Finishing third in Region 2-6A and having to travel north to Dunwoody for the Team Dual Wrestling Prelims, the Glynn Academy team reached its first state championship appearance since 2009.
Over the weekend, Glynn Academy traveled to Gainesville High School as one of eight remaining teams looking to hoist the 6A Duals State Championship title.
“The only thing that they proved is that all the hard work and the effort they have put in for the past two years has kind of come to fruition,” said Glynn Academy wrestling coach Ryan Alfau. “I think this group of kids has really bought into the idea that being successful and growing and developing is a day-to-day thing. It’s controlling the small things on a day-to-day basis and continually controlling the things that we can. The success that we have had this year I think is just the tip of the iceberg because we are a young group.”
The young group battled through some adversity to start their state championships, losing 49-22 to Woodward Academy and dropping down to the loser’s bracket. Not giving up on being in the moment, Coach Alfau said the goal for the group was to move on and continue battling.
“The approach that we take in any situation like that, especially coaching a group of kids, is that you don’t want to think too far ahead,” Alfau said. “Take a tough loss and the immediate thing is to try and figure out a way to bounce back and moving forward after that. The goal is to really tell them ‘Hey, let’s take every moment in, and let’s try to enjoy every moment and let’s look at every moment as an opportunity to compete and an opportunity to showcase what we do, and the direction that this program is headed.’ They just really took to that.”
Taking to that message, the Terrors rallied to pick up wins over Lee County (46-28) and Creekview (39-27) to reach the third-place match against Woodward Academy once more.
“What we have always preached in the room ever since I got here was ‘Hey we want in.’ We want into the party and to be one of the programs that everybody looks at and says, ‘Hey, these guys work hard,’” Alfau said. “We want to create and identify for ourselves to be really physical and tough wrestling. We wanted to showcase not only our toughness and our grit but also our conditioning. I think that’s what sets us apart.
“As long as you are doing that, I think a lot of those programs, start to figure out that we are serious about what we do and we take ourselves seriously. That was important as well.”
Losing 42-29 to Woodward Academy, Glynn Academy finished in fourth place, but Coach Alfau said fourth was only an accomplishment as the goal was to win it all, and he knows his kids believe that as well.
What the program has achieved in two years under Alfau is something that has stemmed from a saying that he has etched into the program.
“We’ve established in this program the saying of the ‘Program’s bigger than the Team, the Team is bigger than the Individual,’” Alfau said of the establishment of PTI. “That’s trying to establish a service-minded mentality with the kids and how they kind of approach their day-to-day and serving a bigger purpose. The goal is to do everything the right way for the program, and the team.
“They really took to that, and they just went out and competed. Some kids had to come up big against some kids that on paper they shouldn’t be on the mat with, and some kids had to keep it close and everybody did their job. That’s a big testament to what they have done over the past couple of years. Now, we are the fourth-best team in the state, and we are continuing the growth.”