Wrestling is one of the world’s oldest sports and is ever-growing. Girls’ wrestling is the country’s fastest-growing high school sport, according to AP News. With the rapid increase of new wrestlers, we spoke to a few of the returning varsity wrestlers to get a pulse on the fast-approaching season.
Along with the wrestlers’ predictions for the upcoming season, only about 10 varsity wrestlers are returning from last year’s team and plan to integrate the lessons they have learned.
The issue of cutting weight has plagued the sport of wrestling, with unhealthy body expectations and a fear of not being able to be competitive at a higher weight.
Yoder described, “I feel like I cut too much weight and [it] left me fatigued.” He will not be cutting weight this year because he feels that he competes better at his current weight.
I chose not to cut weight last year, and I had the best season I’ve ever had. Sophomore year, I was cutting 20lbs every week to make weight, just to not place at the CIF NCS Masters tournament. In my junior year, without cutting weight, I placed fifth at the same tournament, just 3 matches away from qualifying for the CIF State Championship.
Senior Talon Villaruel believes that “having teammates in the room all the time and having resources” will be a huge contributor to his success this season. Being able to have teammates in the room who can push you makes a big difference in the quality of a wrestler’s performance. If you can beat everyone in the room, you will likely face hardship in tournaments because you are not ready for that higher level of competition.
Stubblefield commented that “[she] got her braces off so [she doesn’t] have to wear a mouthpiece anymore.” Many people may not realize the struggle of something that can appear like such a small inconvenience. Although wearing a mouthpiece in wrestling can really hinder a wrestler’s ability to breathe properly, especially when already exhausted.
The last question we asked the wrestlers was what their favorite wrestling memory was.
Yoder said his favorite memory is either “Winning counties [league]…Or putting [BTA] on [Senior] Coyle [Walkner],” for their wrestle off for the varsity 132 weight class. With all that said, the Tigers now prepare for yet another dominant season.
