Winter athletes have begun their seasons, among them, the boys wrestling team has started strong with a 6-2 match record.

The team is unusually large this year, due to a sizeable freshman class.

“We have over 100 kids signed up right now, which is the most since I’ve been here,” coach Noah Fitzenreider said.“There’s a lot of new kids, a lot of kids that have never wrestled before.” 

The influx of new members has created more opportunities for veterans to step into leadership roles.

“We rely a lot on the upperclassmen and team captains,” Fitzenreider said. “They make sure that all the new kids understand what wrestling is, what our expectations are, and how to be an influential part of the team.”

Senior Charles Kuang is one of many such team leaders. He, along with coaches and his fellow leaders, advise younger athletes.

“After a competition, we go through what we did well and what we need to work on,” Kuang said. “Competitions show us what we need to improve on. At the next competitions, we can capitalize on it.”

Athletes work to improve throughout the season in order to achieve both team and individual goals.

“We have an opportunity to win conference this year,” Fitzenreider said. “We also have boards that every state qualifier are on. For our varsity team, the number one goal is to have their name on that board forever.”

Although the team is inexperienced, Fitzenreider believes the team will grow at a rapid pace.

“We’re a young team, but very tough. We make up for some lack of experience with hard work,” Fitzenreider said. “As the season goes on, we’re going to keep getting better because the experience will go with the grit we already have right now.”

Kuang agrees, optimistic about the young, up and coming team.

“We have a lot of room for improvement, but I think we have a really good team this year,” Kuang said.