PT in the morning, a run through the confidence course at Sand Hill before lunch, rappelling down Eagle Tower in the afternoon and tackling an obstacle course after dinner — Saturday wasn’t a typical training day for the Harris County High School wrestling team.
Retired Army Col. and current Harris County assistant coach Mark Suich arranged for the team to experience a day in the life of a Soldier in order to build team confidence, camaraderie and mental toughness.
“I wanted to ensure that we had some kind of team-building event that would be the catalyst to start us off on the right foot for this season,” Suich said. “We wanted an event that would challenge them and make them tighter as a team.”
Drill sergeants met the Tigers at 8 a.m. on the 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment PT field and quickly showed they were not going to treat them much differently than any new private.
“That was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” said sophomore Megan Sadler, who is the only female on the team. “I’ve never been yelled at like that.”
Robert Garvey, the 198th Infantry Brigade Drill Sergeant of the Year, coordinated the events of the day for the Tigers. He said he wanted them to experience the same loud tone a private would to force them to adapt to performing under pressure.
But Sadler said she viewed Saturday as an opportunity to show she had something to prove. By the time she completed the obstacle course at 7 p.m., she said she believed what she had gone through was worth doing. She will have less fear and more confidence when she steps onto the mat for the first time this season, she said.
“I wanted to prove that I was part of the team and that I could keep up with them … so that I’m not just the girl on the team,” she said. “Obviously, there’s going to be the challenge of ‘This guy is stronger than me,’ or ‘This guy is taller than me,’ but I got through this, so I think I can get through any match.”
The only meals the Tigers were fed were MREs at lunch and “chow” at the Sand Hill dining facility.
After the obstacle course was completed, Garvey and the other drill sergeants marched the Tigers to Honor Hill for an unofficial graduation ceremony, with the song “Indestructible” by Disturbed playing in the background.
Through the crawling in the dirt, the climbing up ropes and the rappelling down a tower, senior varsity wrestler Joshua Grant said he thought he formed a bond with his teammates.
“I think we’re going to do very well now that we’ve come together as a team,” Grant said. “This has shown us we can work together and cheer each other on so we can help each other win our matches.”
Suich spoke to the team to congratulate them and told them the character they developed and the skills they learned through the day would not only help them to succeed this season but also in what they choose to do after high school.
“You can’t just be a participant as a wrestler,” he said. “You have to be committed. Hopefully, a lot of these guys will one day be leaders. What better way to teach them than with all these combat vet drill sergeants setting those examples?”
Garvey said he noticed a significant change in the wrestlers from the time they got off the bus to the time they got back on.
“A lot of them displayed a lot of heart,” Garvey said. “There were a couple of them who were terrified and they overcame it. There was one kid in particular who stood out. He kept telling me he had never accomplished anything in his life. Time and time again, he completed the tasks.”
The first tournament of the season for Harris County will be Nov. 18-19 at home.
