Men and Women’s Wrestling

he Liberty North Women’s wrestling team is back in for the season with 18 women compared to last year, when there were only 12 women. This season they have split from the men and now practice in their own space with their own coaches. “We have a lot of young girls so there’s kind of a skill difference. You have your returners who already have the basics down and are moving on to advanced moves. But since most the team is new they’re all learning the basics so there’s a bit of an issue because you want to learn more but we need to make sure everyone else has foundationlevel skills. Coach Casey really helps to push the people who have some experience. They know what they’re doing and they’re learning higherlevel moves and then Coach Shroger really does a good job making sure those people who need to learn the basics are getting those down and mastering it,” junior Elaina Gorton said. As an athlete, they may expect a coach to think and say they need to be able to work hard and be prepared. Some athletes last year did not realize what the expectations would be so they did not finish the season which lead to them quitting. “This year I feel like we have a lot more girls who are really passionate about it and last year we had only some. Most weren’t as passionate so they just kind of quit but I feel like we’re not going to have that happen this season. I also feel more confident this year. Sometimes. It sounds cheesy, but doing wrestling really gave me a slight sense of what I’m good at. It really helped me figure out what I should be doing and what I want to be doing,” junior Erma Williams said. The women practice every day for two and a half hours, which may help them improve as a team and as individuals. “My favorite part about wrestling is the girls and how awesome they all are at practice. Wrestling is such a community and it is very welcoming. The community is just so awesome. We are working really hard to be successful and we have a really good coaching staff. We also have a large number of returners that help the newer wrestlers to become really good when we need the help,” freshman Jane Grundy said. ‘Pin to win’ is a saying that some wrestlers use when they are talking about what they want to do. Pinning an opponent is an automatic win for the wrestler and helps the team score. “I’m ready to see how the other school’s teams have grown and their skill levels along with their size. I think we’re a lot more competition this year and we are really going to have to push ourselves not just within the team but throughout to state. When I’m going up to the mat I think don’t give a pin, that’s the only thing. Freshman year I was awful, I got pinned every match and so every time I just think to hold on. They can win by points but don’t get pinned because that’s giving up,” Gorton said. The first match ever may possibly help the wrestlers to realize what the rest of their season is going to look like and what it’s going to feel like wrestling during a match. “My first match only lasted 16 seconds and I pinned the girl, so that was awesome. Overall my first tournament showed me how tournaments are run. I learned how weigh-ins work and how the timing of all this stuff happens because it goes really fast. Even though you’ve been there for five hours, it seems like you’ve only been there for an hour,” sophomore Kate Grundy said. Warming up

photos by: Ashton Overby The Women’s wrestling team had their first match on Saturday, November 30, at St. Joe. The Eagles had four girls place 1st in the meet. The Eagles came home adn beat Kearney 30-33 on December 3rd. “It was my first time ever wrestling so it was kind of scary, but it was cool to have won and place first,” sophomore Madelyn Hartman said.

photos by: Ashton Overby

Men’s wresting Makin’ moves written by: Kirsten Zirjacks

on’t Flinch is a saying the Liberty North Men’s Wrestling team is using now that they are back for the season. This year some things have changed, as there are now 27 freshmen on the team and some new coaches. “This year I am looking forward to going to state, I think a lot of us have a chance. I think it’s going to be good this year because the work intensity in the room is a lot higher since we have a new coach. There are also some really good kids that are coming up,” senior Vincent Restivo said. This year, the new head coach is Coach Lance Moore. He stepped up and took the role of head coach when TJ Goeglein left the district. “It’s a lot more work and you have to put 100% in it. It is definitely intense and go, go, go, go, go this year. I don’t know about others but I love it. I feel like we’re going in there after school to put it to work. Might as well put in work not only halfway if you are going to spend your time doing something,” junior Dylan Engle said. More work could pay off in the long run. For example, putting in 100% in wrestling could help the athlete in football because they are in shape, and will have the work ethic from previously to put in the 100%. “I decided to join wrestling because it’s part of the underlayer and because wrestling is kind of a stretch of other sports. You have to get mentally and physically tough. It also gives me more confidence to get D

through school. Sometimes I can get nervous depending on who I am wrestling and when I was, but then I was like, ‘Oh, man, I can be more confident than that,’” freshman Kellen Bolling said. Many people face challenges while they are wrestling both at meets and at practice. Some could be tougher than others but getting through it and enjoying the sport may be the best part in some people’s eyes. “I honestly think losing is probably the hardest challenge, just coming into some completely new and it is the hardest sport I ever tried in my opinion Right now the biggest impacts it has just like a learning curve because I had never done it before. But, my favorite part is probably just going after school every day and seeing how I’m getting better. Actually then seeing the results is awesome,” Engle said.

“Sometimes I can get nervous depending on who I was wrestling and when it was, but then I was like, ‘Oh, man, I can be more confident than that,’ “ Goodwin said.

11 design by: Madi burrow The Men’s wrestling team had their first match on Tuesday, December 3 and it was at home. The Eagles fell to Kearney, but bounced back on Deceomber 10 against Rockhurst with a score of 61-9. “ It felt really good going against a district component, beating them that much, especially since we have so many wins with pins last night,” Senior Alex Geisert said.