Wrestlers Getting Pumped for Coming Season
October 25, 2008
Although wrestling is a winter sport athletes have begun training three times a week for the rigorous season that is approaching. Conditioning is held three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Conditioning usually begins with an hour to an hour and a half of weight lifting and is finished upstairs in the wrestling room with tire flips and sprints. The wrestlers, about 60-70 in total, are divided into four teams based on skill level, Freshman, JV 2, JV 1, and Varsity. The Head Coach is Mick Ruettiger and the team as a whole contains seven other coaches. Each wrestling team has its own team managers who attend the matches and cheer on the wrestlers. Team captains are chosen at the beginning of the season from the varsity team. Last years captains were Brian Epp, Chris Spangler, Jim Duffy, and Matt Walters.
Neuqua Valley High School wrestler, Kevin Epp said, “Your first goal is to win your match, second is to make weigh in.” At the beginning of the season and at every match (about twice a week) there are weigh ins, the boys are placed on one of fifteen weight classes ranging from 98 pounds to heavy weight which includes 215 and over. The athletes are placed under pressure to make certain weigh-ins. Some may train all week or even all season to make a desired weight class. Wrestlers who take the sport very seriously may even acquire personal nutritionalists whom they can meet with every week in order to lose weight healthily and more efficiently.
Although that is a healthy way to make weight some wrestlers can ruin their metabolisms by simply not eating at all or going on too severe of diets. Many may run with five layers of sweat pants to lose weight the day before a match. In order to help prevent unhealthy weight loss for the wrestlers there is a test before the beginning of every season that determines the lowest healthy weight level for each athlete. If an athlete goes below this level the state can intervene to make sure the coaches are not pressuring them to lose the weight.
By Kelsy Ensign, staff writer
