Freshman Scott Strappelli fell to the mat in disbelief and lowered his bandaged face into his hands as the screams of his teammates and spectators engulfed him. Tears pooling in his eyes, Strappelli rose to his feet and embraced his father as the first freshman in JC history to win the Maryland Independent School State Championships.
“Before my match, I prayed for strength to just do my best. My dad was very nervous, but for once in my life, I went out to that match very calm and confident that I could do it,” said Strappelli.
During the championship match, Strappelli wrestled with his face wrapped because his nose was sporadically bleeding due to a nose injury in a previous match.
However, the road to the championships started early for Strappelli. He said, “My dad has always said that Junior League wrestling [up to 8th grade] is all practice for high school, so I’ve been training my whole wrestling season to win a high school state championship.”
Varsity wrestling coach Keith Watson contributes Strappelli’s success to his desire, said Watson, “He wants to be good and works hard at it.”
Strappelli was first introduced to wrestling at age six when his father wanted to see how he would do in the sport.
Unlike most athletes, Strappelli “like[s] the anxiety before a match.” Strappelli also enjoys the individuality of wrestling, “the man versus man conflict.”
He finds motivation from his dad and his wrestling partner George Weber.
Strappelli found cutting down from 120 pounds to 112 pounds to fit into his weight class the hardest challenge of the season. “All I really did was to eat healthy and stay off the junk food,” said Strappelli.
“Winning state [championships] as the only freshman would have to be my favorite memory,” said Strappelli. He also won the MIAA championship in his weight class. Winning the state championship qualified him to compete in National Preps.
He is interested in wrestling in college, in particular at Liberty College, “but that is a long way off.”
Rachel Kokoska can be reached for comment at [email protected]. Kate Froehlich can be reached for comment at [email protected].