Hawks confident for Saturday

It was a simple but effective message as the Mid-Prairie wrestling team closed up practice for the day on Wednesday afternoon.

?We can all make it.?

That?s the mentality that is fueling the Golden Hawks as four of them prepare for the district tournament on Saturday.

There will be four wrestlers in each bracket, and the top two will advance to the state tournament, which will begin on Thursday, Feb. 19.

?We?ve been together since Peewee,? Mid-Prairie junior Cameron Tolander said. ?We just need to come together as a team, because we?ve all been partners and we?ve all been working since day one, and it?s all of our goals to make it to the state tournament. If all of us made it, it would mean the world to me and the world to Coach Garvey, especially.?

The Hawks came out of their sectional tournament in Benton with Tolander, Duncan McCain, Levi Duwa and Visouth Peterschmidt all moving on to the district tournament.

All four have a shot to make the state tournament, and if that were to happen, head coach Justin Garvey said it would help put the program on the map.

?It would start to validate the program,? Garvey said. ?It?s my fifth season here and we are making that climb, but if you take four guys to state, people will look and say, ?Maybe they are for real.? In the last five years, we?ve taken the Peterschmidt brothers, but we want to show people that we aren?t just a one-family school.?

Starting from the lower weight classes, McCain will be in the 113-pound weight class and his first match will pit him against Camanche?s Nathan Thoms.

Thoms and McCain have met twice this year, with McCain winning the first match by sudden victory, 5-3, but Thoms took the most recent match in the River Valley Conference Tournament in a 4-2 decision.

?It?s going to be tough, but I just have to stay focused and do what I?ve been doing all season,? McCain said. ?I need to get in my shots, work hard in (the practice room) and just go hard.?

With the familiarity, Garvey says the key will be for McCain to maintain his own style.

?We?ve wrestled him twice,? Garvey said. ?We won the first one in a close one, and lost the second one in a close one. If (Duncan) stays on his feet and wrestles his style of wrestling, I think we?ll be fine.?

At 170 pounds, Visouth Peterschmidt will have to face Justus Burke from Davenport Assumption.

?You have to have a bit of that sense of urgency,? Garvey said about the match. ?You can?t be afraid of it and you have to be ready to go out and meet the challenge. (Visouth) hasn?t seen him yet this year, but he finished ahead of him in a tournament, which means he beat a guy they lost to.?

The week of district prep hasn?t been different for Peterschmidt, as he looks to keep improving to move on to state.

?I?m trying to eat right and push myself harder in the room,? Peterschmidt said. ?I don?t think we are pushing ourselves any harder, it?s just a normal practice. We are just pushing ourselves to get better.?

Tolander will be in the 182 bracket, where he will take on Assumption?s Chase Hager in the first round on Saturday.

?In districts, things are a little more amped up, but if he wins his first match, he could see (Grinnel?s Julio Sanchez), who he lost a one-point match to,? Garvey said. ?That?s two matches that he is capable of winning.?

Tolander said that he is focused only on making it to state on Saturday.

?It?s one of the biggest goals I have, so it would mean the world to me to get there,? Tolander said. ?I?m going to do everything I can to make it there and I have no doubt I can make it. I have to stay focused, and I know that when I get to the tournament, that?s time for business.?

The only Hawk to take first place at sectionals was Levi Duwa in the 195-pound bracket, and he said that going in with a winning mentality is going to be key for him.

?It definitely (helps),? Duwa said. ?I have to go in with the right mindset, that I?m going to beat everyone. I have to go into districts with the same mentality that I?m not going to lose, and hope for the best. Getting to state has been one of my goals since my freshman year.?

The Hawks are preparing for Saturday by meeting with other teams throughout the week, practicing with Highland on Monday and a practice with English Valleys on Thursday.

Those practices help focus the team, according to Garvey.

?I think, mindset-wise, they go into these other rooms and they don?t want to get shown up,? Garvey said. ?You take them to another room and there are other coaches there and other kids there and they don?t want to get shown up. Then you are 45 minutes into a practice and everybody is dog-tired, because they pushed themselves so hard to not get shown up.?

The Hawks will get under way at 10 a.m. in Solon. Check out Monday?s issue of The Journal to find out who made it to the state wrestling tournament.