Our wrestling team is off to a strong start in the young season. The Bengals had a great showing in their opening tournament, with multiple players performing well. With a team that came into the season hungry to win, big things were expected from this year’s squad. 

Their second opportunity of the season was a duel with their rival Holly Springs Hawks. 

“We were excited about the challenge that going against a good team like Holly Springs presented us,” said senior 195-220 pound wrestler Marcus Roach.

Fuquay came in firing on all cylinders, winning their first two matches of the night. Things tightened up as the fighters got heavier. In the end, it would come down to the final match in the heavyweight match. Fuquay would fall in the match, losing a tough battle.

“It was a hard-fought match, but we’ll be on our A game next time,” Roach said.

This lit a fire for players and coaches alike. For the entirety of the following week, in addition to their normal after-school practice, the team showed up to school early to get extra conditioning in. 

“It was really tough getting up that early, but I think it made us better and I’m excited to see what we can do in the future,” said freshman 195-220 pound wrestler Lucas Prestipino.

The team was hoping for that extra practice to pay off this past weekend when they participated in their second tournament, the Jim King Invitational at Orange High School. They performed well and were able to place sixth out of 23 schools that competed. Our team was also able to beat out rival schools like Middle Creek and Apex.

The Fuquay-Varina High School wrestling team looks to keep rolling at the Rosewood Invitational at Rosewood High School on Dec. 12.