Errett Amongst the Champions
by Cassidy Kelley
Dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks and the first ever Olympics, wrestling has always been a prominent sport all over the world.
In the Summer 2012 Olympic Games, Mooresville High School’s very own Mr. Zachary Errett had the honor of being an official for the wrestling portion of the games. Arriving on the same day as opening ceremonies in London, Errett had to report to his hotel where he received his instructions for being an official in the Games.
Rules are extremely different between high school, college, and professional wrestling, but the excitement and exhilaration stay the same.
“It’s the biggest sporting event in the world,” Errett said. “Being able to be a part of that experience was very rewarding.”
For the past ten going on eleven years, Errett has been MHS’s ICP teacher and the boys’ wrestling coach. He first got his license to be a wrestling official when he was in middle school. By the time he was 19, he became an official at the international level.
Recently, Errett excelled to the Olympic Category. From then on he had to attend two-to-three major tournaments per year. The big events that he attended were the European, World, Junior World, and Pan American Championships. Then, at the end of each year, he would be evaluated to assess his progress.
On his travels, he tries to bring something back from his experiences to share with his students. For his students who wrestle, he says that since he has seen the best in action, he wants to adapt their techniques to the high school level. He also wants to be able to prepare his students for going over into another country.
“People always say that America isn’t good, but compared to other countries that I’ve visited where food is scarce and water is dirty, America is not all that bad,” Errett said about his travels. “We’re lucky.”
Junior Trace Rooks, who’s been on the wrestling team since his freshman year, was there with senior Brent McCreary and Coach Errett when a news channel came to interview him on his achievements.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” Rooks said when first found out his coach was going to be an Olympic official. “He’s really dedicated to what he does.”
Brent McCreary, a senior at MHS, has been Mr. Errett’s teacher’s assistant since his sophomore year, but has known him since he was in third grade when Errett had started a summer wrestling camp. When he learned of his coach’s accomplishment, he wasn’t at all surprised.
“He had set his mind to it and I knew he would accomplish it,” McCreary said. “But I was very proud and couldn’t wait to congratulate him.”
Over the years, Errett has seen all kinds of wrestling fans, but nothing compares to the experience he got in London. Many different countries had an abundance of enthusiasts, all cheering and screaming with horns blasting in each other’s ears. For Iran, whose number one sport is wrestling, the noise was deafening.
“All these people respect wrestling,” Errett said. “Even though we don’t have very good relations between our two countries, we can still come together to participate in such a huge event.”
His three week long journey finally ended on August 13th, when he returned home. To his students, his dedication, commitment, and organization are to be admired.
“He’s a great role model,” Rooks said.
