By Jack Stringer

Winter is right around the corner, and frigid temperatures are already upon us.

To avoid the freezing weather, why not stay inside and enjoy some high school wrestling? For the Wheat Ridge wrestling team this time of year means preparing for their upcoming season. Getting back in shape and making weight will be the Farmers focus for the next few months. A strict diet and many hours on the mat and in the weight room will prepare them for the demanding season ahead.

Every wrestler on the team this year will try to maximize results by attaining the exact—or as close to exact without going over—weight of the weight class they will be wrestling in. For some this means losing or gaining a substantial amount of weight. In fact, wrestling is one of the only sports where an athlete tries to lose weight in order to compete in the top tier. However, for some wrestlers this year, they are going into the season relatively close to their desired weight.

One Farmer who relates to the latter of situation is senior Rashin Pettiford. After not wrestling for the last two years and picking it up again for his final year in high school, Pettiford is only three pounds under his weight class which Pettiford says gives him “room for failure” so that he can slip up on his diet and training and still make weight. As the Farmers try to succeed at making weight, one thing they have already succeeded at is welcoming new teammates to the squad. Pettiford says that after his two season hiatus from wrestling, he “was embraced by the team, no questions.”

Another newcomer welcomed to the squad this year is junior Brandon Saunders who, after transferring from a school in Alabama, is excited for his first season on a new team at a new school. Saunders thinks that the Farmers will excel this season and thinks a few wrestlers could even make it to the state wrestling tournament. Saunders hopes that he too, will compete in the penultimate wresting competition in his new state but knows that in order to make it, the team has to work out and hone their techniques.

Overall, the Wheat Ridge wrestling team is optimistic about the new season. Consisting of only three seniors and lacking in some of the higher weight classes, the team will have to rely on the underclassmen and their depth at the lower weight classes to succeed over the course of this season. Victory during the season depends on teamw

ork, dedication and preparation before and during the season. Pettiford thinks his team has what it takes, saying that every day the Farmers are “becoming a closer and stronger team.”