The wrestling season has just started, and the athletes were eager to excel in the first tournament of the season on Nov. 30. Wrestlers are currently undergoing rigorous conditioning to prepare for their matches and upcoming meets. They wish to display an outstanding performance from the beginning to reach the top of this aggressive sport.

The first practice was on Nov. 9 after school. From now on, there are practices everyday for two hours. Sometimes conditioning is done on Saturdays to increase fitness and formation.

At the beginning of practice, wrestlers warm up by doing sit-outs, stand-ups, and hip heists. After their muscles are loosened up and ready to go, the coaches teach them new moves. The warm-ups consist of  new top and bottom pinning combinations to get the opponent on the mat.

After learning new techniques, pairs of wrestlers face off in a live match to illustrate what they retained. In this sport, there are five types of matches that involve one individual against another. The “I Quit” match is when the challenger is able to make the opponent say the words “I quit” in any way possible. The Iron Man match is when the competitor with the least amount of falls, or the number of times the wrestler is restrained on the mat, is crowned the winner. Other types of single matches include Monster’s Ball match, Ladder match, and Ultimate X match.

Wrestling coach Corey Stanley says, “Wrestling is a great sport. You are wrestling on your own out there; you get all the glory or all the blame.”

Varsity junior Dominic Cavallaro says, “I’m a good team player and I can help people learn new moves. Wrestling is amazing and this year’s team is awesome.”

In addition to single matches, there are team matches. The most common type of this event is the tag team match in which one member of the team fights inside the ring while his or her teammate stands outside the ring. If one wrestler gets tired, he or she can switch positions with the other wrestler by tagging their hand.

If no one gets pinned down, five methods are used to determine the champion: takedown, escape, reversal, near falls, and penalty points. After a couple rounds of practice matches, the team re-does the warm-ups to cool down.

“Just the sheer nature of the sport and all the blood, sweat, and tears that’s involved makes teammates stronger mentally and physically,” Stanley adds.

Varsity sophomore Jerry Santos says, “I think we’re ready to win, and with a few more practices, we can defeat anyone.”