“It doesn’t feel like home, it’s almost like we are at an away team’s gym.”
Friends and classmates cheering, family and relatives watching, the comfort of being home. Luxuries Cortland wrestlers have not experienced in some time.
Hey let’s go to the Cortland wrestling meet tonight!
Ever heard that? Yeah me neither. That’s because Cortland has only had seven home meets in the past four years, with two of those being the Red vs White scrimmage against each other.
I could easily complain about not being able to watch my school wrestle but let’s not be selfish here. Think about these seniors and what they’ve missed out on.
141 pound senior Vinnie Santilli caps off his Cortland career only wrestled in his home gym just three times after injury forced him to miss the other four opportunities.
As expected, Santilli wishes he had a bit more time on the mat in front of his home crowd.
“Not only are home matches good for the student body and for parents to come watch, but its equally important for the athletes who hardly get to wrestle in the home gym,” said Santilli. “It doesn’t feel like home, its almost like we are at an away teams gym.”
Home field advantage. Yeah it’s pretty big. Better yet – it’s huge. In Vegas terms, for football home field advantage equates to about a field goal of points on the betting spread. In basketball, home court advantage will be roughly two possessions of points on the spread. Long story short, teams performing at home have the advantage. It’s just a fact.
Performing under stressful conditions, minimal fan support, fatigue from travel, all factors of competing away from home that negatively impact performance.
More home matches would instantly bring a boost to an already high level squad, but it would impact the youngsters the most, like 197-point sophomore Karam Saraireh.
“I don’t know why we don’t have more home matches,” said Saraireh. “I think a lot of benefit comes from home matches. You are more comfortable, not burnt out from travel, more motivated from friends and family being there, just overall a better time.”
Coach Prairie, please bring wrestling back to Cortland.