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The Arlington Advocate
It's a first for AHS wrestling
By Doug Hastings
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Teammate Joe Bench called him "The Show" on Saturday.
All Arlington High senior Eric Avakov really wants to be called is a
New England finalist, the first-ever in the history of Arlington's
relatively young program. But Bench insists, watching Avakov battle his way
to a third-place finish in the 125-pound division at the all-state
championship tournament on Saturday in Salem was a sight to behold.
"He was awesome," said Bench, who also competed in the 160-pound weight
class on Saturday. "Eric puts a tremendous amount of time into (wrestling)
in the offseason. I think he's the most technical wrestler to come out of
Arlington."
"You get out of it what you put into it," said AHS coach Kevin
Cummings. "This is a testimony to Eric's offseason work. To represent
Massachusetts (at New Englands) as one of the top three wrestlers in state?
That's cool. It's an honor and anything after this is icing on the cake."
Avakov, who qualified for All-States with a fourth-place finish at the
Div. 2 state finals last weekend, started the all-state event with a loss,
but rebounded to win his next four matches. All four victories came against
opponents he had lost to earlier in the year.
"He had a great day, especially after losing his first match," said
Cummings. "He certainly impressed the heck out of me."
"It's kind of sinking in right now," said Avakov, who hopes to wrestle
next year at Springfield College or Bridgewater State College. "But now I
have to prepare for (Saturday). You can't stop now. (New Englands) was my
whole goal this season. Over the summer I decided that I really wanted to go
out with a bang."
Avakov admits, suffering a loss right at the start of his biggest
tournament ever wasn't easy to deal with.
"Obviously, it's a blow to you," he said. "But you just have to stay
positive. It's one match... don't worry about it and that's just how I
thought. Everything I've worked for, I wasn't going to throw it away on one
match."
So he regrouped and took to the mat against wrestlers he had seen
before.
"All of those guys I lost to, I lost by only a point or two," Avakov
said. "I felt comfortable that if I could get them one more time..."
Something like Saturday would happen.
"Against each kid, I knew what I wanted to do," said Avakov, who was
born in Armenia but has lived in the United States since he was about three
years old. "You just try to take away from how they like to feel
comfortable. I approach every match the same way, but the thought process
was different."
"I told him that the only difference between him and the others was who
was going to be mentally tougher," Cummings said. "I knew there wasn't much
difference between he and the best. Eric's really peaking at the right
time."
'You get out of it what you put into it. This is a testimony to Eric's
offseason work. To represent Massachusetts (at New Englands) as one of the
top three wrestlers in state? That's cool. It's an honor and anything after
this is icing on the cake.'
- Kevin Cummings, AHS wrestling coach
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
It's a first for AHS wrestling
By Doug Hastings
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Teammate Joe Bench called him "The Show" on Saturday.
All Arlington High senior Eric Avakov really wants to be called is a
New England finalist, the first-ever in the history of Arlington's
relatively young program. But Bench insists, watching Avakov battle his way
to a third-place finish in the 125-pound division at the all-state
championship tournament on Saturday in Salem was a sight to behold.
"He was awesome," said Bench, who also competed in the 160-pound weight
class on Saturday. "Eric puts a tremendous amount of time into (wrestling)
in the offseason. I think he's the most technical wrestler to come out of
Arlington."
"You get out of it what you put into it," said AHS coach Kevin
Cummings. "This is a testimony to Eric's offseason work. To represent
Massachusetts (at New Englands) as one of the top three wrestlers in state?
That's cool. It's an honor and anything after this is icing on the cake."
Avakov, who qualified for All-States with a fourth-place finish at the
Div. 2 state finals last weekend, started the all-state event with a loss,
but rebounded to win his next four matches. All four victories came against
opponents he had lost to earlier in the year.
"He had a great day, especially after losing his first match," said
Cummings. "He certainly impressed the heck out of me."
"It's kind of sinking in right now," said Avakov, who hopes to wrestle
next year at Springfield College or Bridgewater State College. "But now I
have to prepare for (Saturday). You can't stop now. (New Englands) was my
whole goal this season. Over the summer I decided that I really wanted to go
out with a bang."
Avakov admits, suffering a loss right at the start of his biggest
tournament ever wasn't easy to deal with.
"Obviously, it's a blow to you," he said. "But you just have to stay
positive. It's one match... don't worry about it and that's just how I
thought. Everything I've worked for, I wasn't going to throw it away on one
match."
So he regrouped and took to the mat against wrestlers he had seen
before.
"All of those guys I lost to, I lost by only a point or two," Avakov
said. "I felt comfortable that if I could get them one more time..."
Something like Saturday would happen.
"Against each kid, I knew what I wanted to do," said Avakov, who was
born in Armenia but has lived in the United States since he was about three
years old. "You just try to take away from how they like to feel
comfortable. I approach every match the same way, but the thought process
was different."
"I told him that the only difference between him and the others was who
was going to be mentally tougher," Cummings said. "I knew there wasn't much
difference between he and the best. Eric's really peaking at the right
time."
'You get out of it what you put into it. This is a testimony to Eric's
offseason work. To represent Massachusetts (at New Englands) as one of the
top three wrestlers in state? That's cool. It's an honor and anything after
this is icing on the cake.'
- Kevin Cummings, AHS wrestling coach
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress