Article Body:
Two thousand and two Norwood graduate and now returning wrestling coach Billy McDermott looks to start a new tradition with the Mustang grapplers. The four-year wrestler for Norwood High School was helping out the team after graduating and was actually the head coach for the 2009-10 season before he had to step down due to an outside situation.
Returning for a second stint, McDermott is looking to take the team back to the basics.
“We have a rather young squad, where we’re still looking to fill some gaps, but we have talent,” the Mustang Coach said. “I’m looking to take these young athletes and start a new tradition here at Norwood.”
McDermott will have only two seniors on this year’s roster in Greg Williams (132) and Jacob Wilson (wants to be a 138, but 145 looks more realistic of a weight class). Williams has wrestled great, but unfortunately has continually found himself in a tough weight class, while Wilson needs to shy away from being passive aggressive and take control on the mat instead of sitting back and waiting for his opponent.
“Greg needs to get back to the basics of wrestling and he should be successful,” McDermott said. “You have to remember, he’s had four coaches in four years each with a different style. I want to take him back to the basics; I had Greg in junior high school where he was a little tree that was beginning to grow.”
Despite only having two seniors, McDermott believes his young team should not have captains, but instead have leaders. Williams and Wilson will be the team leaders for this young, inexperienced team and whoever is having a good week will be named as a honorary leader. McDermott believes it will give the young wrestlers motivation to improve their game.
A couple of other grapplers that the coach is looking to have a competitive season will be junior heavyweight Garfield Sales and junior Christian Farris (126). According to McDermott, Farris wrestled tough last winter and made a name for himself, while Sales put a Sectional Champion on his back last year as a sophomore.
The team will also see a lot of younger kids taking to the mat this season.
“We will be hearing a lot from the younger kids,” McDermott said. “I don’t want to mention them by name at this time and put too much pressure on them.”
Another thing McDermott has noticed is that the team needs conditioning.
“Last year as I watched the Norwood team wrestling I noticed that they were getting tired,” he said. “So this year I want to get back to conditioning so they can get through the entire match without getting winded.”
Also returning from last year’s team will be Assistant Coach Scott MacLean. Coaching in his second season, McDermott likes his assistant’s background.
“Having been cut from the hockey team in his senior year, Scotty tried out for the wrestling team,” McDermott said. “Wrestling soon took over and he was named a captain during his senior year in college. It’s a real good story for the guys to let them know that anything is possible if they work at it.”
Playing in the Hergett Division of the Bay State League the Norwood Coach knows that it’s not going to be easy, but if the Mustangs can fill the open weight classes they should be competitive.