Perry High School wrestling team reflects on 'confidence booster' Oklahoma trip
The holidays are often a time of rest, relaxation and reflection for most in the area. That has not been the case for the Perry High School wrestling team. You'd be hard pressed to find a tougher schedule than the one the Panthers put together the past two weeks.
Perry will be on the road once again this weekend as the Panthers take part in the loaded Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament. It comes just days after the Panthers returned from competing at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic in Oklahoma.
Perry represented Stark County well at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Duals. The Panthers went 3-2 at the event with dual match wins over Blackwell (Oklahoma), Lake Highland Prep (Florida) and Bixby (Oklahoma).
"The kids competed hard for us," Perry head coach Brent McBurney said. "We came away with wins over two top-15 teams in the country. The competition level was high and that's going to be good for us going forward. The trip was a confidence booster for us."
Perry got big performances from heavyweight Aidan Fockler (5-0), 138-pounder Charles Curtis (5-0) and 105-pounder Lincoln Rohr (4-1).
"It was a really great event," McBurney said. "They did a great job of running it. We got to tour the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and they let us work out in the Oklahoma State wrestling room a couple of times.
"It was a pretty special trip. You could really see the kids start to believe in themselves during the tournament and the experience is going to be worth it for us over the long term. I'm grateful for everyone in the Perry administration and athletic department that allowed us to pursue this opportunity."
It's the type of event that can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some.
"You're not always going to be invited to something like that," McBurney said. "The kids aren't going to come across an opportunity like this very often. It was a chance for them to go on the road and be treated like college athletes for a few days and they really enjoyed it."
The Oklahoma trip and competing in difficult tournaments such as the Walsh Jesuit Ironman earlier in December and the Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament are all part of McBurney's plan to test his team early.
"I feel pretty good about where we are at," McBurney said. "The matches we have lost have been because of little mistakes in some cases. We are not far off. When you wrestle top competition early like you do at these events, it exposes your weaknesses early. That lets you identify and correct them right away. The key is always to peak at the right time and these experiences put us on track to do that."
Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @chickmanREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Perry wrestling heads to Brecksville Invitational Holiday Tournament
