The Caleb Hawkins Tournament was on December 2, 2017 by West, the annual hosts of the tournament. This tournament is held in honor of Caleb Hawkins who passed in 2009 due to a car accident. Wrestling started at 9 a.m., with some wrestlers arriving as early as 6:30 a.m., and did not end until 6 p.m.

West’s varsity wrestling team achieved first overall with a total of 195 points; for the eighth year in a row, the Trojans have won. West also had a wrestler nominated as most outstanding wrestler, Jacary Bethel.

“I feel good about it [winning most outstanding wrestler], I guess. I was pretty excited about it, I’m not going to flex” said Bethel, “I’m excited [about future tournaments] because I’m a beast.”

Ethan Reed is a junior at west and a JV wrestler. This is his first year wrestling, and the Caleb Hawkins tournament was his first tournament ever.

“I like it [wrestling] a lot. It’s so fun” said Reed, ” Wrestling [my first time] wasn’t scary; I was more nervous. It was like nervous, excited, nervous, but not scary”.

Reed got third place in his first tournament and even met a mile stone.

“I was excited to win–I was very excited” said Reed, “One of my milestones in sports: pin someone in a wrestling match. It [pinning someone] was my last victory to get third place.”

Reed really enjoyed his first tournament.

“[Winning] felt like that itch you can’t scratch, but then you scratch it” said Reed,”It was good. It was good. It was twelve hours of hard work, dedication, blood sweat and tears”.

Another wrestler, Rolando Colon, also enjoyed the tournament.

“The tournament was a great turn out. The team–we all wrestled well because we won the tournament” said Colon, “It was lit; it was a lot of fun”.

Winners in the tournament were:

Varsity

• Masion Haley, first place
• Gavin Bipes, second place
• Jeremiah Daley, second place
• Lincoln Smith, first place
• Jacery Bethel, first place
• Sae-vyon Mccray, second place
• Rolando Colon, third place

Junior Varsity

• Christian Smith, first place
• John Fulford, second place
• Ethan Reed, third place
• Demante Frink, first place
• Devonte Frink, second place
• Javon Bethel, first place
• Zander Homes, third place
• Kasey Hollar, third place