Aden Carl of Medical Lake works to pin his opponent, Lincoln Wright of Freeman at the Wrestle Rama event at West Valley High School in Spokane Valley.
MEDICAL LAKE – After having placed third in state last year, and fourth in state the year before, and sixth in his freshman year, 17-year-old Aden Carl said he has his sights set on taking first this year.
Carl said he is extremely proud of his success and accomplishments as a Cardinal wrestler so far, but his goal is to win state before he graduates.
The wrestler is undefeated this season with a strong record of 22 wins and no losses, and said he feels confident he can win but he still has a lot of hard work ahead of him. Being able to put in the consistent hard work both in and out of practice has helped him develop and strengthen his skillsets he said, "I watch film, workout, and practice moves." He puts a lot of emphasis on solidifying the basics he said
Carl said he makes his practices difficult by giving his full effort and focusing on really developing one skill at a time.
He spoke about developing friendships has been an extremely important part of his and the team's success, and said, "having a good relationship with your teammates is very important if you do not trust the people you are wrestling with you will not have the best possible practice. That can affect matches and when you are part of a good team you can trust everything else will fall into place and make it easier to succeed as a team and individual."
Medical Lake wrestling coach Garret Raulston recognizes the 17-year-old as a key motivator for the team and said, "Aden is one of those kids that put 110% in all the time. Whether he's hurt or not he pushes himself through any adversity to make himself better. He pushes everyone in the room as well. He's grown into a great leader on and off the mat."
Raulston said Carl is one of the kids that can always be counted on to help his teammates work harder to improve.
The young wrestler said getting to where he is now has taken a lot of hard work, but through his 12 years of wrestling he said the support of his father, Tory Carl, has been the most influential part of his growth in the sport. The young man said his father wrestled when he was younger, and that is one of the reasons Aden initially started.
Aden's father said he has coached him since he was five years old and remained steadfast in his journey to learn and improve.
Wayne Terry, who has been a coach with the Mat Maulers wrestling club for 40 years said Aden used to wrestle for him when he was a kid. Terry remembers Carl was always a bit smaller, but said "the kid always put an incredible amount of hard work and dedication into improving."
Terry said the wrestler's work ethic has always been impeccable, and that "Aden is just a quality person and a good kid."
His father said Aden was a good solid wrestler going into high school but placing in his freshman year wasn't something they had anticipated.
The wrestler's father spoke about Aden potentially making wrestling history for Medical Lake and said, "one of his goals is to be only the second wrestler at Medical Lake High School to place all four years."
The 17-year-old said he attributes a lot of his drive and determination to the people around him supporting his choices, and that wrestling has taught him to be a better person and push himself to expand his limits and help his teammates along the way.
Carl said he would like to go into a collegiate wrestling program but hasn't made a final decision and wants to keep his options open for now.
Matthew can be reached at [email protected]
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