by Mark Robinson
The Greenbrier East wrestling team held its first practice Monday, seeing about thirty boys turn out. They received some elementary instructions, ran warm-up laps, and tried some wrestling moves, one on one. Coach Brian Miluk hopes to build on last year’s successes. “Last year we broke school records. More points than ever before, we placed higher at the state tournament, we beat Beckley in the Coal Country Challenge, we beat West in their tournament, did well in the Alleghany Tournament, two of our wrestlers placed in states, we had a kid in the finals. It was a good year. We are returning eight of the state qualifiers, and we have several promising 9th graders coming into the program.”
The team lost to graduation state finalist Jaysiel Kinder. They also lost Sheldon Simmons, a state qualifier and team captain. Two other graduates were Brent Miller and Josh Amos.
Coach Miluk said there will be no cuts.
The team keeps every wrestler who comes for a tryout. Fourteen wrestlers will be on the varsity, since there are fourteen weight classifications in the high school wrestling world. The rest of the team members will be on the Green Team, which is sort of like a junior varsity, except that the Green Team wrestle other varsities.
The schedule for the Green Team starts with a December 3 match, the Raider Rumble at Liberty High School in Glen Daniel, in Raleigh County. The varsity goes to Point Pleasant to begin its season the week of Dec 9-10. Coach Miluk is trying to put together a scrimmage at Greenbrier East on Nov 26th, to start at 9 a.m.
Coach Miluk: “We are excited this year. Our motto is Dream On. The kids are starting to reach their dreams. And we’re believing it. I’m excited for these guys, they’re buying into the program.”