By John Raffel
Correspondent
Finn Carlin was among the four Gobles freshmen who placed at their sports respective state championships.
The others were Libby Smith, Daisy Estrada, and Lauren Shaffer.
Carlin placed a school best third place at the MHSAA Wrestling State Finals.
1- How well did the team perform
Finn – “The team was very well rounded for the little abilities and freedom compared to other
teams, even though we had a tough go losing the first round at districts we were very controlled
as a team sending 7 of our wrestlers to states.”
2- How well did you perform?
Finn – “I performed very well, going into states in one of the hardest weight classes as a freshman
and being able to come back from losing my first match to winning the next 5 was a great showcase of my mindset of looking for the next best thing.”
3- How much do you feel you improved and in what areas?
Finn – “Everything I improved in this year was my mindset and lesson of gratitude. I started to
see how people were trying to help me, and was able to create a support group of people who
understand the work that needs to go in to grow in the sport of wrestling.”
4- What was your role on the team?
Finn – “I was our starting 120 pounder, who for team tournaments and duals they would bump to 126 or whoever was able to give the most competition for my team while ensuring a win at
120 and 126.”
5- Is your role different or the same from last year? Please elaborate.
Finn – “I didn’t wrestle last year for a high school team, as I was in 8th grade.”
6- What were your fundamental strengths as a performer?
Finn – “My ability to adapt to the challenges, sometimes people would be stronger or faster, I had to learn that I need to be able to beat them mentally, while some may beat me in the first period, my ability to mentally break them in the following periods was inevitable.”
7- What did you work on to get better at? Finn – “I would work on my physical body through intense practices 5-6 times a week, and a tournament and meet 2 times a week. I would also lift 3 times a week, and I was on a strict diet for the whole season monitoring my protein and carbs and sugar intake.”
8- What were your most memorable moments as a performer this year? Please elaborate
Finn – “Going to states as a freshman is no simple task, especially being able to place 3rd in states. For my third place match I went against a long time rival named Cole Reitz, a wrestler from Climax-Scotts. Cole was a junior at the time and I was a freshman. We went against each
other in the conference finals where he pinned me in the second. The next week I beat him in the district finals by pinning him in the second. Regional week he beat me by decision 8-5. At states I saw him in the consolation finals for the 4th time where I hit a roll through cradle to pin
him in the second, securing my 3rd place victory.”
9- What were some team highlights, please elaborate
Finn – Sending 7 people to states, which was the new school record to the previous 3 that were sent, and then having 6 of those 7 place in states; also, two people in one weight class and having them both place in the 120 pound weight class.
10- Did you meet your expectations or exceed them? Finn – “My goal at the beginning of the year was to place top 4 or higher in states. Halfway through the year my goal was changed to place third. One of my coaches, when I told him my goal, told me one thing. “Just because you might have reached your goal, doesn’t mean the work is done.” That changed my goal to placing third in the state.”
11- Did the team meet expectations or exceed them?
Finn – “Even though the team expectations were not fulfilled, we had a very good year. We beat teams that took us 15 years to beat, and we had many wrestlers that took the sport to the next level and took the idea of being the best version of themselves they could be seriously.”
12- Are you in any other high school sports? Which ones?
Finn – “I play football in the summer/fall. But I continue to do wrestling and tournaments at the same time for many different teams.”
