As winter approaches and fall sports come to their final close, the wrestling season kicks off with an impressive start. The team anticipates another great season, spending hours per week practicing in the gym, running laps around the track, and working in a strong team environment that is ready to win.
Senior Connor Naughten shared his perspective on the kick-off to the season, saying, “I’m really excited. I’m glad it’s getting going again and I’m just ready to go out there and do the best I can.” With the successful tournament already in the records, it looks like the season is paved to success. Naughten shared his personal goals for himself as well as the team, sharing, “I really want to win DAL league in my weight class and place at NCS”, however, he wants to take things one step at a time. He’s most excited for “postseason and the tournaments and competition that comes with that. I really get to push myself and know my limits and see what I can achieve.”
The season is looking fantastic, with new freshmen joining the team and experienced sophomores, juniors, and seniors ready to win. Senior Natalia Kalas, who’s been on the wrestling team for 2 years and is looking forward to her last and best one yet, spoke about how she’s feeling about the start of the season, saying, “I am feeling good about the start of the season. We have many promising newcomers and more experienced wrestlers coming back that I think will do well this season.”
Kalas was “extremely happy with the mat time (live wrestling time during a tournament)”. After suffering an injury in February, Kalas was able to come back and “wrestle with experienced competitors” and it allowed her to “find where I needed to improve my wrestling at practice. Kalas is especially excited to “see where the team is heading. Every member of the team works extremely hard and it is wonderful to see them improve with every practice and tournament we go to.” This year, the team has “amazing underclassmen” who have “caught on to the sport quickly”, and says she is “very proud of them.”
Junior KT Thompson says the start of the season has been “fun. It’s always fun.” It is Thompson’s third season on the team, and said that this year, the team is “starting off pretty strong with a lot of placers at tournaments.” About the first tournament, Thompson said that they received the “consolation champ” and the team had “three placers, one of them being a sophomore.” Reflecting on how the season has started and noting future goals, they are most “excited to hopefully go to state and be a state qualifier,” as well as “place at NCS.”
The combined energy and excitement will be amazing for contributing to this exciting kick off to the winter sport, setting the scene for a season filled with success and competition, as athletes showcase their amazing skill and determination.
