Wrestler, college football signee Zach Blanchard looks to make one last mark at Clover
If you look around Clover High School, you can see the marks Zach Blanchard has left, especially on the football field, in the weight room and on the wrestling mat.
Blanchard’s athletic ability has helped earn him a spot on The Citadel’s football team. The senior’s strength in the weight room has allowed him to set the school record with a 700-pound squat, according to wrestling coach Michael Fitzgerald.
But there is one last milestone Blanchard wants to accomplish before he graduates: He wants to be a state champion in wrestling.
At 25-6 on the season, Blanchard will have the chance to start that journey at Laurens High School when he participates in the Upper State tournament on Feb. 21-22. He will need to be one of the top four finishers at heavyweight to qualify for the state tournament Feb. 28-29 in Anderson.
Blanchard is currently ranked fifth in the state at heavyweight. Of those above him, only one in the top four are from the Upper State — and that’s Nation Ford’s Sean Grennan. The other three are from the Lower State, and Blanchard wouldn’t face them until the state tournament at the Anderson Civic Center.
Blanchard has been to the state tournament before, but this being his senior year, he knows that this is his last chance to win a state title.
“It is expected of me to qualify again,” he said. “I would really like a state championship this year. I haven’t been pushing the pace enough. It is something my coaches and I have been working on, in how to push the pace better late in the third period.”
Fitzgerald: ‘A lot less nerves’
Clover head coach Michael Fitzgerald said Blanchard has improved from last year and feels that he has a good chance to make the state tournament and compete for a state title this month.
“There is a lot less nerves for him this year,” Fitzgerald said.
Throughout the season, Blanchard has wrestled four of the top eight heavyweights in the state and has seen some wrestlers like Grennan multiple times.
Fitzgerald said Blanchard has developed as a leader in his senior season.
“His leadership is one of the biggest things for us,” Fitzgerald said. “He is a leader in football and that has transformed to the wrestling room as well. That is the biggest quality we have benefited from.”
At 6-2, 285-pounds, Blanchard is right at the top of the heavyweight limit for wrestlers. While some of his opponents haven’t hit that mark, it has given him an edge to take advantage of their lighter weight. Fitzgerald said instead of bulldozing over his less-heavy opponents, Blanchard wrestles with class.
“He doesn’t want to embarrass or hurt anyone,” Fitzgerald said.
Blanchard: ‘Do or die mentality’
Blanchard has won some difficult tournaments this season — including the Bearcat Invitational at Rock Hill High School and the Clash at the Creek, in North Carolina.
“If I am going to wrestle, I wrestle at my hardest all the time,” he said. “So why not push for a state championship?”
Blanchard has been wrestling for six years. He went into middle school focusing on football, but because of his size and athleticism, he was asked to try out for wrestling.
“I fell in love with it,” he said. “I like the mental mindset you have to have. It is that do or die mentality. It is that mental push. It helps you get mentally stronger.”
Despite his size and strength, wrestling hasn’t come easy for Blanchard. He said his struggles have taught him perseverance. Blanchard has always wrestled as a heavyweight.
“It has definitely been a grind to get where I am now,” he said. “As a heavyweight, I push and do what I am capable of. Conditioning wise, I feel like I do better just because of my mental mindset. If you can’t learn to push yourself, it probably isn’t the sport for you.”
Blanchard’s bright future
An offensive lineman, Blanchard was recruited on the gridiron, getting offers from schools like Erskine College, Newberry College, Lenoir-Rhyne University and others. But it was The Citadel that he really wanted to be at.
“The Citadel felt like home,” he said.
While he could wrestle at the next level in college, Blanchard said he decided to focus on football. But he also said he realized that wrestling has helped him with football as well.
“It helps me push through,” he said. “If I look at the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter, and we are down by three, it is just going to help me block more for my running back.”
Because The Citadel is a military college, Blanchard said he feels like wrestling has helped him prepare mentally for what that type of college experience his future school will have to offer, especially as a freshman.
“Our coaches do a great job of pushing us because they can see our potential better than we can,” he said. “They have done a great job in pushing us my four years here and pushing me to my limits.”
Blanchard said qualifying for the state championship tournament means everything to him.
“At the state tournament, there are a couple kids that have beaten me this year when I haven’t wrestled to my best,” he said. “The (Nation Ford) kid (Grennan) does a good job at counter attacks and the Ashley Ridge kid (Kam Petrick) is pretty strong. But if I wrestle to the best of my ability, I should be able to challenge those guys and get to the finals.”
Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM