Wrestling is all about who is physically and mentally tougher. Wrestlers are pushed to their breaking points every single day.

Wrestling takes a combination of both health and fitness, and wrestlers must condition and eat right to the best of their abilities.

Often people play the sport because it’s a great way to get into shape and lose weight. Some people play it just for the love of the game, while others desire the reward of hard work.

Endurance is key. Often in order to get into the weight class they desire, wrestlers feel they would need to either lose the weight to drop a class or build more muscle to move up.

Eating a healthy diet will keep you feeling good during training but a junk food diet could end up backfiring when you hit the mats. Many wrestlers have to adapt to a whole new lifestyle to keep up.

“I had to eat better and workout harder every day,” junior Alex Gregory said.

Although wrestlers try to lose weight, they often have to eat huge meals to make up for all the calories burned.

“I have lost a lot of weight,” sophomore Russell Hamm said, “I feel so much healthier; hard work pays off.”

With all the hard work, wrestlers look to each other to pick them selves up. Wrestlers consider themselves as close as family, and are always encouraging each other to push past their limit.

“We suffer together, work together, and we always have each others backs,” junior Anthony Barbu said.

It takes a lot of dedication to be able to push through the training but the reward of a victory in a wrestling match is even greater. The sport may be mostly of individual stats, but they work as team to prepare themselves for their individual matches in tournaments.

“As a coach I stress commitment and dedication,” coach Clinton Davis said, “because thats what it mostly takes to be a wrestler.”

It takes a lot of dedication to be able to push through the burns of the mats, the heat of rooms, and the pains the opponent can deliver.

“Even though it is hard, I am determined to work through the hardships,” junior Jacob Leonard said.

Injuries come along the way, but wrestlers are have a strong opinion on that obstacle.

“When it comes down to wrestling you put everything in it,” senior Dominik Morici said, “you push through all the pains and injuries you face in wrestling.”