By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.–In the year of the McKay Royal Scot Wrestling Team, there was some individual success’.

But Head Coach Troy Thomas knows that there needs to be a bridge between the two, and he could use the individual success’ this year to help for next year.

“When you have individual success, it’s easy for the team to look up at those leaders to see why they’re having so much success,” he said. “It’s a example of ‘follow the leader’ you know.  Do the things that leaders do.

“In this case, our two leaders this year were State Qualifiers, one was a District Champ and the other was a District Runner-Up.  It’s easy to show a kid exactly what to do when you have someone leading by example rather than telling them what to do.”

The two he’s speaking of are Adam Dryden and Andy Rubio.

For Dryden, the senior 170 pound wrestler finished District Runner-up and Qualified for state while Junior teammate Rubio won the 160-pound District Title and qualified for state.

Though Dryden and Rubio both had to withdraw from the State Tournament due to injuries, Rubio saw improvement with his young team thanks to the Coaching staff.

“I felt like we improved a lot mentality wise,” said Rubio.  “It’s been a tough road, but I’m glad I’ve done it with all of my team we’ve improved so much together.  I’m so thankful to have Tyler (Thomas) and Troy come in, it’s a blessing, but that’s just my opinion.

“We’ve grown so much since the first day of practice to the last day of practice, and just want to keep that positive momentum for next year.”

Through all the adversity and injuries, wrestlers stepped up and filled the Varsity line-up for McKay, and with the help of the staff, they were prepared for the most part.

One of them, was first-year wrestler and freshman David Rubio.  Rubio himself in his first season saw him a move or two away at the 145 Districts third-place game from making it to the state bracket himself after being moved up from the Junior Varsity team midseason.

“Overall I think it was a good season for all of us,” Rubio started.  “We all improved since the first day we’ve got on the mat to the last day.  I think we all put in work for each of our weights and at Districts it showed.

“Getting bumped up to Varsity it was huge for me cause I was (junior varsity) majority of the season I think.  Just being able to help the team out, it was a great feeling.”

With the future looking bright for the Royal Scots, with the Rubio Brothers, Matt Jarding coming back from injury, and Salvador “Chava” Camargo coming back to lead the way for the McKay team hungry to make some noise, the future is now.

For the past and present, Dryden, as the Waldo Middle and Stephens Middle School meet was about to begin, shared some thoughts for the youngsters below him:

Work hard, never make an excuse and always go 100-percent no matter what.

In this sport, missing one day at practice could mean not making it to State or not placing at a District Tournament,” he said.  “So show up every day, go 100-percent, be dedicated to the sport and not making excuses for yourself, that’s how you become successful.

“Always show up to practice, never having a off day.  If you do have a off day, maybe a bye week, enjoy that time off, but still push hard.”

Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013).  Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81