“The team’s season was not bad. It was a lot shorter than normal, and we didn’t wrestle as many times as we usually would. But we were able to achieve some pretty great things,” Emil Ayala, member of the North Augusta High School wrestling team for two years, explains when asked about the wrestling season this year. The North Augusta wrestling team faced many challenges with the pandemic due to the physical aspect of the sport. “The whole team got quarantined and we missed two weeks of practice. It really hurt us as a team,” says Eman Coulibaly, member of the wrestling team for three seasons. Out of a normal total of sixteen wrestling events, the team was only able to attend ten of them. Despite the drawbacks faced, the wrestling team was able to achieve second place in the Girls’ State Championship. They were also able to send ten people to compete in the Lower State tournament.
Although the season was difficult this year, Coulibaly and Ayala both enjoyed being a part of the team. “I love the team environment. Everyone is a hard worker and are easy to be comfortable around and become friends with,” Ayala says, when asked about his experience with the team this year and years prior. “They’re not ashamed of their weaknesses and instead focus on becoming better,” concludes Ayala. Coulibaly adds that his favorite part of being a part of the wrestling team was “the family aspect of wrestling.” He also states that with a little hard work and team bonding the team next year will “be a menace” to challenging competitors.
Pictured here, are various boys on the NAHS Wrestling team.
Photo Credit: Emma Carter
Ayala encourages others to try wrestling, stating, “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or who you are, it doesn’t matter your gender or background. Wrestling is a sport anyone can come into and become great at it if you put enough training into it.”
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