MALE
Cayden Rooks, Columbus East senior wrestler
Rooks won all four of his matches by pin to win the 138-pound class and earn Most Outstanding Wrestler honors in Saturday’s East Invitational. He also won by pin in a dual-match victory at Bloomington South.
His performance last week: “I felt like I got to the positions I wanted to. I wanted to work on my hand-fighting, and I got to work on that.”
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Do you do anything special to prepare? “I always do the same warmup. I like to get good food in my body so I feel good before.”
Favorite drink: “Body Armor”
Favorite food: “Hamburgers”
Favorite book: “’A Wrestling Life’ by Dan Gable”
Favorite class: “Calculus”
Role model: “My dad (Ben Rooks)”
Best advice: “Always work hard in practice. My brother (Graham) always worked hard, and you see how he turned out.”
Athletics goal: “I want to be a state champ again. I have to get back on top of the podium this year.”
If you could travel anywhere: “I’d like to go to Florida and the beach. I like the beach and the warm weather.”
FEMALE
Nadia Lomax, Columbus North senior basketball player
Lomax led the Bull Dogs with 14 points and nine rebounds in a 56-46 win at Columbus East. She also scored 12 points in a 46-26 victory at Seymour.
Her performance last week: “I felt pretty good about it. I think there’s definitely some things that I could have improved on from Seymour to East. There’s always room for improvement.”
Do you do anything special to prepare? “Normally, we just listen to music in the locker room most of the time and kind of have a mini-party.”
Favorite drink: “Red Gatorade”
Favorite food: “Pasta”
Favorite book: “’Every Day’ by David Levithan”
Favorite class: “Biomedic Innovations or Ethnic Studies”
Role model: “Basketball-wise, Candace Parker; but otherwise, Jesse Williams or Malcolm X”
Best advice: “Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe.”
Athletics goal: “Do as much as I can for this team now and prepare them for next year.”
If you could travel anywhere: “Probably India, because that’s a country that I chose to learn about in all the social studies classes. It looks really pretty in some parts and overall an interesting country.”
