Coach Hazard sat down with me for a short interview after capturing the State Wrestling Title for the 6th time!  He has been coaching wrestling at Robinson for 26 years and has built a very competitive dynasty.  He has been supported by Head JV Coach Drew Foster for the 17 of those 26 years.  One of the things that makes the Robinson Wrestling Team so successful is consistency in daily training expectations and consistency in the coaching staff. Robinson Secondary School also has a large number of students who participate in the program compared to other schools in the district and region.

Coach Hazard began wrestling under the influence and guidance of his dad and never looked back. His father coached his club team and coach Hazard grew up loving the sport. He started wrestling at age 4 and continued wrestling through high school and college.  Mr. Hazard is a Robinson Secondary School Alumnus and also was invited to wrestle for George Mason. Initially he signed with William and Mary, but the program was cut as he was beginning his college experience.  He decided to attend GMU instead and was given a partial scholarship to wrestle for them.

I asked Coach Hazard what wrestling can teach young men and women about perseverance, problem solving and overcoming challenges.  He shared with me that in wrestling, athletes must be demonstrate resiliency by being able to change their approaches to their opponents on the fly. Every athlete is different and wrestlers need to problem solve to find effective ways to compete with each and every opponent. Wrestling teaches athletes to trust their team and their opponents in keeping each other safe in such a close contact sport.  Even though wrestling in an individual sport, each wrestler must rely on their teammates to train and grow in their sport.   Wrestling also promotes camaraderie between men and women.  They are a close knit group who support and trust each other.  Women's wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the US.  Thirty-four states now have a women's wrestling program.  Virginia does not.

Mr. Hazard has many memorable moments from all his years in coaching.  We discussed this year's wrestling state tournament.  The Robinson Wrestler Team went into the final match of the tournament against the school that they were trailing.  That final match was a must win situation. in order to capture the Sate Title.  Needless to say, they were successful and that was an exciting moment for all.  He also mentioned that when a wrestler gets his or her first win, that is always a memorable moment.

This year's students who won their District Match, their Region Match and participated in the state tournament are listed below by their weight class.:

106 - Caden Smith

113 - James Hayes

120 - Alex Delacruz

126 - Alex Shapiro

132 - Tristin Corbin

138 - Justice Hazard

145 - Aiden Murata

152 - Sammy Gerard

160 - Robert Kucharczk

170 -Stephen Azua

182 - Billy Warter

195 - Will Cohen

220 - Tommy Luther

285 - Cooper Rudolph

#GoRams!