The wrestling team is a month into the season with practices already underway and a tournament on Saturday, Nov 5. 

“I’m pretty confident, as I’ve been taking care of myself a lot more than last year. We, as a team, have also been improving since the practices have started,” sophomore wrestler Michael Rodriguez said. 

Although the season is just starting for both, the women’s and men’s teams are working to get prepared and in shape. 

Although last season the men’s team was predominantly a freshmen team, they have been growing and improving a lot with now a largely sophomore varsity lineup. 

“It’s going to be a sophomore dominant varsity lineup. I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a struggle at all because we’re all improving,” Rodriguez said.

Although the women’s wrestling team is a lot newer, Sawyer Graham, a sophomore and co-captain of the Women’s Team, said, “I think we’re going to have a few girls who are going to be very successful, although some of the team is new.”

Both teams had a match on Saturday, Nov. 5 called Pointers Open in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Oct. 29, the women’s team had a wrestle-off in which they wrestled each other to practice for the upcoming match.

The wrestling team has also gotten an improved space to use for their practices. This year, they practice where the old swimming pool was held in Carver. This has made a huge improvement for both the women’s and men’s teams and given them more space to wrestle, as well as equipment and motivation for the new season.

“It’s been really great. It’s hot in there, which isn’t always the best, but there’s a lot more room which helps motivate people a lot more, and there’s a lot more we can do within the room,” Graham said. 

Although the facilities are new, they are still improving them, with a new mat and more equipment for both teams to use. Getting an improved space has also helped them get injured less frequently and helped improve practices with the exercises they are able to complete. 

“Way better, we have a lot more room and aren’t constantly running into each other. That was part of why a lot of people got their injuries last year,” Rodriquez said.

Practices have been going on since Oct. 10 and both teams have had the chance to practice together which has helped the women’s team improve. The women’s team is a lot newer with people from all over the country. This has helped them grow their skill set and open their perspectives up to new ideas. 

“I personally try to practice with the boys whenever I’m with them and try to get new outlooks on wrestling itself. It’s also a good motivation to work harder and push ourselves as we see the boys doing that as well,” Graham said.

Being a co-captain for the first time with a relatively new team has been somewhat of a struggle for Graham. Though Graham has been learning a lot this year and improving as the season goes on. 

“I keep my experiences open to learning new ways of teaching and growing as a team,” Graham said.