By Caius Michlitsch, Staff Reporter
This year’s wrestling team saw a surge of interest with more than 20 new team members joining the squad, compared to a typical season’s five or 10. While wrestlers traditionally take up the sport around seventh grade and compete in middle school before arriving at ’Stoga, new recruit participation this year extends beyond just those arriving from middle school.
The large group of new wrestlers already contributes to the team’s competitive spirit. The experienced wrestlers consistently express positive views of their new teammates.
“There are some beginner guys that are promising, but definitely some good freshmen that have been wrestling in the past,” junior Hayden McLellan said.
While the newcomers have been assets for the program, McLellan notes that there are both negatives and positives of having new wrestlers.
“It (having new wrestlers) is good because these kids want to get practice, but the room is a little full sometimes,” McLellan said.
Freshman Gunnar Russo got into wrestling after hearing about the sport from friends and deciding he wanted a new challenge to fill his time. He hopes his wrestling effort will foster a positive view of the freshmen amongst the upper-class wrestlers.
“It (the team) is family-like; we all have a pretty great time. I think we’ve given some of these upperclassmen a better opinion of freshmen because going into this I know a lot of them weren’t looking forward to having freshmen come.”
Junior Will Cochran looks forward to the team’s progress during his final two seasons at ’Stoga.
“I think it’s good for the program,” Cochran said, “It’s good to see so many new wrestlers showing interest in the sport and joining the team.”
McLellan thinks the team has yet to reach its potential. He is aware of ’Stoga wrestling’s successful history and knows the team can finish better than it started.
“I mean, Conestoga (wrestling) as a whole has been very good in the past,” McLellan said. “But we still have a full enough line up (this year) to be good.”
Caius Michlitsch can be reached at [email protected].
