Thursday, January 28, 2010
Demons prepare for title defense
And Christiansburg High School junior Rich Eva plans to repeat as state champion by acting as if he didn't win it last year.
MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times
Christiansburg High School junior Rich Eva (right) goes against Chad Morrison of Parkersburg during the 152-weight class championship match of the Big Blue tournament Saturday at Christiansburg High School. Eva defeated Morrison 3-1 for the title.
| Chuck Altizer
Special to The Roanoke Times
How do you fire up a defending individual state champion and a team that has won eight straight Group AA titles?
Tell them that you are working harder than they are.
That is what a member of the Grundy wrestling team said after the Golden Wave captured the Big Orange tournament last weekend in Roanoke County.
Christiansburg made note of the comments after the Blue Demons themselves captured their own Big Blue tournament this past Saturday.
The two are scheduled to square off in a duel meet Friday night at Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum and according to one of Christiansburg's returning state champions, Rich Eva, there is no way that Grundy is going to get to them.
"They live in their own little world over there in Grundy," he said. "They can say what they want but they are not going to get in our heads."
Just a junior, Eva is the defending champion in the 145-pound weight class and has started out this season strong by going 27-8, including winning the Big Blue for the first time ever after bumping up to the 152-pound class.
"It was the first time I have ever won it in high school," Eva said about winning the Big Blue.
"My first couple of years, I finished second and third against older, more experienced wrestlers, and this year I felt like I was the older, more experienced wrestler, and I was able to wrestle tough and take advantage of that."
Eva is passionate about wrestling, even keeping his career record of 112-31 on the face of his cellphone.
This passion is something that his coach, Daryl Weber, sees every day.
"His attitude on and off the mat allows him to be successful," Weber said. "He works hard in the wrestling room and out of the wrestling room. We talk about doing the little things because every time you cut a corner, it affects your confidence in a tough situation."
Eva's work inside the wrestling room helped him defeat a defending state champion in three overtimes to capture his first individual title last season.
His work outside the halls of wrestling at Christiansburg High have led to his 4.0 grade-point average, but preparing as he has never done it before keeps Eva mentally strong for a second title.
"If I'm going to win another title, I'm going to have to be disciplined and train like I have never won it before," he said.
"If I train like I have already won it, then I am not going to work as hard. I know I train hard and I can push myself when times are tough. That is what makes me confident that I can win each time I wrestle."
Confidence is something that runs high in the Christiansburg camp.
So much so, that Weber didn't even need to say much to his grapplers after the comments made by the Golden Wave.
"I didn't think I have to say hardly anything. Our kids believe we work harder than anyone," he said. "That is the attitude of this team that nobody works harder than us and they believe it. Just because somebody says it in the paper doesn't make it true.
"Grundy has a good team this year, and it will be a test for us and we are looking forward to a big challenge."
