By Chris Parker
Nevada wrestling returns one state qualifier each for the boys and girls teams this year.
Lotus Van Dyk became Nevada’s first female state wrestling qualifier coming up just one win short of a medal at the inaugural girls state wrestling tournament.
“What Lotus was able to accomplish last season raised the awareness of girls wrestling in our school and town. I think it has encouraged more participation and we will have more girls out for the team this season,” Nevada head coach David Hawks said. “Any time you get to compete at the state tournament it is a learning experience. I think this is even more so for a freshman, she now has three more years to improve on her results.”
Lane Brooks is the returning state qualifier on the boys side. He qualified at 113 pounds last year as a sophomore, but did not place.
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“Lane certainly had a learning experience last year in Columbia. I think he has grown as a person and is determined to not let the same thing happen this year,” Hawks said. “Lane has been active on the swim team this fall, so we are excited to see how that is going to help improve his wrestling. We’re confident his conditioning will be at a higher level than it has been in the past.”
Nevada will have some good senior leadership in Corbin Eastwood and Brock Marquardt.
“We will look to these two to be our leaders in the practice room,” Hawks said. “The best thing about Corbin and Brock is that they are great students and community members. We expect for Corbin to be around the middle weights again and for Brock to have a spot in the upper weights.”
The girls program will be bigger this year after Van Dyk’s strong performance last year.
“We are excited about our girls program continuing to grow. What Lotus did last year is really helping grow girls wrestling in Nevada. We think we’ll have some quality girls that could do well this year. We should also have several freshmen coming in up and down the weight classes that will help push our older guys in the practice room,” Hawks said.
