Wrestling: Oscar Smith standout likes anonymity

CHESAPEAKE

Oscar Smith’s Anthony Copeland likes flying under the radar.

He’s a relative unknown in wrestling circles, even though the 152-pounder is a returning Southeastern District champion and Eastern Region and state place-winner.

“He’s one of those guys that nobody talks about, nobody knows about,” Oscar Smith assistant Ray Collins said. “He just goes out and wins.”

Copeland, who starts defense of his district tournament title at 5 p.m. today at Grassfield, was a late bloomer. He started wrestling in eighth grade in Portsmouth – the first year middle-school wrestling was offered in the city – and was content to get by on athleticism.

His family moved to Chesapeake his freshman year. It wasn’t until Oscar Smith hosted postseason events – when he was able to get a first-hand glimpse of the Eastern Region and Group AAA state tournaments – that Copeland got the hunger to improve.

“I felt like I wanted it more,” he said. “I wanted to get to that level.”

So Copeland put in the work to improve his technique on the mat and to get stronger in the gym.

“He opened his mind more to the sport,” Tigers coach Sid Savoy said. “Instead of doing one or two things well, he’s doing everything well. Top wrestling is his forte, but he’s fine-tuning his takedowns and getting more movement on the bottom.”

That effort led Copeland’s charge last season to the top of the district, a fourth-place finish at region and seventh at state. The constant grind of practice and making weight, though, took its toll.

Copeland said his family sent him to Dallas last May to live with his biological mother. Copeland said he was “messing up in Virginia, getting caught up on the streets,” but declined to elaborate. School work, he added, wasn’t a problem, and he has always kept up his grades.

“It seemed like a really long, bad trip,” Copeland said. “I thought I wouldn’t come back.”

It took a little more than four months to persuade his family to let him return, and he moved back just before school started.

The time away reset Copeland’s focus, and that translated into working harder to be a better wrestler and a team leader. He has helped Oscar Smith to a No. 4 ranking in South Hampton Roads.

“I made a promise to come back here and do the best I could,” Copeland said. “Wrestling was a huge part of that.”

This season, he wants it all: individual titles at the district, region and state levels while helping his team improve on a third-place finish at districts and 10th in the region.

“My confidence is through the roof. I go into every match thinking I can win it,” said Copeland, whose record this season is 28-2 with 20 wins by fall. His two losses are to Cape Henry’s Sam Law and Lakeland’s Alex Sari, though he later avenged the loss to Sari.

Maybe a successful postseason run will end Copeland’s anonymity. Until then, he’s fine being an unknown.

“If everybody knew my name, they’d want to wrestle me,” Copeland said. “It helps to be an underdog in a match.”