Speed, strength, and an insane amount of skill is needed to be a good wrestler, said some of the wrestlers.

  “I have only been wrestling for about one month and I already know that you need to have a lot of skill background,” weight class 170 freshman Maleek Porter said.

  “Strength and speed is what I use most,” weight class 152 freshman Kieon Davis said.

  Wrestlers said that it is a fun sport and it helps keep them in shape for other sports.

  “It helps keep me fit throughout the off season of other sports that I play. If I get worn out in practices, I tell myself to push through and don’t stop,” weight class 138 freshman Alex Long said.

  “I wasn’t good at basketball so I decided to try wrestling and I have stuck with it. It’s a sport that takes a lot of skill, and is said to be one of the hardest sports to play, so I wanted to try,” weight class 170 senior Trevor Surrell said. “One of the hardest things about wrestling is getting into shape, and trying to think of moves and stuff you learn at practices when you are actually out on the mat wrestling.”

  Wrestlers say that even though the team can win and lose, it is mostly an individual sport. If a wrestler messes up on the mat. it is on themselves. There is nothing a team can do for a wrestler while they are on the mat. There is no one else to blame besides that individual wrestler.

  Nov. 11 was the first wrestling meet of the season in Clinton against Clinton and El Dorado Springs. As a team, they lost to Clinton and won against El Dorado Springs. Individually freshman Kolby Estes, Kieon Davis, and Maleek Porter pinned El Dorado Springs wrestlers. Senior Trevor Surrell won with a score of 3-2 and senior Craig DeWitt won by a pin. Against Clinton, Kieon Davis won by pin, sophomore Nate Faquier won with a score of 8-7 and DeWitt won by pin.

  “I was impressed with the new kids coming for the first wrestling match ever and doing the things we’ve worked on everyday in practice.  We need to work a little more on our positioning, but overall, I was pleased with what I saw,” head coach David Hawks said.

  On Saturday Dec. 5 there was a wrestling tournament in Knob Noster. As a team, Warsaw took fourth place out of all of the schools that were there. In their weight class, DeWitt got first, Estes got first, Surrell got fourth, Faquier got third and sophomore Dallas Larsen got first.