With a new coach and whole season ahead to grow and develop, the boy’s wrestling team has set its sights on postseason to motivate them through grueling weekend practices and conditioning.
“My goal this year is to be dedicated to this sport and take it seriously, because it’s my last year,” senior Kyle George said.
The team has been successful in the past, with key players moving onto state every year, and there seems to be no need to fix what’s not broken. That’s why the new coach, Chris Harlin, has chosen to simply adapt to and observe Liberty’s wrestling style in order to teach the younger wrestlers.
Senior captain Jacob Lex outlines this style: “We usually don’t win in the first or second round. As long as we’re tied up until that point, we’re in good shape. As a team, we focus on a lot of conditioning and outlasting our opponents, which means that by the third round, we’re still going strong while other wrestlers might already be tired, and that’s how we win matches.”
It’s not just the seniors who are working hard to make the most of their last year. The team has adopted a culture of brotherhood and hard work to cultivate the growth of each member of the team.
“We all have our goal set on postseason and it’s what pushes us to give our all during practices and meets in order to improve to prepare for KingCo and hopefully, State,” junior captain Will Slaton said.
Wrestling is a grueling sport and the players show initiative during weekly practices as well as during the weekend.
“This year I just want to bring it back to the basics. A lot of people like doing flashy moves in order to show off and look ‘cool’, but a lot of the time, doing things like that doesn’t work,” George said. “I want myself and our team as a whole to focus more on the fundamentals and sticking to the moves that actually work and win matches.”