marcoux, Glenelg (125); Nathan White, River Hill (130); Danny
Bichner, Glenelg (135, 2X); Stephen Whetstone, Mountain Ridge (140);
Chris Stinnett, Glenelg (140); Brandon Johnson, Middletown (171), Tyler
Mullen, South Carroll (171, 2X); Sean Sisler, Southern Garrett (285).
Class 4A-3A
--Daniel Justice, Huntingtown (119); Jake Shilling, LaPlata (119); Sean
McCarty, Northwest (130); Tanner Shaffer, LaPlata (145); Steven Gamble,
Sherwood (152, 2X); Ian Graham, South River (189); Billy Nichols,
Severna Park (215); Jason Thomen, North Carroll (215).
Defending team champions: Class 2A-1A --Rising Sun of Cecil County; Class 4A-3A -- Old Mill of Anne Arundel County.
Milestones
Josh Asper: The
University of Maryland-bound senior is attempting to join Aberdeen's
Matt Slutzky and Owings Mill's Steve Kessler by becoming Maryland's
third wrestler to win four state titles. Asper has won crowns at 135,
145 and 160 pounds.
Key winning streaks: Asper has won 83 consecutive bouts, and Annapolis' Bubby Graham (160), 96 straight matches.
Pinning power: Northwest's 130-pound Sean McCarty has 95 career falls.
Michael's mission: Michael
Spriggs, a 189-pounder from C.H. Flowers, placed fifth in Prince
George's County's Tournament aand qualified for the Class 4A-3A states
by finishing fourth in last weekend's Class 4A-3A South Regional
Tournament. Spriggs is blind, having lost his eyesight just prior to
his freshman year of high school.
"I really had to work hard
to get here. In the first round of regionals, as the seventh seed, I
had to beat the No. 2 seed in overtime," said Sprggs, who has a record
of 23-15. "Then, just to get into the third and fourth place match, I
had to beat a guy from Largo who I hadn't beaten in the previous two
years. I was hoping before my career ended that I would get to states.
Now that I'm here, I'm pretty excited."
Let's hear it for the girls: For
the fourth straight year, two girls have qualifed for states. This
year, they are Class 4A-3A Magruder junior Helen Maroulis (112), who,
in 2006, became the first female state placewinner by finishing sixth
in Class 4A-3A; and Class 2A-1A Smithsburg's sophomore Monica Hovermale
(103), who is only the second female to qualify in Class 2A-1A.
In
2005, Arundel's Nicole Woody and Western Tech's Jade Hendricks became
the state's first female qualifiers, going 0-2 at 103 pounds in Class
4A-3A and Class 2A-1A, respectively. In 2006, Maroulis placed sixth at
112 pounds, and Woody did not place, although she became the first girl
to pin a boy at states.
Last year, Woody and Maroulis qualified,
yet again, with Woody becoming a state runner-up -- the first female to
reach state finals. Maroulis (33-4), this year, became the first female
finalist in Montgomery County's Tournament, as well as the first girl
to reach the Class 4A-3A West Region final.
Hovermale (24-3),
whose two-year record includes 44 wins and 35 pins, won her second
straight Washington County crown, and pinned her way to a third place
finish in Class 2A-1A West.
