Mayfield wrestlers say they face multiple difficulties in their day-to-day lives.

Head coach Dwight Fritz, sophomore wrestler Greg Siambo, and sophomore wrestler Antonio Madda believe the sport has many obstacles. 

Practices can be time-consuming for wrestlers. “[There are] 6 practices a week, anywhere from two to two and a half hours,” Fritz said.

Wrestlers must go to practices filled with various routines. Fritz said, “We initially work on conditioning and stretching. we drill take-downs, top and bottom, escapes, throws, and just keep building our encyclopedia of moves.” 

For wrestlers like Madda, practices are essential. He said, “Practices are a serious matter and are important if you want to improve. If you miss over and over again, there are consequences.”

The conflict between wrestlers on the team can be another challenge according to Fritz. “[The wrestling team has] 33 [people] if we’re all healthy [with only] 14 weight classes,” he said. 

Competition between each other can become rough according to Madda. He said, “It’s a very competitive sport and things can get very heated.”

Wrestlers also face struggles while facing opponents at tournaments. “[There’s a] whole lot of sitting in the bleachers. You wrestle and then you sit for a couple of hours so the tournament goes all the way through,” Fritz said. 

Maintaining a certain weight is an additional problem that wrestlers endure every day. Fritz said, “What they do is first check your weight to see where you’re at. You go over and take the hydration [test]. There’s a dipstick that they put in there to see if you’re fully hydrated and if you are [hydrated] then you get the scapula check to see where your body fat is and then we send it to the state and they figure out what weight you can wrestle and be healthy.”

After figuring out the lowest weight a wrestler can wrestle, some of them cut weight to get to their ideal form in a short amount of time.“Cutting weight is losing a vast amount of weight. I don’t think [there are] too many kids who cut weight anymore. We do have some that lose weight. The state gives us the hydration test and tells us our lowest weight that we’re allowed to wrestle and some kids get down to that lowest weight,” said Fritz.

This method “definitely could hurt” the wrestlers according to Fritz. “Anytime that you binge and purge there are definitely health risks. I think it takes a toll on [them] but most of our wrestlers when they come in are well overweight at the over 20% body fat which is pretty high. So when they get down to weight and they’re at 12 or 15% body fat that should be their normal weight,” Fritz said.

However, making weight is almost mandatory for wrestlers. Fritz said, “[They] don’t wrestle for that match or the following match,” if wrestlers don’t make weight.

To cut weight, wrestlers must exercise regularly and control the food they eat. Madda said, “Maintaining a good diet and running to sweat out weight is the way I do it.”

Stress can additionally affect wrestlers. “ I would be less stressed because I would have more energy and time,” said Madda. 

Wrestlers are sometimes left “tired out,” according to Madda. “[It] takes a toll on your body because of how much energy is used to wrestle,” he said.

Grades are also affected by wrestling. “I’m usually so tired that I just sleep and have to choose between a full night’s sleep or homework and studying. My GPA went down 0.25 from the first to second quarter every year in high school so far,” said Siambo.

Injuries also occur in wrestling just like any sport. Fritz said, “In wrestling probably your fingers get sore and your hands and you twist your fingers or something like that. We’ve had a couple of knee injuries this year which is kind of out of the ordinary but we really don’t have a lot of injuries.”

Motivation is another factor in the wrestling team. To keep wrestlers motivated, Fritz said, “ What we try to do is challenge kids every single day in some fashion. Just challenge him to get more take-downs in 30 seconds, develop a new skill, take somebody down they haven’t taken down, or go against somebody they haven’t wrestled before.”

The time of year also affects motivation. “At the beginning of the season, I think the motivation is that they’re starting off brand new, and the kids get to workout hard. During the grind of the season during January, it gets pretty hard to compete. When February comes around it’s tournament time, and everybody wants to do well and get into sectionals, district, and state,” said Fritz.

There is also a form of obligation for joining the team. Fritz said, “Once we start competing, whether they’re on varsity or JV, I feel they should not quit. They shouldn’t quit any sport after they start on the team and they’re competitive.”

Siambo agreed with Fritz. He said, “with wrestling, you build a brotherhood with the team and leaving that brotherhood would be hard for me.”

Wrestling is a challenging sport. “It’s definitely the hardest sport that I’ve been associated with and most people agree is the most difficult sport in high school,” said Fritz.

But through all of the labor, wrestlers are not discouraged by the toughness of the sport. Siambo said, “It is definitely worth it because of the memories and fun times I have created and will create with the wrestling team.”