Wrestling season has officially started! The boys and girls wrestling teams are having practices after school to prepare for the competitive season.
The girls team has 19 girls on the roster, seven returners and two state qualifiers. Girls Coach Andrew Sahul was asked who he thinks is going to be the biggest competition this season.
“All the conference duals are tough. It’s too early to tell what teams look like,” Shaul said.
Coach Shaul is expecting to have a good season but says the season is very unpredictable.
“It’s impossible to predict. Hopefully we get better each day, stay healthy, and put ourselves in positions to win,” Shaul said.
Freshman wrestler Paxtynne Pritchett answered some questions about her first wrestling season in high school. She answered the question of what her plans were for the season.
“My plans for the season is to make varsity for the weight class 135 and get into shape,”Pritchett said.
Boy’s Coach Brett Barbarick agrees with Coach Shaul of who he thinks the biggest competition is going to be and when that was in the season.
“Liberty is nationally ranked and is the defending state champs. They are the team to beat in Missouri. I believe we will wrestle them in mid January,” Barbarick said.
Barbarick said there are two seniors this year on the mat. They are going to be the leaders this season.
“Seniors, Kanen Huff and Brendon Meyerkorth,” Barbarick said. “I think we have a strong team and if we can stay healthy we will be competitive”.
Coach Shaul has returners but no seniors, so the returners are going to be the leaders.
“We currently have 19 girls on the roster. The 7 returners are Sydney Burasco, Isabella de Leon, Brynn Elkins, Cayley Maynard, Kelsey McRay, Raina Rycken, Courtney Stevens,” Shaul said.
Coach Barbarick has high hopes for this season and has a pretty good team this season.
“We have a well rounded team. Kanen is solid, and we return a competitive junior class,” Barbarick said.
The wrestling coaches have high hopes for their team this season. Both teams have a decent amount of students on the wrestling team. They each have their plans for the team and the season. The girls have their first competition on December 4, 2021, and many after that. Their last competition is February 4-5, 2022. With the returners on both teams, both teams are going to be great.