Camp
LAURINBURG —Both the men’s and women’s wrestling programs at St. Andrews are heading into year three under Head Coach Marquise Camp for the 2024-25 season. In his two years thus far, he has accomplished a lot with both teams.
On the men’s side, he has seen them set program bests for season win-loss record and also watched sophomore David Coptsias qualify for the World Championships in Greece with his first-place finish at the Beach Wrestling World Team Qualifiers back in May. For the women, all that needs to be said is he has coached Gabby Holloway into All-American status, the first time St. Andrews has had an All-American in either program. Needless to say, Camp’s tenure thus far can be described as a successful one.
Camp’s first two years in Laurinburg have taught the Florence, South Carolina native a good amount about how important it is to build a healthy, yet competitive environment for his athletes. Good culture is often valued by a lot of coaches, with Camp being no different.
“I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to build a strong, resilient, and competitive team culture,” Camp said. “One key lesson has been the importance of fostering an environment where athletes feel both challenged and supported, athletes perform their best when they know they’re valued as individuals, not just as wrestlers.”
For his third season on the job, Camp has lofty expectations for both teams including championships and competing at big tournaments. He knows that achieving those goals won’t be easy and requires continuing to trust the process with how he’s started establishing a standard over his first two years.
“My goals for the men’s and women’s wrestling programs are to continue building on the foundational skills and culture we’ve established while pushing toward new levels of competition,” Camp said. “For the men’s program, I aim to raise the competitive standard by placing at major tournaments and ultimately contending for conference titles. For the women’s team, I want to expand our roster and ensure they are competitive, with a goal of having individual athletes qualify for nationals.”
The men’s team returns the aforementioned Coptsias, who Camp believes “has the chance to get to the next level this year.” They also have an influx of new talent coming in. The roster is very balanced in regard to having multiple members in every class, with four sophomores, four juniors, four seniors and three incoming freshmen. Camp believes having a balance of young talent and veteran leadership makes for an exciting thought of what the potential of this group is.
“Having a mix of young talent and experienced upperclassmen allows us to develop a culture where everyone is accountable and there’s a clear path to growth for the newer wrestlers,” Camp said. “I’m confident this balance will lead to a cohesive team that can push each other to reach our goals.”
Some of the particular names Camp mentioned as ones to watch this year include Jonah McBurney, Franco Cuccurelo , Dakota Johnson, Ayden Rader, Eddy Ndayikengurukiye and Victor Kum. He also said that freshman Preston Rhodes will “be a huge addition and has a lot of potential.”
The women’s team on the other hand has a much smaller roster, only having seven girls as of now. That doesn’t make Camp any less eager for the season, pointing out Jade Hutto as one he has especially high expectations for, going as far as to say, “the plan is to get her on the podium this year, she’s past due.” He also is excited to see the improvement Jillian Ellis and Teresa Dawn have made as well as newcomers Minnie Locklear and Laney Rhodes.
The two programs will get a chance to show what they’re made of this weekend with the men starting their season on Sunday at the UNCP Open and the women heading to the UMO Open on Saturday. Their full schedules can be found on the St. Andrews Athletics website.