Wrestling’s state tournament is Feb. 16th through the 18th in Columbia, Missouri at the Missourian. The wrestling team is already preparing for state in full swing.

“We’ll start to back off closer to state and won’t go as long for practice so that we can mentally and physically get healthy and be peaking at the right time,” wrestling coach Kellen Laws said.

So far it’s been an honorable season for the wrestling team.

“Depending on the different tournaments, we’ve had six medalists at the last tournament we went to. And we finish usually around the top half,” Laws said.

Each practice consists of different drills and routines.

“It just depends on the day, sometimes we go through control drills where they have specific things to work on or they work on what they want to. We do a lot of live which we’ll start to taper off of and we’ll do more drills so we can get back to being healthy,” Laws said.

As state approaches, practices are more focused and high paced.  

“We’re working on takedowns, cross-bits to get in good shape; we’re working a lot on situations that you’ll be in a wrestling match and how to get out of them and how to score in different situations. Our goal is to get as many people to state as possible,” Wrestling coach Mark Sells said.

      The state tournament will push the team harder than they’ve been pushed all season.

“I think we’ll be okay, I think we can have success in our district. I don’t think we’re one of the top two teams. But I do think we can have a decent number of kids qualify if we wrestle like we’re capable of,” Laws said.

      Getting prepped for state is hard work.

“In practice we warm up, work on techniques, and condition. To prepare for state, I run more and wrestle harder. I want to place in the top four, hopefully a finalist,” senior Bradley Watson said.

Cutting weight is also a factor in getting in shape for wrestling.

“Cutting weight isn’t that bad. To cut weight I run, eat healthy, and show up to practice every day,” Watson said.

      Wrestling is a great way to create friendships and to be a part of a team.

“I like the teammates that I have, and getting to spend quality time with them. Wrestling overall is a great experience,” Watson said.