Wrestling

Carroll Wrestlers Take 3rd, 6th at State

By Michael Sherfield
The Southlake Journal

Kody Weaver surged upward from the mat, sweat pouring down his face, and picked up his coach in celebration, almost swallowing him within his 285-pound frame. Weaver had just secured the bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the state wrestling meet in Austin, and he'd done it against the one person he wanted to beat more than any one else.

"I'm very excited, I worked a whole year to get here," said Weaver, who pinned Alex Wranik of Flower Mound in the second period, avenging a loss in his first ever varsity match.

"It's been a long journey, but it's definitely worth the wait."

His coach at Carroll, Joe Hathaway, was just as excited for his graduating senior.

"This was huge. In his first varsity match, he got pinned by that kid [Wranik], now he's come full circle," Hathaway said.

And it all very nearly didn't happen.

As Weaver was still celebrating his medal, Hathaway remembered a very different conversation with the muscular senior. The one where he had to convince him to come back to the wrestling team that Hathaway, a first-year head coach, was determined to rebuild.

"I'm beside myself," Hathaway said. "From standing next to these guys' lockers [Weaver and junior Dominic Cruciani] trying to talk them back ... to this."

With promises of teaching them the foundation of wrestling while mixing in fun, Hathaway convinced the duo to come back, and they rewarded him with runs deep into the state tournament.

Cruciani finished sixth in the 189-pound class, fighting his way through the consolation rounds after losing his first round match.

He lost twice to Ben Laures of Plano, in his first round match and in the fifth-place final. In between those two losses, he recorded tough wins, including a grueling 1-0 win over Jose Gonzalez of Juarez-Lincoln, before falling to Randall's Jace Bennet in the consolation semifinals.

Weaver took a similar path, losing to Juan Adams of Strake Jesuit in the second round before sweeping though the competition.

In the final, he held a 10-1 lead on Wranik before pinning him in the third period to get revenge and the bronze medal.

"We took some big steps [this weekend]," Hathaway said. "For these guys to be able to perform on this stage it was really huge...we really pushed them."

Now, even as Weaver graduates, Hathaway is seeing the potential for a program to make a name for itself in the years to come.

"We're working on it," he said. "We're on our way."

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