Cameron wrestlers feel the summer grind at camp (full story)
With state title hopes in 2021, Cameron Dragon and Lady Dragon wrestlers returned to the mat last week as part of their annual summer camp.
As some wrestlers spent the summer participating in a variety of offseason camps and programs, last week may have been the first time on the mat since the state tournament last February.
“They’re getting better and glad to get on the mat because they’ve been away for quite a while. Usually, at this point, we’ve had a team camp and been out of state doing a lot of different practices. Anything is good at this point. [Keegan Reynolds] has definitely gotten a lot stronger. A lot of the kids have. The returning seniors are looking pretty good,” Cameron coach Phil Limb said. “A lot of them are still wrestling. They’ve been going to Purler Wrestling Academy in Holt. Also, they’ve been picking up practices in Greater Heights and the Brookfield Youth Club has been having an open room. We’ve definitely been getting some time on the mat outside of this too. It’s a positive anytime you can get time on the mat.”
Following their fourth-place finish at the state tournament, nearly all of last season’s female state entrants returned to the mat last week. Among them was 120-pounder Christina Herring, who finished sixth at state and plans to finish much higher going into her junior year.
“My national club team already started wrestling and there weren’t many restrictions. Also, my cheer team started as soon as wrestling did so I thought we were going to have [camp],” Herring said.
Reynolds is another wrestler looking contending for a state title. As a 182-pound state qualifier, he returned to the mat noticeably more muscular than in 2019, crediting the increased mass to the offseason strength and injury prevention program and hitting the weights with his father at the Cameron YMCA.
“I feel it’s coming along pretty good. Once we get to next year, I’ll be a lot leaner and able to go longer during the matches than I did last year,” Reynolds said. “It will pay off in the end. You can always get more strength, it never hurts. It wasn’t a downfall for me last year. It will just help. I see a lot of progression in myself and the whole team going from this year to the next. It’s just another tier for us … State champ, that’s what we’re going for.”
