The 2018 season has brought challenges with the incoming players, but the persevering unity of the team has shown itself with the recent successes of the tournaments. The new season means new as well as returning players, and according to Brennen Walker, it was a wonderful year to come back. “There’s great unity in the team and the newcomers are chiller than usual. The whole group is close.” This clearly shows the sentiments of the returning players and the new group, who have merged and grown stronger than ever.
This strong bond could also be attributed to the expertise of the coaches, who have effectively controlled the organization of the weight classes and the distribution of attention from each of the five coaches. While there are also strong sensations of bonding, there’s always a fair share of issues within the team. “With the new wave of players, the coaches have forgotten to teach extensively about defensive maneuvers. The new players haven’t fully learned the necessary technicalities of tournaments and sometimes they’ll be missing, so things can be disorganized.” (Brennen Walker) Even with a rocky start, the team competed on the 28th of November and a newer player that was deemed memorable was Luke Johnson, who did very well in his weight class. The team is excited to see who excels within the newcomers and which returning players will shine once again.
Brennen Walker then shared a few interesting facts regarding the tactile sport, like a quality insight into what a wrestler is thinking during a match: “It’s chaotic in the first part of the match as you work to figure out what your opponent’s main moves are, and in the second half is when you can get super tired trying to anticipate what you’ve already figured out. Something else that’s really important is hand control, which I’m working hard on. If the match starts and you’re trying to pry your opponents hands off of you to change the maneuver, it can throw the whole thing.” Considering that a common misconception of wrestling is that it’s only the reckless violence it can appear as, learning that there are little details like that can really change one’s perspective. Brennen Walker has won a battle scar from wrestling when an opponent ripped his ear with his sharp nail, and he’s proud of it.
Wrestling is a test of self discipline, describes Walker, and anyone considering joining must be prepared to learn an intense work ethic that can aid them both on and off of the mat.
by Mira Wichelmann
The Claw 