From the time Alex Bridgeford and RaVaughn Perkins could run around the block, they were racing
April 1, 2009 By Anders Christensen of North High School
Published Sunday February 22, 2009
Class A: Friends each pick up titles
BY NICK RUBEK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER From the time Alex Bridgeford and RaVaughn Perkins could run around the block, they were racing.
Omaha Burke's Alex Bridgeford, left, and Omaha North's RaVaughn Perkins helped each other win state crowns. "The thing about it is that they make each other so much better," North coach Anders Christensen said. "They're constantly learning from each other. It really makes you realize how special it is.""Whoever could get to the end of the block first won," Bridgeford, an Omaha Burke senior, remembers. "We didn't care what we were doing, we wanted to win. And we pushed each other."
The two have both experienced their fair share of winning, and they continued down that path on Saturday at the state wrestling tournament at Qwest Center Omaha.
Bridgeford, ranked second in the nation at 140 pounds, capped a stellar career with his third state title with a dominating first-period pin over Lincoln High's Chase White. Omaha North's Perkins finished a 36-1 junior campaign with a 13-5 victory over David Laughlin of Omaha Creighton Prep at 145.
They walked out for the Parade of Champions one behind the other. Some of their first hugs following titles came to each other.
But the two say their bond goes further than just on the mat. They laugh about childhood days at camps and their "platoons."
"Ours was the baddest," Bridgeford said.
Two years ago, they wrestled each other three times. Bridgeford won at Burke's tournament, Perkins avenged it at the Metro Conference tournament before Bridgeford won the big one: a 13-5 state title match victory.
They regularly find each other on the mats to warm up. They say it's not about school colors, it's about a friendship that's prospered through wrestling.
"You couldn't really ask for a better workout partner in the state of Nebraska," Perkins said. "It's not us being cocky, but we feel like if you wrestle the best of the best every day, you've got to get better."
Bridgeford said being in different weight classes isn't an issue of ducking each other. He said another match between the two wouldn't be friendly on the eyes of spectators.
"We know each other too well," he said. "Half of those moves wouldn't work."
Their practice sessions could be described as steel sharpening steel, North coach Anders Christensen said.
"The thing about it is that they make each other so much better," Christensen said. "They're constantly learning from each other. It really makes you realize how special it is."
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