Original version of article which appeared in the Daily Press - January 13, 2017
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| Joey Prata won two National Prep titles at St. Christopher's High. He's hoping to break into Virginia Tech's lineup, but a UCL tear has put him on the redshirt list for this year. |
HAMPTON – B.C. LaPrade (’15) and Joey Prata (’16) were two of the Peninsula’s most successful lightweight wrestlers over their high school careers. At New Kent High, LaPrade was a two-time 3A state champion (138 and 145), while Prata, from Seaford, won two National Prep and VISAA titles at the 106 and 113-lb. weights while wrestling for St. Christopher’s in Richmond.
But as the pair of grapplers transition to the college level at fifth-ranked Virginia Tech, they are finding that the road to greatness is littered with obstacles. In a first-round matchup against Kent State, the two young Hokies were not on the mat, but hovering over Mat 2 from the third row of the mezzanine deck at Hampton Coliseum.
“It’s a big transition,” said LaPrade, emphasizing his third word, while Prata nodded and laughed in agreement. However, the pair, who competed in a combined dozen Duals competitions as middle and high school wrestlers, aim to work their way back down to the floor level at the Coliseum.
And they both know what it’s going to take to get there.
LaPrade was selected as the Daily Press All-Star Wrestler of the Year in 2015. Under coach Mike Faus, the Trojan enjoyed a stellar senior campaign, sporting a 52-1 record, while winning Conference 25, 3A East, and finally, 3A championships.
Almost two years after his final high school bout, LaPrade, competing in the 157-pound weight class, is still waiting to make his official debut in Blacksburg.
“The first year, I grey shirted,” said LaPrade, who enrolled in New River Community College, just ten minutes away from the Tech campus, for the 2015-16 academic year. The collegiate newbie studied by day, and practiced with his new coach Kevin Dresser, and the rest of the Tech squad at night.
This year, LaPrade is classified as a redshirt freshman. In his current status, he continues to work out with Dresser and the Hokies, but his wrestling is limited to events, such as last weekend’s Franklin and Marshall Invitational, where he must compete as an “unattached” athlete.
“He’s making progress,” said Dresser. “He has been a little up and down as a freshman, as to be expected.”
The Franklin and Marshall competition may have served as a watershed moment for LaPrade. “He had a good weekend,” said the Hokie coach, now in his 11th season at the helm. LaPrade won his first three bouts over wrestlers from the host school, as well as Maryland and Old Dominion, with the final win being a 13-3 major decision. Brown’s Justin Standenmayer scored a 3-1 decision in LaPrade’s fourth match, and his day ended with a fall at 1:12, courtesy of Columbia’s Laurence Kosoy. However, the 3-2 record served as a quantifying indicator in his improvement as LaPrade aims to break into the starting lineup next year.
By comparison, Prata committed to Tech last spring and was immediately pegged by Hokie fans on social media as the heir apparent to the 125-pound slot currently occupied by undefeated (13-0) All-American Joey Dance.
Dresser doesn’t argue the point. “He’s a little undersized at 125, kind of small.” However, as 125 is the lowest weight class in college wrestling, it would, by default, become Prata’s ideal classification. With Dance graduating in the spring, the slot will be wide open this coming fall. Prata remains reserved on the opportunity. “If that’s how it ends up,” he answered when asked about his status as the next in line at 125.
Prata’s collegiate career got off to a less than auspicious start. In early November, at the Hokie Open, disaster struck as the four-time All-American tore his UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) during a bout. Reconstruction of the UCL has a more common term – Tommy John surgery, named for the famed baseball pitcher who earned the distinction by becoming the first athlete to undergo the procedure, which involves replacing the injured UCL with a tendon from another part of the body.
According to Dresser, the recovery period for Prata should take “about six months.” Looking ahead, he added, “We didn’t get to see a lot of him because he got hurt. But, he’ll be in the mix here soon. What I see of him, I like.”
Before his injury, Prata did have one opportunity to slay the beast, squaring off against Dance in the Hokie intra-squad scrimmage, a bout won by Dance 15-5.
There is more to the college transition for the two. Asked about the hardest adjustment, LaPrade noted the “hand fighting and finishing shots,” while Prata spoke of the consistency and rigor of each practice.
As the two look ahead, they remain confident that success will follow for them in Dresser’s program, which has a 64-12 record (19-2 in ACC) over the past four seasons with two ACC championships and two ACC Dual championships.
“It’s a grind, but I love it,” says LaPrade. “I trust my training. That’s what the coaches always say.”
“They wouldn’t have recruited us into the system if they didn’t think we were good enough,” added Prata. “We might not be there right now, but we have to go out and keep doing our job.”
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