In mid-January, senior Tyler Carter landed a match-winning pin against Canon-McMillan, which ensured that Baldwin’s wrestling team would be heading back to the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
“Against Canon Mac, I pinned my kid and that was a match-sealing pin, so it was a pretty key moment for us. That pretty much sent us to playoffs,” Carter said.
Junior Ramil Islamov agreed about the importance of that moment for the team.
“I would say one of the memorable things of this season was us beating Canon Mac,” Islamov said. ¨We were losing to Canon Mac, and Tyler Carter ended up throwing this dude and pinning him, so that was pretty cool,” Islamov said.
Islamov, who has been playing for Baldwin all through high school, has seen this team grow in various ways.
“Last season and the years before that, we did not have that many numbers compared to other schools, but this year we are really competing. We have such a bigger group of guys and they’re all older, so we’re making things happen,” Islamov said.
Senior Keith Mincin is proud of the effort that the team has put in this year.
“Everybody took the next step at practice and actually contributed instead of messing around,” Mincin said.
Being on the team that returns Baldwin to wrestling playoffs makes them proud, Carter said.
“It’s really good since I’ve only wrestled for two years, and accomplishing something like that is very huge for us, the team, and the future,” Carter said.
The wrestling team faces North Allegheny in the WPIAL playoffs at 6 p.m. tonight at Bethel Park.
Going into tonight’s matchup, team members recognize the challenge ahead of them.
“I think it could be close but everyone needs to wrestle well and definitely not get pinned,” Carter said.
Sophomore Parraish Brinson understands the importance of the team making the playoffs for the first time in two decades. With that feeling of accomplishment has come some stress, he said.
“Being on the morning news, my teachers talking to me about it – it is a lot of pressure,” Brinson said.
Overall, there are feelings of positivity and trust in the team’s abilities.
“They’re a pretty good school but I think we’ll be able to beat them,” freshman Michael Griffiths said.
As for future years, Mincin sees good things ahead for Baldwin wrestling.
“The underclassmen are going to improve a lot and are definitely going to make playoffs within the next few years,” Mincin said.
