Winter athletes checking in: Part 1

The winter season has begun! Here at The Echo, we are doing a check-in on our winter sport athletes to see how their seasons have been going.

Wrestling

For the Tigers wrestling we talked to junior Emiliano Bedolla and sophomore Edwin Villagomez as the boys’ team captains.

Bedolla started wrestling his sophomore year because his coach Phil Sexton had told him all about it and asked him to try it out.

“He wanted me to join my freshman year but I put it off until my sophomore year and I’ve been wrestling since then,” Bedolla says.

Wrestling is a sport you do by yourself, when you lose you have to take that in as a learning experience to improve.

Bedolla explains, “My season is going pretty well. I am 8-4, I lost four times but in those times instead of beating myself up for them, I learned from them. And in the other eight wins, I dominated those matches like a real GOAT!”

Villagomez is a multi-sport athlete. Now that football season is over he needed another sport, so he picked wrestling.

“I needed something that would keep me in shape in the meantime while football was not going on,” he says.

As a sophomore on varsity, the season is going very well for Villagomez.

“I just placed 6th at a tournament and it was in a week of practicing. I’m continuing to do my thing out there,” he said.

Girls team captain, senior Jurdan Tyler picked wrestling as her sport because it is a sport you have to do alone, even though you have a big support system.

“I really like to be able to go out on the mat and prove myself,” she said.

Although things have been stressful for her outside of wrestling, she still comes in and gives it her all. She is looking forward to improving her performance from last year’s IHSA State tournament!

Boys Basketball

For the Tigers boys basketball team, we talked to junior Jaylen McElmurry and junior Marcus Jackson. They both started playing basketball when they were young and continued playing up to high school.

Jackson says, “Since I was born I have always been in a basketball family.”

They mention that the team had started off to a rocky start, but were happy to bring home the first win of the season against Sacred Heart-Griffin . This doesn’t mean they are complacent, though.

McElmurry is working hard so make sure “the team could improve on playing together and playing as a team.” Jackson agrees.

Girls Basketball

For the Tigers girls’ basketball team, we talked to senior Savannah Blanden. Blanden began playing basketball as a child and has grown up continuing to play.

The girl’s season may not have started on the best foot, but they are working hard every day at practice, evidenced by their victory over rival Uni High.

“So far our season has been a little rocky… but we intend to keep working towards achieving another win,” said Blanden.

This is something the team prides itself on.

“In life, there’s always room for improvement and we are a growing [and] a learning program. We have been working together to grow and work as a team on and off the court,” Blanden explained.

Stay posted for our updates from Competition Cheer and Boys Swimming and Diving!