As fall sports end and winter sports begin, all sorts of athletes have begun the long four month process. From having practice everyday to games or meets on the weekend, competing at a varsity level can be a difficult task for anyone in any sport. As arguably the most physical sport, wrestling requires many practices a week so wrestlers don’t injure themselves or their opponent.

 “We got our first meet the Thursday after Thanksgiving,” Coach Sean Fowler said. “We’ve definitely been putting in a lot of work because the team meets for two hours a day for six days a week.”

The 2021 sports season has had a trend of teams lacking upperclassmen and having a surplus of underclassmen. With so many young athletes on the team some of the upperclassmen decided to step up and become mentors for the younger athletes. Senior Mason Apple has been on the varsity team since his freshman year so he knows first hand how much influence an older athlete can have on younger teammates.

“Coach Fowler and coach Brown are really awesome coaches but you know sometimes we get to help out too,” Apple said. “I show our freshman moves and what holds work and what holds don’t work.”

Every good team has a good team atmosphere. The team has gotten really close in the short amount of time they’ve been practicing. Everyone works together well and the older athletes can even learn some things from the younger athletes.

“I mean me and coach Brown are super close so we work hand and hand with each other on everything,” Fowler said. “I think that’s had some effect on the team and I think our teams are more comfortable with each other because of that.”