VARSITY ATHLETICS

December 22, 2009

Wrestlers prepare for holidays and training trip to Florida

By Junior Clay Criss (Beloit, OH)

Wrestling has one of the longest and most grueling seasons in athletics. Stretching from the beginning of October to well into the month of March, wrestling is truly a demanding sport. We often say that every week we practice seven hours for seven minutes out on the mat.

December marks the midway point for the season. Already there have been three tournaments and two dual matches, translating into roughly 15 individual matches. For most of us, the matches preceding January are more of a warm up, a time to learn new or forgotten moves and get into wrestling shape. Most importantly, the first half of the year is a time to bond with returning and rookie wrestlers. Whether it’s through open mat, lifting, or an uncoordinated game of soccer, we just try to find time to get together and help build team chemistry.

At tournaments, wrestlers are often found wedged in between bench rows or collapsed behind the dark nook of the bleachers trying to grab a quick 20 minutes nap. With all the deadlines and pressures that a top 50 ranked school such as Case Western demands, we are usually found glancing through our thermodynamics, sociology, or biomedical textbooks trying to sneak in small breaths of knowledge between matches. Despite the extra pressure forced upon us by academics, we have always found the heart to give a good seven minutes out on the mat. Plus, it’s always nice to have a few days off for the holidays where books, matches, and cupcakes aren’t terrorizing our thoughts.

Entering the Cleveland airport, December 26th, I notice an array of eyes darting our way with a look of confusion and curiosity. Sporting a pair of plaid dress pants, tight baby blue button up shirt, blues brother’s shades, and a golden chain dangling from his neck, 141 pounder Dave Manoogian walks proudly past the baggage check. Behind him, the rest of us follow wearing similar clothes, all a few sizes too small and a few decades late. It has always been a tradition to wear such vibrant outfits, courtesy of the Goodwill, on our down trip to Florida. I think it gives the few of us with muscles a reason to flaunt while providing some comic relief from the pressures of wrestling and the pains of cutting weight.

With a whole new batch of freshmen and a little more experience, I am excited about our midwinter retreat to the sunshine state but it’s not all fun and games. Before we get to enjoy the warm beaches and cute girls, we first have a job to do, wrestle. Long beach jogs and swimming circuits in the ocean are a few ways our coach Chris Nader likes to mix it up. Despite the hot and humid weather, a few of us still have to bundle up in sweats to shave off the last couple pounds before matches start on the 29th. As long as we maintain our strong peer leadership and stern coaching we expect to contend for the top places down in Fort Lauderdale this year. Hopefully we can bring back a trophy and a suntan to boast.

Posted by: Creg Jantz December 22, 2009 08:16 AM | Category: Wrestling

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) December 22, 2009 08:16 AM | Comments (0) | Trackback