By Chris Cox
Seneca junior wrestler Brady Roark has been around wrestling basically his entire life. His older brothers, Will and Max, both wrestled and from a young age Roark knew he’d eventually find his way to the mat.
“Whenever I was able to get on the mat, I did,” says Roark. “I fell in love with it and have been wrestling for 12 or 13 years now.”
While Roark embraces the individuality of wrestling, he also knows he wouldn’t be where he is without the team around him.
“I like the individual aspect and team aspect of wrestling,” he says. “The results you get reflect the work you put in. You can take yourself as far as you want as long as you have the right people around you.”
With the coaches and teammates he has around him, Roark has big goals for himself this year.
“Individually, I want to go undefeated,” Roark says. “But I don’t just want to beat everyone, I want to dominate them. I don’t want to just not lose; I want to win. I also want to make sure I’m always working my hardest in the practice room and not slacking at all.”
Roark prides himself on his work ethic and says it’s something he tries to bring every day to practice.
“My coaches want me to set an example, especially in the practice room,” he says. “They want me to be someone that is always working hard and always on top of things.”
As for his team, Roark also has high expectations.
“Our team goal is to take a team trophy at state,” he says. “I think if we perform well and stick together as a team, we can do that.”
As of the writing of this profile, Roark is undefeated and says he likes where his team is as they prepare for their postseason competitions.
Following graduation, Roark plans to wrestle in college. He is currently undecided on where he wants to go but has had conversations with several schools about wrestling at the next level.