Since Nov. 1, the first day of wrestling practice, the team had been preparing for their first match on Dec. 3 against Wentzville-Holt. However they will had to wrestle without one of their varsity wrestlers, senior Kevin Gill.

Gill had been out for two weeks with a knee injury and the day before he was scheduled to return, he injured his shoulder while playing football with the team.

“I was really mad,” Gill said. “I was ready to wrestle again and now I have to watch for another three to four weeks.”

Gill, in his third year of wrestling, would have been competing at the varsity level at the 189 weight class.

“Well he hasn’t wrestled much this year due to injuries,” coach Harold Ritchie said. “He is missing out on valuable time. It’s definitely going to hurt things.”

Although the loss of Gill is a setback, the team continues to move forward in practice.

“We had been working on Wentzville-specific stuff,” Ritchie said, “And trying to get mentally tough and ready for the match.”