Junior Jakob Martin is named winner of his wrestling match.
“This season has been going pretty good for me, I think the team, too,” Martin said.
Wrestling Head Coach Beau Yineman agrees with Martin, especially from a coaching standpoint.
“Overall, the season is going well. With this being my second year coaching, I feel like I know more of what to expect. What techniques the kids need to work on and take priority over others techniques,” Yineman said. “Also, more of what I expect out of the athletes and just having a better understanding of how the season goes.”
A typical practice for the wrestling team follows a semi-regular routine, and can vary depending on the day.
“We run and we do gymnastics warmups, like cartwheels and somersaults. Sometimes we play a game, like dodgeball,” senior Codi Nowicki said. “Then we do some technique and then live and then we drill and we do cardio at the end.”
Some, like Nowicki, joined the team because they thought it would be fun, while others have been wrestling since childhood.
“I’ve been influenced since I was really young. I’ve been at it since I was in preschool, so I kind of just took it in and take it with me,” Martin said.
A lifelong love of wrestling and the lessons it teaches are also reasons people come back to wrestling, it can teach wrestlers good life skills that they will take with them throughout their entire lives.
“I have wrestled since I was in third grade all the way into college. I want to get back to the sport and help others not just become great wrestlers but great people,” Yineman said. “Wrestling teaches people how to work hard, push through adversity, and understand what true work ethic means. If I’m not working hard and putting in the effort, my opponents beat me. It’s all up to you and you have no one else to blame yourself for either succeeding or not succeeding. That’s the beauty of the sport. It’s a great teacher of life skills.”
Through all of the season, there’s one meet that is on everyone’s mind; the state tournament.
“The main goal is to make it to state and I haven’t made it to state yet,” Martin said. “That’s my main goal, to make it to state wrestling.”
Yineman also aims to help the wrestlers make it to state.
“My goal for this season is to have at least two qualifiers for state, be that boys or girls. I’ve been trying to push the team to a level to have that goal fulfilled,” Yineman said.
Their next meet is on Saturday, Feb. 1 in Wisconsin Dells.
