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Wrestling Trio Qualifies For State

Dreams of a huge crowd chanting your name, a heavy medal around your neck, and a view of the sweaty mats beneath just a little bit higher than everybody else no doubt filled three Westminster students minds last night, as a pair of Seniors, Sam Terrana and Alex Hopkins, and Sophomore Jesse Parham celebrated their individual state qualifications.

For Alex Hopkins, his wins in the district tournament pushed his season total to 31. His total losses on the season: 0. This was Alex’s first district championship, and he moves one step closer to his high school ambition of winning the Columbia, Missouri state championship, with this being his third such tournament. Alex Hopkins and Sam Terrana love to push themselves, and as Terrana said after winning his third district tournament, “This is something we have been working towards our entire high school career.” Alex quickly added, “Obsessed is what the lazy call dedicated.” The dynamic wrestling duo are anything but lazy, as the two have pushed each other day in and day out to become the best.

For the young Jesse Parham, sophomore, the two-day event was a whirlwind, as he qualified for his second state championship despite only having the opportunity to do so in two years. “It made me feel so great to win [some key] matches and be a two-time state qualifier as a sophomore.”

He won his match Friday, lost one early Saturday morning, moving him into his third and all-important state qualification match. Jesse won the match by two points, commenting that “[Qualifying for state] just got me really hyped going into that particular match.”

After qualifying for state, Parham had to then complete one more placing match, narrowing his final rank to either a bronze or a mere fourth place finish. The final match, Jesse quickly was taken down, but rebounded incredibly well with mental poise well beyond that of a typical sophomore to rally from behind and continue to pad his lead. “It’s all about mental toughness. I hurt my shoulder but totally forgot about it during the match and moved forward. I never gave up or got down, I just kept my head up and stayed mentally tough. I felt I was able to win and beat him mentally as well as by points just by keeping my head up throughout,” Jesse said after the match.

After the grueling district championship, some of the teammates got together and just hung out, but for three Westminster wrestlers, it’s time to make dreams reality as they each look to earn a title this Thursday through Saturday in the enormous Mizzou Arena.