Wait is worthwhile for Thomas
By: Justin Feil
Trevor Thomas has been waiting for this year for a long time.
"More than last year," said the Montgomery High School senior. "Last year didn’t count for much."
When Thomas moved from Washington state after his freshman year, Montgomery High School had no wrestling program. Thomas, who wrestled at the 115-pound weight class in Washington as a freshman, returned to the mats at the junior varsity level in MHS’ first year of the sport.
"On the JV level, I had a lot of success," Thomas said. "They put me in counties last year and I wasn’t ready. I was hanging with them, but I was making fundamental mistakes that I wouldn’t have been if I’d been wrestling more.
"That did affect me," he said of the time off. "I didn’t do any wrestling in those off years. I had a year and a half off basically."
Thomas has this winter to make up for lost time. He is part of MHS’ first varsity wrestling team. The Cougars debuted at the Garden State Classic at Princeton High School. Since losing two matches in that tournament, Thomas has not lost.
In the Cougars’ first dual meet, a loss to Rutgers Prep last Tuesday, Thomas began an impressive streak with a pin of Eli Waters in 51 seconds. He followed it up with a second-period pin in a loss to South Brunswick on Friday. Then Saturday, a historic day for the MHS program, he pinned Calisto Ongoo in 3:55 in a 42-30 win over Lindenwold and pinned Kyle McCrane in 1:13 in a 39-37 win over Ocean City. Thomas also won a major decision, 15-2, over Chris Green in a loss to Paul VI on Saturday as the Cougars picked up their first two wins as a varsity.
"It was really good," Thomas said. "The whole team was really pumped up. Coach Jacoutot was happy for us. We got the winning feeling. We’re excited to do it again."
Trevor Thomas is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"Last year, we fed off guys like Trevor," said MHS head coach Kevin Jacoutot, whose team competed in the Somerset County Tournament on Wednesday. "You could tell he had a little more experience and he was a great leader.
"He was head and shoulders above everyone else. Experience is everything in wrestling, like any sport. But in wrestling, it’s a lot about learning the technique and positioning. It takes years to pick them up. He had a lot of it down already. Last year, 95 percent of the team was inexperienced. Trevor had experience which was huge."
The experience that Thomas had, however, was as a freshman in another state on the other side of the country. It’s been different being a senior at MHS, though he has benefited from his original experience.
"It was good. It gave me the basics to start," Thomas said. "New Jersey is a tougher wrestling state than Washington is. The program there wasn’t as developed as programs here. Since we’re a first-year team, the kids were doing basics anyway so it wasn’t hard to come into the program."
Thomas is a co-captain of the Cougars. His experience is only one of the reasons. He’s been able to use it to be a better leader.
"I’m trying to lead by example," Thomas said. "I want to show what it is to be a wrestler. Most of them are picking up on it quickly. Hopefully I can lead by example and give a few pointers if kids as me."
Jacoutot added: "He’s gone to clinics in the offseason. He comes in in good shape because of track and field. He has a desire to do well. It’s his last shot. He knows it’s his last legitimate shot to do something because he’s probably going to a college that doesn’t have a team. Hopefully he can get something out of this year. He’s a good kid, and a good leader. He’s someone I can look to and confide in about our team. I’m going to miss him next year."
Thomas is just beginning his senior season. He got off to a 6-2 start before Wednesday’s SCT.
"It’s been what I was expecting," Thomas said. "I knew the kids would be faster and stronger than JV. Every match isn’t being handed to me like it was last year.
"I got out and wrestle each match hard. I do usually try to capitalize on mistakes. Eventually, they get in a spot and panic and do make a mistake."
Thomas is part of a team that is making fewer and fewer mistakes itself with each match. It’s a growing process that gives the Cougars confidence and enabled them to record their first team wins of the season.
"Hopefully we’ll be even better," Jacoutot said. "They take great strides in every match. They’re becoming more savvy. A dual meet is totally different. They know it hurts us if they get major-decisioned or pinned and if they get one, it really helps us. They’re becoming more and more knowledgeable in that part. Each match, we see it’s a little better and better. Hopefully we’ll finish strong.
"Our next hurdle besides counties is Bernards. Hopefully we can hang with them or beat them. We just look at the next hurdle in front of us. The great thing about competition is you know their strengths and weaknesses and can work with that. When you’re that inexperienced, you make great strides. Great wrestlers, they’re not going to improve that much. But when you’re inexperienced, thing start to click. That’s what we’re looking for going into next year. We want to them making improvement to take into next year."
For Thomas, there is no next year. He did more off-season training than any previous year. He went to a summer camp and several summer tournaments. His extra commitment has paid off. He’s working on improving as much as he can in his final scholastic season, even if improvement may come a little slower as a more experienced Cougar.
"I’m picking things up just the same as these guys," Thomas said. "You can never learn the basics too much. Every practice is good for me as much as anyone else."
Added Jacoutot: "In wrestling, you have a partner at practice. His partner is going to learn from him. You drill moves back and forth. Anyone he’s paired up with is only going to benefit from it. He’s vocal too. He forces kids to step up. He’s been a leader that way. You can always count on him to do the right thing."
Thomas credits recent drill work in practice for his success in the last week. It’s added to his confidence and enabled him to be more aggressive on his feet. With the experience gained in counties, Thomas hopes to continue to develop into a more complete wrestler in the New Year.
"So far the teams we’ve faced, they haven’t been bad but they haven’t been good," he said. "I’m expecting it to get tougher. It’s been pretty good so far."
The senior is off to a strong start, and so is the Cougars wrestling program. It may have been a long wait for Trevor Thomas, but he has made the most of it.

