Beginner’s luck
The wrestling team begins the season with a successful match after months of preparation and work
After a hard won match, Weston Klein has his fist raised in the air in victory by the referee. Victory was a common occurrence at the match on December 1, where two of the Spartan wrestlers came out undefeated.
The Francis Howell Central High School’s wrestling team started the season off on Dec. 1 with varsity taking on Fox high school for their first tournament as freshman and JV had a tournament at Fort Zumwalt West. In anticipation of these first matches, and their upcoming matches coming soon, wrestling has put hours of work into pre-season training, according to senior Ian Magbitang.
“We run a lot, we drill a lot, we run some more … Just to try and keep the sweat going,” Magbitang said.
Physical training includes ensuring proper nourishment in order to build their bodies to where they need to be to compete best, according to sophomore Steven McAfee.
“We cut weight all the time. We always eat right, or we don’t eat at all,” McAfee said.
Freshman Tyler Gilbreath explained that they train often and constantly in order to get their bodies in proper shape for the matches of the future, several times every week.
“[We practice] every day except Sundays,” Gilbreath said.
In addition to physical preparation, mental and emotional readiness is required in advance in order to be truly focused and in the zone on the day of the match. To ensure optimum performance, Magbitang visualizes strategy and moves beforehand.
“Mentally, I just try to stand around and think of things I like to do or the things I’m comfortable doing while wrestling to prepare myself forward,” Magbitang said.
“I listen to music, and jump around so that’ll get my blood flowing, getting hyped up,” McAfee said.
This match has an importance in the fact that it is the first of the season. All anxieties and fears over the past few months of preparation surmount to this day, and many feel anxiety and exhilaration thinking about the event to come, according to Magbitang.
“[I’m] kinda nervous. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I’m just nervous,” Magbitang said. “I have a lot of potential and want to wrestle.”
For some, it was quite the match. Jonathan Floyd and Corey Wait both went undefeated at the Fox tournament, 7-0 to end the day.
“We did pretty well, we had some undefeated. I went three and two, three wins, two losses,” McAfee said.
Hopefully this success continues throughout the rest of the season for the Spartan wrestlers. To follow their progress, click here to stay updated with their twitter.
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