Whitdale Wrestlers Finding Success
February 13, 2018
GHS and Whitnall wrestling team has started competing and is doing well. They competed in their second tournament in Wisconsin Dells last weekend.
“My most recent tournament was at the Dells and I got first place. I won 3 out of 3 matches,” sophomore William Sincere said.
There are different reasons why wrestlers decide to participate in the sport.
“I wrestle because It is something that I have always done since I was little and it’s been a large part of my life,” senior Gabe Lewis said.
Some just really enjoy the sport itself.
“I really like the competitiveness of the sport. It’s only you and your opponent that are fighting for victory,” sophomore Luke Leranth said.
GHS wrestlers also wrestle alongside Whitnall students so they have a more complete team. They like that they have control over their own fate.
“What I like about wrestling is the independence” sophomore Whitnall wrestler Sam Thiele said.
“I like wrestling because you don’t have to rely on others,” Whitnall wrestler sophomore Kenny Duncan said.
Wrestling isn’t just a sport for the wrestlers themselves. They have some helpers alongside of them. The managers are very helpful to the wrestlers in many ways.
“I have to mop the mats before and after practice, record the matches, document how their matches have gone, and get ice and stuff for the guys,” junior Margaret Shaughnessy said.
When wrestling there’s a certain weight limit that athletes have to make in order to wrestle a specific match. In order to make weight, some students will exercise more than usual or won’t eat as much as they normally would. If they’re under weight, they have to eat more.
“I eat healthy and weigh myself and if I’m over I won’t eat as much. If I’m under, I’ll eat more,” Duncan said.
For seniors, this will be the last time they’ll wrestle for a high school team.
“My fondest memory in wrestling was when a JV kid who had never won a match wrestled varsity for a dual and ended up winning us the dual because his match was the last match,” senior Gabe Lewis said. “I’ll miss seeing the guys I have been with since my freshman year.”