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| Hood brothers hope to lead Louisburg to big season |
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| Sports - Louisburg | |||
| Written by Andy Brown | |||
| Wednesday, 02 December 2009 08:00 | |||
The pieces are there for the Louisburg wrestling team to make more noise than the program has seen in recent history.  The experience is there, the numbers are there and the Wildcats return two state medalists from a season ago that saw a team get better as the season went along. Now it is all about fitting those pieces together, and luckily three of those big pieces are related. Bryce, Austin and Cullen Hood bring the possibility of having three state champions in one season, and all three are brothers. For the first time in a while, expectations are high for the Wildcat program. “I had the kids set our team goals for the year and they set them high,” Louisburg coach Greg Darrington said. “We are gunning for the Frontier League team title and a top four finish at the regional tournament. To accomplish these goals we will need to get the full team to compete well, at each of these meets. With the Hood brothers, along with Tyler Ewy, Derek Mathia, Mason Whaley, Brock Elliott and Jacob Herbert, we really stand a good chance to accomplish our goals.” The Hood brothers have a chance to accomplish some big feats this season, and all three already have high expectations put on them. Bryce, a senior, is currently ranked No. 2 in Class 4A at 140 pounds, while sophomore Austin is No. 3 at 112 pounds. Only a freshman, Cullen is ranked No. 1 at 103 pounds, much of which is based on what he has accomplished in the kids wrestling program, as is the case with Bryce and Austin. “My expectations for the Hoods are very high, as are their own goals,” Darrington said. “Each of them expect to compete for a state title. They posses the tools to win, but what they do in the wrestling room from now till the of February will determine their success. “Bryce is one of the team leaders and he is working his tail off. He goes hard from the beginning of practice till the end of conditioning. Cullen and Austin are going hard against each other everyday, but we need to find other kids to step up and push them when they are not wrestling each other.” Unlike in year’s past, the Wildcats will have very few open weight classes this season, thanks in part to a nice core of returning wrestlers. Ewy (285), Mathia (145), Whaley (171), Herbert (130) and Elliott (215) will provide the Wildcat lineup with a lot of depth. Ewy finished one victory away from qualifying from the state tournament a year ago and Darrington has noticed a little difference in his heavyweight. “Tyler has started the year off more aggressive, smarter on the mat and stronger than last year,” Darrington said. “We all forget that last year was Tyler’s first year. He was very successful, but was not satisfied with how he finished the year. I am very excited to see how far Tyler will go this year. He such an athletic big man. He will be a handful for any wrestler this year. I truly believe Tyler can go as far as he wants to go.” Plus, with the number of returning wrestlers, Darrington expects to be competitive in several of the tournaments this season, including trips to Blue Valley Northwest and Blue Springs South. “Other wrestlers to watch for this year are Mason, Brock and Derek,” Darrington said. “They all have a chance to qualify for the state tournament and have been working very hard at practice. If we all pull together as a team we will compete well in all our tournaments this year. “The kids out this year are a great bunch of kids and have proven to the coaches they want to improve their ability to compete and become better athletes.Not just in wrestling, but other sports they compete in as well.” The Wildcats open their season Saturday when they travel to the Fort Scott Invitational.
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