Jaime Sanginez, and his brother, Ali, have practically turned their living room into a training ground.
The first-year Springfield wrestler said he clears out room in their family’s home almost daily to get training sessions against his older brother – a three-sport athlete and Class AA sectional qualifier.
“When we say we wrestle, we don’t just go out there and pin each other. We work,” Ali said.
“It gives me the conditioning,” added Jaime. “It makes me work harder in practice and gets the extra work in.”
So far, their at-home battles have paid off. Jaime is 21-1 through his first 22 matches as a high schooler, going 3-0 in the 113-pound division during Friday’s Robertson County Cup, where Springfield retained its team championship from last season.
“I knew from a very young age that he had a lot of fight in him,” said Ali, a sophomore. “We started off kind of slow this season (as a team), but for us to come in here and wrestle like we did, I think it’s a really big statement.”
The Sanginez brothers are just two in a heavy crop of standout underclassmen county-wide.
Greenbrier, this year’s runner-up in the cup, boasts freshmen Harold Ward and Will Carter, who are a combined 32-1. Casen Goostree, Isaac Long and Zaden Wells are all underclassmen at East Robertson, and each hold eight or more wins on the year.
White House Heritage is the only county team with an upperclassmen-heavy lineup, but head coach Joseph Hill said even that’s dampened by the infancy of the fourth-year program.
“That’s the thing that’s going on in our county right now; it’s a lot of underclassmen that are coming in,” said Springfield coach Christopher Holzer. “I probably have, out of my 14 guys, nine of them that are underclassmen right now.”
The influx of young talent made for a more competitive cup Friday.
Springfield beat each of its in-county foes by an average of 42 points last season and ran away with its first-round contest against East Robertson this year. But they needed what Holzer called “smart wrestling” to sweep Heritage and Greenbrier for the championship.
That involved junior Mac Gregory and sophomores Gavin Price and Kolton Brown avoiding pins and milking the clock to give up fewer points.
“The guys being aware of where the points are at and not giving up the big points. Anyone can go out there, just roll on their back and give up six points,” Holzer said. “These guys fought to not give up the six points.”
Jaime Sanginez and Ward were undefeated in Friday’s action, while Carter was unavailable for Greenbrier with an illness.
The wins added to the Springfield freshman’s already impressive resume. Sanginez has pinned at least three seniors through the first month of the season and said he hopes to qualify for this year’s state tournament.
With three of the county’s five qualifiers from last season graduating, there’s a need for someone else to reach the Williamson County Expo Center in February.
That early determination may elevate the level of play within Robertson County wrestling as a whole.
“It’s just pushing to be great, really,” Ward said. “I want to be the next big thing.”
“I think that’s what’s going to make the sport grow stronger here in Robertson County,” added Ward’s coach, Billy Whitaker. “The more that the younger guys continue wrestling, we’re going to be one of the top regions in the state. I’m looking forward to that.”
RESULTS
Springfield 70, East Robertson 6
Greenbrier 51, White House Heritage 30
Greenbrier 55, East Robertson 12
Springfield 54, White House Heritage 30
White House Heritage 54, East Robertson 24
Springfield 39, Greenbrier 30
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.