Freshmen Maddy Howell and Aubrey Peterson never imagined how physically draining and tough wrestling really is on the body.

Howell has some prior experience with the sport. She was first introduced in fourth grade to the Junior Knights program and did that for two years, while it is Peterson’s first year experiencing the sport and what it’s like.

“Both my brothers did wrestling and after I quit gymnastics, with my strength, I thought it could be fun to try it out,” Peterson said

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The girls have been trying to prepare for their season in many different ways.

“By working out more and eating more healthy and just going to every practice that I can,” Howell said.

Even though Howell and Peterson have been preparing all they can, they still had some nerves before their first match, scheduled on Thursday, Dec. 1.

“Excited and nervous,” Peterson said. “I’m really excited to go out there but at the same time really terrified because I don’t want to lose my first match.”

After their first match both girls were relieved and feeling less nervous for the next but they have some things that they want to improve on.

“I was really nervous going into it because I didn’t want to lose obviously, but now that my first one I did lose,” Howell said, “I know how to react differently and now me and my coaches are gonna go over the things that made me lose so it just helps me learn a lot more.”

Head coach for the girls team, Sean Fowler, is excited for what the season may hold and is excited for the new girls who have come in. For Peterson, he is excited about her background and how that can help her on the mat.

“She’s great,” Fowler said. “She’s an athlete. She comes from a background in gymnastics. Some of that is very helpful.”

As for Howell, Fowler sees a lot of strengths that may help her this season.

“Maddy is also great,” Fowler said. “She has a little bit of experience, that I remember from Little League and you can see that and she’s aggressive and has just a bit of a feel for the mat. Which is good.”

Both of the girls have future plans to keep wrestling. Howell is thinking about doing it in college, while Peterson has different plans.

“I’m enjoying it so far, so I think I’ll be back next year, maybe go all four years,” Peterson said. 

Last year the girls wrestling team only had two girls, a freshman and a senior. This year with four girls participating on the team, two freshmen, one sophomore, and one senior, it has doubled in size and the coaches hope the program will keep growing.

“Girls that are interested in wrestling are always welcome to come on out and see if they want to join the team,” Fowler said.