Challenging practices everyday has become a routine for the female and male wrestlers at North. The wrestlers have been putting in endless amounts of effort into their practices in order to be prepared for the final meets coming up quickly.

“I mainly wrestled junior varsity this year and I really think it’s been going really well,” freshman wrestler Andrew Moore said. “I feel like I got a lot better I think both the coaches and my teammates have gotten me really good this season.”

It isn’t only what is put in during practice that matters, but also what is put in outside of wrestling practices and in the offseason. Many of the wrestlers played fall sports in order to stay in shape and better set them up for the season.

“Before the wrestling season, I was doing cross country in order to stay fit and make sure my stamina stayed good,” sophomore wrestler Landon Davis said.

Wrestling has much more to it than just physical strength. Mentality plays a huge role in performance in wrestling. Changes within the team caused some wrestlers to feel differently this year making their mentality play a big role in their performance, such as sophomore Isabelle Apple having to wrestle without her brother for the first time this season.

“It’s been super sad wrestling without him this year,” Apple said. “He always motivated me and I mean he was my ride everywhere which was nice but it was kind of hard to get used to him not being around at first.”

This wrestling season is somewhat different than the 2021-2022 season for some on the team. Some of those factors could lead to potential challenges this season.

“We moved up a district which lead to harder competition,” Apple said. “That is going to encourage me to work harder and make me a stronger person.”

Even though there are challenges, there are many things that help the wrestlers overcome those challenges and push through. The fun team activities and the environment of comradery are what keep some of the wrestlers going.

“Overall, I’m really looking forward to the rest of this season because I have good partners and I think that will set me up for success,” Moore said.