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Date: 4/20/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Third place in a nationwide tournament? No sweat, according to Musa Tamaradze.
Asked by the School Committee if he felt extra pressure competing at the high school nationals last month in Virginia Beach, VA, the West Springfield High School sophomore said he approached it as no different from the Western Massachusetts competitions he won, or the state competition he won, or the New England competition he won, after dominating the local wrestling scene this season.
“It was fun,” he told the School Committee on April 5. “Nothing special about it. Just another tournament.”
Tamaradze started wrestling at age 3 at Crazy Monkey, a gym at Springfield Technical Community College. He was inspired to take up the sport by his two older brothers, who were also wrestlers. He said his current goal is to get back to the high school nationals and win it, and to wrestle in Division I for Pennsylvania State University.
His varsity coach, Garrett Kendziera, said Tamaradze is well on his way to reaching those goals.
“Musa is unbelievable on his takedowns,” said Kendziera. “Out of 37 matches, he only got taken down twice the entire season, then twice in nationals. I have seen a huge jump in his performance, and he wrestles a lot in the off-season. He is overall a well-rounded wrestler.”
Tamaradze said a wrestling match can be as short as 30 seconds, if one wrestler can pin the other, but his preferred strategy is to get a technical victory, winning on points, which takes 2-3 minutes.
“I don’t have the patience to pin someone, so tech-ing them is my go-to,” said Tamaradze.
Tamaradze plans to compete in the USA Wrestling junior nationals this summer in Fargo, ND, which he said is the nation’s largest wrestling tournament. He continues to train in the off-season at Grizzly’s in Springfield.
Also at their April 5 meeting, the West Springfield School Committee recognized the high school cheerleading team, which was named the champion of Western Massachusetts and placed fourth in a statewide competition, as well as members of the track and field relay team, which won the Division 2 state tournament and placed sixth in nationals.