Husky senior thrives after not making excuses

When Austin Newell lost his starting spot in the Hough wrestling lineup last season, he knew he had no one to blame but himself.

But instead of making excuses after being relegated to the Huskies’ junior varsity team, Newell looked in the mirror.

“I literally wrote my goals on the mirror at home: to make varsity, to make states and to work hard every day,” he said. “I just realized that I wasn’t a very good wrestler last year. What I love about wrestling is that you have no one else to blame. It’s just you against another guy, one-on-one.”

Newell, 18, rededicated himself last offseason, increasing his weight-lifting regimen and eating five meals a day so he could get to a higher weight class, where he felt he could earn a starting spot.

After growing a few inches, the 5-foot-10 senior was able to put on some weight and get stronger.

That hard work has paid off, as Newell earned a starting position at 195 pounds.

“Austin has worked his butt off to get back in the lineup,” said Hough wrestling coach Tripp Rogers. “He’s a very driven guy and I think when he sets his mind to something, he’s going to do it.”

But he admits that he was concerned about how Newell, who wrestled at 152 last year, would transition to his new weight class.

“I was unsure of how he was going to do at such a higher weight class,” Rogers said. “Four weight classes is a lot to move up and he’s basically a 182 wrestling 195. That isn’t easy to do.”

Newell has been a microcosm of his team, as he has made a name for himself in a year of firsts.

He’s had his best start in his career, recording 16 pins on his way to a 33-9 record going into the dual-team playoffs.

Newell finished as runner-up in the Mecklenburg County tournament before becoming one of three Hough wrestlers to win I-Meck titles to lead the Huskies to it first conference tournament championship.

“It was an awesome feeling to win the I-Meck title, but that was just a part of winning it as a team and that felt even better,” Newell said.

Senior Palmer Maples and junior Sebastian Barreto were the other individual champions.

Hough (23-2) also claimed its first regular-season I-Meck title this year, putting the Huskies in the 4A dual-team playoffs for the first time in their three season. Hough won the Jim Hayes Invitational, the Mecklenburg County tournament, the Pirate Invitational (at Porter Ridge) and the Husky Duals.

Hough beat both conference powers, Mooresville and Lake Norman, in the same season for the first time.

While the Husky lineup is loaded from top to bottom, six seniors - Newell, Steven Owens (132), Tanner Russ (138), Adam Nivens (145), Maples (170) and Hayden Smith (182) - have been the foundation of a program that emerged as a contender in a tough I-Meck conference.

While some of his teammates could likely wrestle in college, Newell said that this will more than likely be his last run on mat.

But Newell knows that he and his team have unfinished business.

Newell said his goals won’t be complete unless he can place well at the 4A West Regionals (Feb. 22-23 at Hough) and qualify for states.

Rogers doesn’t doubt Newell’s ability to compete; even against the region and state’s best.

“Austin is going to fight you for six minutes regardless of how big you are or what your name is,” Rogers said. “It has taken a lot of guts to come back and have great senior year. It really tells you what he is made of.”