Monday, January 31, 2011

THE GOONS!

Who are the "Goons?" And what does Goons and the NC State wrestling team have to do with each other? The NC State wrestlers say it’s a word that describes the new pack of freshman coming to join the wrestling team. Part of the new Goon squad is Pat Carey, Dustin Champion, Matt Buckworth, Conor Hovis, Chris Intehar, Nijel Jones, Matt Nereim, and Tylor Sigmon. The Goon squad usually sticks together. If one guy from the Goon squad goes to a party, all the Goon squad goes. I have hung out with the Goon squad a couple of times and I must say they are very entertaining and funny.

 It’s funny to see how much they have to change from living at home to living by themselves. Most of the Goons are from out of state, so they just can’t run home anytime they would like to. I know that use to be me when I was a freshman, but now I can see what I went through by watching them. “Wrestling in college is way more intense than high school.” Said Matt Buckworth also known as Bucky. “It’s a whole new level of competition, but you can feel yours by getting better and better each day. In college the academics are definitely more challenging. You actually have to take good notes and study to succeed. In high school you could just cruise by without doing much at all.” The Goons have schedule study hall every day. If the Goons miss a day of study hall, the head coach of the wrestling team will be on their butts.
The three things I think is most important to the Goons are partying, girls, and wrestling. Bucky, Nereim, and Sigmon have all asked me to help them find a good girl. Sometimes I just laugh and say okay and other times I tell them they are too young for relationships right now. Being around the wrestling team, I feel like the Goons want to hang out with the older wrestlers, but there is always that boundary when it comes to that. “I try and show a prime example to being a good student-athlete to my fellow freshman by always doing the right things and keeping my focus,” said senior Michael Moreno. “It is important to be a role model because each freshman feeds off the veterans. I try to be as casual as possible with them. I interact and socialize with them as much as possible so they get to know me and vice versa.” The veteran wrestlers really don’t party or hang out with the Goons on the weekends that much because they feel that is crossing the boundaries between freshman and veterans.
When Pat Carey, Dustin Champion, Matt Buckworth, Conor Hovis, Chris Intehar, Nijel Jones, Matt Nereim, and Tylor Sigmon become sophomores, they will no longer be calles the Goons and they will have that opportunity to hang out with the veterans anytime.