HOWARD — East Knox freshman Brent Link is not a man without a country, but more accurately, a wrestler without a team.
That situation is being remedied with the help of the Danville Blue Devils.
“Brent is going to compete with Danville but as an individual. He will travel and compete with their team,” East Knox Athletic Director Bailey Sprague explained. “He will compete in every meet that they do.”
Link is not necessarily breaking new ground.
“From last year with Blake (Elliott), we knew it was a possibility,” Sprague said.
Last season Elliott wrestled as an individual with the Yellow Jackets.
“Mount Vernon was not able to have Brent this season, so after some conversation with Jill Lyons, the AD at Danville, we were able to put something together for him to wrestle with them,” Sprague said.
Sprague made it very clear that finding a team on the mat for the 138-pounder took a team effort off the mat.
“Jill and their coach, Josh Wittle have been amazing to work with, and we really appreciate them for giving Brent this opportunity,” Sprague said.
While this will be the first varsity season for Link, he practiced with the Blue Devils last season.
“As an eighth grader last year, he just thought he would come back in high school,” assistant coach Andy Hamlin explained.
Link said he feels right at home with his blended family.
“They (the Danville wrestlers) have been very welcoming, it’s basically like I am one of their own,” Link said.
Head coach Josh Wittle said that the team has a bit of fun with the notorious rivalry East Knox and Danville is known for.
“They poke fun at him once in a while, but they also know when it is time to get down to business,” Wittle said.
While Link will wrestle with Danville, his points will not count toward the final score, the coach said.
It was just another twist in the road for a youngster who has endured a number of them. A family tragedy brought Link to Knox County.
“I started wrestling in about the second grade and I wound up really liking it. We moved here from Kentucky, after our house burned down,” the freshman said.
Link may not be the last wrestler from East Knox to travel with Danville.
“We have three more East Knox wrestlers in our youth program,” Wittle said.