Spartan wrestler takes the conference

From half nelsons to arm bars to spadles, wrestling is no joke.
Junior Ramos, a senior who’s going into his fourth year of wrestling, recently placed first in the Patriot Conference Championship. Ramos competed in the 138 pound weight class, and ranked as the top wrestler in the conference, which includes Lake Braddock, South County, and TC Williams.
Becoming a champion takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
In order for wrestler to compete, they need to be a certain weight to wrestle with a specific weight class; if you don’t make weight, you can’t compete.
“I biked every day to cut weight” said Ramos, making sure that he was physically ready to compete at the event.
Making weight means nothing if you haven’t properly trained for your match.Hundreds of various takedowns, throws, and pins can be mastered that aid the wrestler in winning the match.
Some find certain moves to be more successful and effective than others; it all depends on the style of the wrestler.
“My neutral position is my best, and my high crotch takedown is my most used and most successful technique” said Ramos.
Before winning the Patriot Conference Championship, Ramos had been wrestling since his freshman year in high school.
“My friends from freshman football encouraged me to wrestle and I fell in love with it, it felt natural to me” said Ramos.
Wrestling for some people can start at a very young age. Many sports programs around Virginia offer wrestling classes and tournaments for kids as young as 5 years old. Despite the disadvantage of being a “newcomer” to the sport, Ramos proved that a couple years of hard training and dedication can truly pay off.
“All the good wrestlers had been wrestling since they were 5, I had to make up 10 years of experience” said Ramos.
Competing in a tough sport like wrestling isn’t just rough training and preparation, but also competing with your teammates and building strong friendships.
“Hanging out with the team is one of my best memories” said Ramos.
Through the pain of waking up at 5 in the morning to go to practice, and surviving all of the harsh training, the team always sticks together.
Goals can be reached with a lot of determination practice, and hard work is necessary, to be successful
“Even though I hated it, waking up at 5 am to go wrestle was one of the best feelings”, said Ramos.