Lake Norman Publications

Fajerman relishes travel, bonding in milestone year



Brandt Fajerman, right, took third in Holy Angels and reached the 100-win mark in the process.
/Courtesy Marty Fajerman

Despite losing an all-time great, the Hough wrestling team still has a returning state champion on its team. Brandt Fajerman took gold at 126 pounds as a sophomore in June, and reached 100 career wins in his 132-pound third-place match at the Holy Angels Invitational over the holidays. The son of former UNC Greensboro coach Marty Fajerman, he guided Hough to a 2-1 mark in a quad-match Jan. 8, with dominant wins over Grayson County (Va.) and Providence.

 

Q: What does it mean to reach 100 wins?

A: It’s an exciting milestone, especially with the COVID season. You gotta keep going, I don’t want to settle and be satisfied with it. It was a big match too that I got it in, against a kid who knocked me out in round of 16. 

 

Q: Last season you had a big jump in weight classes, but just one this year. What’s the transition like?

A: The transition from freshman year did not feel that big because how much later in the year the school season was. This year the weight was very easy to manage, and most of the matches I wasn’t very undersized at all. It feels like every other match.

 

Q: You just competed in a couple of big-name tournaments. What are you looking for from your teammates at this point in the season?

A: The team being close with each other. We play Xbox together, get food, play spikeball. The bond that we build throughout the season is important, and then we battle together on the mat.

 

Q: After last season was pushed back to May and June, what’s the biggest difference in wrestling this year?

A: Last season, it just felt so different. With school, more things opened up, the bigger tournaments, getting to go to hotels, but still have to wear masks, right until we wrestle.

 

Q: What’s something your dad taught you when you were young that you still use today?

A: He pushes me to work as hard as I can, get extra workouts in. When I was little, I wanted to be successful. I already looked up to him like that. Being pushed when I was early, helped me be successful early, and just made me want to keep getting better and keep practicing.

 

Q: Three-time individual state champion Richard Treanor was a big influence on you last year. Have you taken over a leadership role with another wrestler?

A: With Jackson Rowling, a freshman. His only loss was in Holy Angels finals. He’s got a lot to learn. I’m here to teach him what he needs to know. He has the possibility to be really good.

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