At the start of the wrestling season, there were many new faces, leaving lots of room for improvement. As the team hustled between jv and varsity meets, scrambling for starters after major varsity injuries, the team was forced to bump up jv players and hope they met expectations.

At the first wrestling meet of the season, varsity placed second overall at Waukesha South, losing to Germantown. However, this set an expectation that wrestlers would need to meet goals and step out of their comfort zones. Throughout the middle of the season the team averaged between first and third place for most weekend tournaments.

This also set future goals for some wrestlers that felt they didn’t get to reach their goals this year. “The main goal of this season was to get better physically and get back my strength and endurance because when I got hurt I was down for about a month,” sophomore Cole Lofy said. “I have a goal of getting stronger for next season and hopefully qualify for state.” 

These kinds of goals also help reach team expectations, and if players stick to their goals and meet team standards, the team can accomplish a lot next year. 

As a whole, the team was mostly successful, leaving the year with a positive outcome. Moreso, there is always room for improvement when it comes to individual and team results. “Overall I thought we had a somewhat of a successful season,” wrestling coach Corey Bauer said. “We won more duals than we lost so that’s always a positive.” 

The team had six regional placers move forward to wrestle for a sectional title. At sectionals, there were no state qualifiers. However, each of these wrestlers placed between 3rd and 5th place, making it on the brackets.

For future wrestlers, it is important that they work their hardest for individual outcomes, but they must also keep in mind that their individuality affects the team, and that they must dedicate themselves to their team.

 “Wrestling is a hard/grueling sport that requires a lot of you as a person,” Bauer said. “The hard work will be rewarded: it may not equate to victories or awards but it will help you be successful throughout your lifetime.”