The Nansemond River High School wrestling team will head to Maryland for a tournament on Friday.

The Warriors will get their first official matches of 2018 in Maryland as they head to Stephen Decatur High School for a tournament. Warriors coach Tripp Seed believes it will provide some good competition for the Warriors, as they competed in the same tournament last year.

“This is a really good tournament we are competing in,” Seed said. “We wrestled in it last year, and we did OK. They have a varsity and JV side of the tournament. That way, we can take all of our guys up there.

Nansemond River will face teams from throughout the state of Maryland who have won championships and who have been runners-up. Most of the wrestlers in that area wrestle year-round.

“I told our guys we have to expect every match to be a good match,” Seed said. “Everybody up there is going to know how to wrestle. We are going to be in dogfights more than likely, but I feel good about our guys.”

Over the last two weeks, the Warriors were supposed to have wrestled in Southeastern District matches, but both of those were canceled because of the weather. During the winter storm break, the Warriors found ways to work out when places were open. Seed admits it has been tough but expects the Warriors to be able to wrestle at a high level with the talent they have.

During the holiday break, Nansemond River wrestled in a tournament that saw them lose only one match. They had two wrestlers finish in second place and had none place below fifth.

“It was good,” Seed said. “It was some good matches for these guys. They did well.”

Hopefully, the Warriors can carry that momentum over into Maryland this weekend. Nansemond River is in one of its tough stretches of the year. Next Wednesday, they return to district play before they head to Nandua High School for an invitational next weekend.

“These upcoming matches will be our test,” Seed said. “So, we can see what we need to work on for the end of the year as we head into postseason stuff.”