Boyd Hubbard comes from an avid wrestling family in Alma, and it’s not surprising that he had a strong season on the mat for the Panthers.
Hubbard is a junior who has been wrestling for 13 years, three years in high school. He went to the state finals in 2013 and lost in the blood round.
He won the Sparta and Leslie tournaments this season as well as a District Title beating eventual state champ, Tristin Zienkiewicz and qualified for state after placing second in the regional , losing Zienkiewic. He entered the state tournament with a record of 44-6.
At The Palace of Auburn Hills for the state finals, Hubbard was eighth at 160 pounds in Division 3. He lost his first match, won his next two and fell to Brandon Dyke of Allendale in the match for seventh place.
“This is my best season so far,” Hubbard said. “It’s probably from a lot of mat time, like wrestling over the summer.”
On the mat, Hubbard considers himself quick on his feet. “I get in on a lot of shots,” he said. “I normally escape from everyone I wrestle.”
He’s wrestling at 160 pounds this year after being at 145 and 152 his previous seasons. “It was kind of a struggle at first,” Hubbard said. “Now, it’s just as easy as it was last year, I just need to continue to work harder this summer and come back stronger and quicker than ever!”
Hubbard has three older brothers who wrestled at Alma, Bruce, Brett, and William. Bruce placed eighth at one state final. Brett and William were both state qualifiers.
“I’m a lot like them,” Boyd said. “The reason I’m wrestling is because of them. I had them to wrestle with me. Bruce and Brett were lighter weights. Will was a heavier weight.”
Their dad, William, wrestled in a high school briefly, also, Boyd noted.
Boyd has also lettered in football and has run track and played baseball in the spring.
Teammate Damian Castillo, who has also had a strong season, is a junior at 130 pounds. He has wrestled since he was four years old and is in his third high school season. As a freshman at 103, he qualified for state. As a sophomore at 125, he was TVC champ. He didn’t qualify for state last season but did this year as a district and regional champ. At the state finals, he won his first match but lost his next two and didn’t place.
“I’ve been pretty satisfied with my season,” he said. “There have been a couple of matches here and there that i should not have lost, It happens.”
It was Damian’s best high school season.
“I’ve improved a lot,” he said. “I’ve been working on moving my feet more and getting off from bottom. That’s the main thing, keeping my feet moving.”
Working on his feet and getting takedowns have been major strengths for Castillo.
Standing as high as he can on the podium at the state finals is a major goal for Castillo.
“A state championship is very reasonable for me, I am ready to continue to work for that and see what happens?” I will continue to get better, “I need to wrestle my best.”