The wrestling team kicked off their season in November, and they’ve already earned wins against 7A schools such as Parkview and Berkmar. Four of the top wrestlers share their thoughts and expectations for this season.

What are your expectations for the upcoming season? 

Senior Joel Chatfield: “I think that we can go to state duels and have the ability to have multiple state qualifiers.”

Senior Zani Patasin: “I expect that we should have a pretty good team for dual meets if everyone gets in the right weight class and I also believe we can have the majority of our Varsity wrestlers go to individuals state.”

Junior Samuel Grass: “I think the upcoming season will be relatively normal, but I don’t think we’ll be able to go to as many big tournaments as we usually do.”

Junior Bishop Marshall: “Not really any expectations this year. Just trying to have a season above anything else.”

What do you enjoy most about wrestling?

Chatfield: “Dual meets. they’re fast, you get to wrestle a bunch, and team strategy is actually a factor.”

Patasin: “The thing I love most about wrestling is how it is just you out there against one other person. If you lose, the fault is your own and it all puts a little more pressure on you and makes it that much more exciting.”

Grass: “My favorite part about wrestling is probably pushing myself to the breaking point and testing my limits.” 

Marshall: “Watching sweaty Coach Hamentree manhandle a freshman.”

What is one of the toughest parts about wrestling?

Chatfield: “The conditioning, there is no pain like going live for 20 minutes and then being told to go run stadiums for 10 more minutes.”

Patasin: “The toughest part about wrestling is the conditioning and the physical shape you have to be in to be able to compete at a high level throughout the entire season because each match you wrestle takes a tremendous toll on your body.”

Grass: “One of the toughest parts about wrestling is cutting weight because the hard practices get even harder when you’re not eating much.”

Marshall: “The toughest part of wrestling is trying to cut weight to make you weight class.”

What is one thing that you and your teammates like to do together after a great performance?

Chatfield: “We actually don’t generally do a ton of stuff after meets because you are beat. You have been in bleachers all day and have wrestled so much that you just go home and pass out.”

Patasin: “Sometimes as a team, we may go out to eat together because we have had to limit what we eat all week but that is about it.”

Grass: “After we win a duel meet or have a really good tournament, we usually like to get a big meal together and relax.”

Marshall: “Go get something to eat because we are all starving.”

What is going through your mind after you pin someone?

Chatfield: “I get to keep wrestling and trying to place at the tournament.”

Patasin: “When I am pinning someone, I actually don’t really have anything going through my mind. I have wrestled for so long so the movements are so natural for me that I don’t think about it much. Wrestling is more of feeling out your opponent rather than thinking about it.”

Grass:  “After I pin someone, I’m usually just running on adrenaline; once I calm down I try to think about what I can improve on for my next match.”

Marshall: “They must’ve really sucked if they let me pin them.”

The wrestling team has a few tournaments coming up, including the Perry Duals Tournament and the East Metro Invitational, as well as dual meets against Clark Central, Dunwoody, and Union Grove. The first round of state duals is at the end of January, and the state traditional tournament is in February.