Takedown Report

Brunswick, New Hanover grapple with middle school wrestling

While Brunswick County sees numbers grow at the high school level thanks to the feeder programs, New Hanover County has yet to add wrestling to its middle schools. Mark Samuel is on a fast track to becoming one of the best wrestlers in Wilmington. The freshman is 33-2 in his debut season with Laney, already with a couple of tournament titles and an undefeated record in the Mideastern Conference. Samuel’s prowess at the high school level would normally come with a sterling middle school career, but that wasn’t possible. New Hanover County doesn’t offer middle school wrestling. Neither does Pender County, with Brunswick the lone area county to feature middle school wrestling.

It hasn’t stopped Samuel from lighting the wrestling scene on fire. He practiced four-to-five days a week with his club in the buildup to his high school career. However, middle school wrestling carries an impact across the region, both good for Brunswick and some negative effects for New Hanover.“ It would be better for a lot of kids,” Samuel said. “It would just be another school sport. Kids could come in to school and stay to practice. It’s a lot of fun, too, when you get to see your friends, and we can try to get our friends out to practice and on the team.” Rest of the story at https://www.starnewsonline.com/sports/20190114/brunswick-new-hanover-grapple-with-middle-school-wrestling

January 27, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized