By: Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
The Northern Burlington County Regional High School coed varsity wrestling squad’s season has been over for weeks, but sophomore standout Brandy Price’s wrestling year is just beginning.
Recently Price, wrestling at 114 pounds, took 10th place out of 27 wrestlers at the United States Girls’ Wrestling Association National Championship in Michigan on March 19-20.
Wrestlers at the tournament medalled up until 12th place so Price was able to take home some hardware. She wrestled seven bouts over the course of two days and she won four of them.
Although she was not as successful as she hoped, Price was glad she competed in the 2004 Nationals.
“I was happy I went last year because I got (valuable) experience, “said Price, who knew what she needed to do this year to medal.
Price has been very busy as of late. She placed first in the Pennsylvania State Tournament on March 5th.
“I had five matches and I pinned in them all, “said Price, who wrestled at 114 pounds in that one too.
In the Mid-Atlantic Girls’ Wrestling Tournament on March 4th, Price took second overall.
Of course, it’s much easier to dominate when you’ve been a member of one of the best wrestling programs in South Jersey for seven years as Price has.
NBC goes three or four wrestlers deep at nearly every varsity weight class. Therefore, like most of the Greyhounds, Price had to wait her turn just to get varsity bouts. Yet she
wrestled well in all four of her varsity matches and her first varsity win came against a McCorristin 119-pounder.
“I pinned him in the second period on a cradle, “noted Price.
Price posted a 6-7 junior varsity record.
“This year was a real good year for me. The varsity matches you have are really good matches, “said Price, who wrestled at both 112 and 119 pounds. NBC puts nothing but strong teams on its schedule. Price’s schedule is so busy she literally needs both of her parents working overtime just to get her to where she needs to go.
Her father takes her to the tournaments in the tri-state area while her mother makes the long trips with her.
Right now Price is training to wrestle in several freestyle wrestling tournaments, the most important of which will be a National tournament in Fargo, North Dakota this summer.
Wrestling takes incredible strength and endurance. That is why Price ran cross country this past fall and it’s the reason she is currently running the mile on the girls’ track and field team.
This past winter, she loved seeing her team take home the District 25 title. However, she wants to win a starting varsity spot next year.
“I’m hoping for 112. I have a better chance at 112, “said Price, who’ll try to maintain her current wrestling weight.
Already she’s looking at various colleges. She’s like to eventually study veterinarian medicine. For now, though, Price is a “full-time “wrestler and the people of Northern Burlington couldn’t be happier.
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