Hopkins Wrestlers Feeling Royal Treatment

The transformation around school is unavoidable. Senior Jacob Price notices it as he walks down the hallway donning a wrestling team sweatshirt, proudly displaying his allegiance to his squad.

Classmates strike up conversations, asking if he was on last year’s state tournament team. The excitement is palpable.

It is, once again, cool to be a Royals wrestler.

“The notoriety we get is awesome,” Price said. “It’s always cool to see new kids come out who didn’t wrestle last year but always talked about how they wanted to wrestle but were worried of being made fun of. But now it’s such a good sport at Hopkins, no one is worried about coming out.”

It might seem like the transformation happened over night, given the team’s long absence from the state tournament. But this has been a building process, one that coach Pat Marcy has overseen since taking over in 2002.

The squad has inched its way toward regaining the reputation it once held as a state powerhouse, something it hasn’t had in more than four decades.

But now it’s different. Now, the Royals are back.

“It’s kind of come full circle,” said Marcy, who individually was a state champion for Hopkins in 1968. “It’s not there yet, but we’re kind of coming full circle. We’re talking 40-50 years. They like to hear that, that they’re a special group.”

It starts with an intensity—a belief in the team. The Royals reached state a year ago and generated that buzz around school, and their inability to advance as a team made the returners hungrier. Hopkins lost to Albert Lea 60-9 and to Centennial 41-22 at state last March.

"The intensity level in this room now is like none I’ve ever seen," Marcy said. "I really believe they saw first hand and were whipped first hand at that intensity level."

The buzz around the team has filled this year’s wrestling room with new talent. Guys like sophomore Matt Parker, who is projected to be the team’s heavyweight, came out for the first time this season.

Parker said it’s the toughest sport he’s ever played, but it’s quickly eclipsing football as his favorite.

“It’s like a family here, so it’s really cool,” he said.

The younger wrestlers are pushing those ahead of them, too—even ones who reached state individually a year ago.

Senior Romar Daniel feels the heat, and he knows the Royals now have a new level of depth that will make them better.

“Spots are always open,” Daniel said. “The challenge matches, it makes us work harder. Knowing someone is trying to take our spot forces us to get better.”

Is it cool to be a Hopkins wrestler these days? You bet, and this group hopes they’ll take the buzz to a new level come March.

“Now we’re more respected, and it’s a lot cooler,” senior Henry Wolfbauer said. “Especially with the basketball program dominating winter sports, now that we’ve had some success, it’s definitely more recognized and a lot more fun.”