King of the room - Preston Richard, Castle

[grappler87]

Monday, December 8, 2008

 

From the moment his alarm clock goes off at 5:30 every morning, Preston Richard rededicates himself to the struggle and gets ready for a daily run that takes place while his competition may still be catching another hour of shut-eye.

 

For Richard, there is no other option. Everyone the 145-pound Castle High School wrestler faces this season represents someone with the capability of winning ? a prospect that drives him from the moment he wakes up.

 

"I feel like I have to be ready to wrestle every match," said Richard, who qualified for the state tournament before getting knocked out in the first round and ending the season with a somewhat hollow 40-4 record.

 

"I don't pay attention to names because you never know who might be capable of beating you," he said. "You have to be ready to wrestle every match like it's your last one. I'm only worried about that next match. I'm not worried about that match in February."

 

That match in February refers to the individual state championship at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse. Last year, Richard arrived with a stellar 40-3 record and it is obvious his performance then galls and motivates him to this day.

 

Facing Bellmont's Tyler Baker in the win-or-go-home opening round of the state finals, Richard was overwhelmed in a 14-4 loss that ended his season and started his quest to return. Despite a season in which he often dominated opponents and earned a regional championship in a deep and dangerous weight class, Richard mostly remembers the loss that ended it.

 

"I know I didn't wrestle the way I wanted to," he said, sitting in a quiet hallway outside the Castle gym during Saturday's Castle Invitational. "Everything about it was different and I didn't adjust very well.

 

"There's not a lot of floor space, but there's a lot of volume at Conseco. Then you look up and see all of those seats and the ones at the top look so tiny."

 

Had Richard been as focused on Baker and a string of takedowns, he may have turned in a better showing. In this match, however, he was second best and that's a fact he's not willing to let go of.

 

"I don't think it's just me," said Richard, who currently holds the No. 6 state ranking at 145. "I think our whole team considers itself second best.

 

"The guy that's second best has to work harder than No. 1. The second-best guy is going to have to be ready to fight to the end because he has to. You have to have that attitude every time you wrestle and every time you go into the wrestling room."

 

But to be a champion, there comes a point when every extra mile run, every bloodied nose in practice and every close battle won transforms the psyche. At some point the ultimate champion will be the one who believes in his heart that the win belongs to him.

 

Castle coach Bob Harmon believes that last degree of confidence is the only thing separating Richard from a triumphant return to Conseco.

 

"Preston is everything you'd hope for in a kid," Harmon said. "He's really hard-working, he puts in his time and he does extra. The biggest thing for him now is the confidence thing.

 

"I think he learned a lot last year. Going up there and being in that atmosphere for the first time is tough, and then in the back of his mind he felt like he might have had a little bit of a weakness on his feet and that just gives you a little more vulnerability."

 

It is the difference between winning and losing at Conseco, but there isn't a day that goes by that Richard doesn't improve and gain confidence, thanks in large measure to very talented teammates that include eight other semistate returnees.

 

"There's nobody on this team that takes a match off and there's nobody on this team that loafs in practice," he said. "Not in our room. We've got a very competitive situation in our room and everyone is struggling to get better. You're always going to have that fight or two, but practice is practice and that's where it stays."

 

Harmon said that the experience in the room can be humbling but invaluable.

 

"One day you can be king of the room and the next day you can't buy a takedown," he said. "You start getting some success and that builds confidence. Then it's up to you to take it to the next level."

 

It's a place Richard is committed to and reminded of every time the alarm clock goes off.