This year’s boys wrestling team is looking to build on last year’s success with new leaders and fresh, young talent.

This is Kevin Clawson’s fifth year of coaching the boys varsity team. He is assisted by Adam Durham and Brian Archibald. While the latter may deal with the junior varsity, all three coaches work together on both teams to try and reach an elite level of wrestling.

One major loss from last year was Owen Blyth, the senior captain who placed third in state. Although he was a major powerhouse for the team, the coaches feel they have numerous wrestlers to fill the void. This year’s team has a solid junior class to go along with a steady senior class.

“This year we have great juniors and seniors such as Evan Morrison, Chris Shirley, Grant Sachs and Justin Mann. They will be primary leaders in this years team success,” Clawson said.

Seniors Evan Morrison and Chris Shirley have been working on their skills throughout the off-season. Over the summer, they attended a wrestling camp in Minnesota, which not only was tiring with all of its physical work, but also took a mental toll on the wrestlers. Although wrestling may seem like a very physical sport, state qualifier Shirley claims it is more mental than most believe it is. As the body wears down from the constant physical strains of wrestling, a wrestler needs a strong metal focus in order to succeed.

“The toughest part of the camp was staying mentally focused. After many drills to strengthen our endurance, we would have to listen and follow directions that were difficult to acknowledge because we were so tired,” Shirley said.

Practices before the season are a key part of any sports’ success. In wrestling, practices are built around maintaining endurance along with live competition, which puts each wrestler against one another. Live competition allows wrestlers to get a match like experience while in practice and also allows them to practice against wrestlers who may be bigger or stronger.

“At around 2:45 [p.m.] we start with warm-ups, then we move into live takedowns – this means that every player runs around the mats for five minutes or so, and then all at once they pick another teammate and start to wrestle. The technique and live situations are done near the end, all with cardio mixed in through out each drill, the practice usually ends around 5:00 each day,” Clawson said.

Since Morrison is one of the senior captains, he takes a lot of responsibility in leading the team. He chooses to do this through leading by example. Young wrestlers watching him work hard will hopefully inspire them to do the same and develop good habits.

“One key to this team’s success is to not quit, and wrestle in future years. That is how you develop as a wrestler. If I work hard, and then do well, hopefully that will lead to the younger guys to work hard, because they will think that they can do well,” Morrison said.

Most wrestlers feel mental preparation is the most important key to success as individuals and as a team. If a wrestler goes into a match feeling confident, he will be less afraid of his opponent which will help him bring home a victory for the team as a whole.

In wrestling, there are 14 weight classes, and even though there are 35-45 people on the team, they do not necessarily fill all of slots. Last year, there was only one person wrestling in the 103-weight class, compared to this year where there has been addition of three more people competing for that same spot. The lack of spots on the team has developed intense practices with wrestlers competing hard for the starting spot.

“One of the most important part of practices is when there is competition within the team, although many people do not like to be better or worse than anyone else, this not only is best for practice, but also for determining the best way for each person to be placed,” Shirley said.

This year the team has nine meets with multiple teams, the first of which is on November 29. Meets usually involve three different schools and the team with the most points wins the meet.  Along with the nine meets, the team is involved in six tournaments throughout the year. This year’s team is hoping to build off the success they had last year and carry it into another successful season.

“We have four returning state qualifiers, and hope to make it five this year. We can defiantly go undefeated along with placing in many of the tournaments we will compete in.” Clawson said.

This year’s team is looking forward to another winless season made possible by hard work in the off-season and mental toughness during each meet by every player.