“Pin him, take him down!” are words that can be heard at any Savannah Arts Academy wrestling match. The adrenaline rush from facing your opponent one on one is only fueled by the cheering of fans and the yelling encouragements from your team members on the side lines.

   This year Savannah Arts Academy has two new additions to the wrestling team family, Coach Ricciardi and Coach Holcey.  The Head Coach, Coach Olson, now has two more assistants take the team to the next level.

                On December 9^th, December 16^th, or January 27^th SAA students, came to the school at 5:00 p.m and watched the wrestling team compete against the competitors that dared to challenge them.  Most Tuesdays and Thursdays the wrestling team has matches against several different schools which include; Windsor Forest High School, H.V Jenkins High School, Richmond Hill High school, Benedictine Military School, Johnson High School, and Brunswick High School.

     SAA wrestlers include, David Mongin (senior), Jake Hill (senior), Nathaniel Washington (senior), Jared Jackson (senior), Benjamin Bolton (junior), Zachary Cornelius (junior), Robert Wilhelm (junior), Nathan Foo (junior), Jeffrey Beauvais (sophomore), Patrick Cornelius (sophomore),  Demond Davis (sophomore), Nick Yaquinto (sophomore), Neal Kaviratna (freshman), Spencer Gerren (freshman), Zach Paradowski (sophomore), Austin Fall (freshman), Justin Bennett (freshman), Alan Wood (freshman), Jonathan Swain (freshman), and Micheal Durkee (freshman). Every wrestler on the team is devoted to wrestling and works hard to maintain there weight. Wrestlers have to stick to specifics diets so that they can wrestle in their weight class which range from 125 to over 200 pounds.

     Glory Padgett volunteers as a mat maid (or assistant) for the wrestling team and she describes the experience of being involved with the wrestling team, “I love hanging out with the boys and my friends and you get to meet a lot of cool people. It teaches you a lot of responsibility.”

     When Coach Olson knew that Coach Ricciardi was going to start teaching at SAA it was a mutual agreement that he would be an assistant coach. Nathan Foo, a junior wrestler says, “Ricciardi is a beast.” Coach Ricciardi has nine years of coaching wrestling and four years of being a head coach. Coach Ricciardi says, “My coaching is more technical and watching your opponent. I grew up in an area where wrestling was predominant.” Coach Ricciardi continues to describe his passion for the sport, “I just love it because it’s a one on one sport and you have no one to blame but your self. It’s a unique sport.”

     Coach Holsey is a teacher at the downtown alternative school, who came to help out the team. With two assistant coaches Coach Olson says, “Its makes it a lot easier and two other coaches to divvy up the team; more opportunity to learn.”

     Mrs. Chapman was the former Assistant coach and Coach Olson says, “We still miss Mrs. Chapman.”

      This has been an extraordinary year for the team as a whole, “I think this is the first year that we beat Jenkins” says, Coach Riccardi. Jenkins is a formidable opponent and defeating them is a great accomplishment. Patrick Cornelius, a sophomore wrestler this year won first place in one of the many tournaments that are held over the weekends. “The team has definitely improved” says Coach Ricciardi.

                Great job to the SAA wrestling team and keep up the good work!