WRESTLING

Pinning down competition

Wrestling team progresses with high hopes for season against opponents

Grace Mossing mossigra000@hsestudents.org Ben Rosen rosenben000@hsestudents.org

This year, the wrestling team aims to take down the competition and win more matches. They head into the season with hopes of improvement and consistency across weight classes. The team won their first match on 6o^. ! at home against Hoosier Crossroads Conference opponent .ranSlin +entral . .0; finished second of  at the 2ohn 0]rrle 5emorial 1n^itational at )rsenal Tech on 6o^. . They hope to carry this moment]m into the rest of the season. Last year, the team had seven clear victories o]t of  in the season matches and in^itations. They finished the postseason with a place of  o]t of  teams in the 10;)) ;tate .inals. This year they hope to finish in the top half of the competition. “?e ha^e better techniY]e and we worS better and connect with the coach beca]se he coached ]s in the offseason, º senior 2, .arrell said. “1 feel great abo]t this year, we are winning d]als dominantly and we have depth on the team.’’ 0a^ing depth on the team maSes s]re that e^en if one wrestler gets h]rt, there are eno]gh people on the team to keep the team winning. .reshman /riٻn 1ngalls feels the team still needs to work on a few things in order to become more consistent and win more matches. “;ome of the bigger g]ys, 1 thinS, need to improve on how they get into positions where they can score,º /riٻn said. “?e co]ld also worS on getting o]t of the bottom position.º

The bottom position is comparable to being in the defensive position. They are on their hands and knees with weight in their heels and an opponent on top of them. The referee blows the whistle. 1f the wrestler tries and s]cceeds in escaping from the bottom they will get one point. If they get on top of or control their opponent, they receive two points. 6ow coaching his second season after coming in for longtime coach 2aSe 0arreld, .ranS 1ngalls helped to bring a positive dynamic to the team. “He coaches with emotion to shows how important a mo^e is and how hard we sho]ld be worSing,º freshman )nthony :iley said. :iley also said 1ngalls foc]ses on getting the team to adopt grit and perseverance. “?e ha^e been training to not gi^e ]p and to grow into ha^ing a to]gher mentality,º :iley said. +armel and 0;- will wind ]p being big matches for the team. *oth schools typically p]t o]t good sY]ads to compete with .0;. These matches tend to be important, and reg]larly draw large crowds to cheer for both teams. The team hopes to contin]e and finish the season strong after placing second in their to]rnament on 6o^. . The ne`t meet is " p.m. on ,ec.  at +armel 0igh ;chool. The 5]dsocS meet is " p.m. on 2an. at 0;-. The postseason starts with sectionals on .eb.  at .ranSfort ;enior 0igh School and the conference championship meet is on 2an.  at 6obles^ille 0igh ;chool.