Wrestling is one of the three winter sports at HHS with a total of 12 members, 2 female wrestlers and 10 male wrestlers.

The wrestling team has had a total of 112 wins all together so far throughout the season.

This season specifically really highlights the growth that has occurred on and off the mat. 

“Wrestling has given me my highest highs, and my lowest lows,” Head Coach Ryan Keith said. “I learned a lot of life skills from wrestling, just perseverance, drive, commitment.”

 Varsity wrestler Jaylin Woods (11)  felt the same way. 

”I feel like wrestling teaches you a lot of things,” Woods said. “It teaches you more things than any other sport can. It teaches you hard work, perseverance, mental toughness, especially when you’re tied in the match you got to keep pushing through.”

Woods has had a winning season with a record of 21 wins to only 6 losses. Woods attributes his success to his mentality.

“Just not making the same mistake and learning from the mistakes I made and having my coaches help me see my mistakes and correcting them,” he said. “And just having the mindset of getting better.”

For most members, this season was their first experience at high school level wrestling. This made it a memorable transition for some. 

“Wrestling is so worth it,” Varsity wrestler Celeste Santonge (11) said. “Like at first, like my losses I was like, ‘Is this really worth it?’ But you really see your growth this season and it is so worth it and the support you get from everyone. It is so worth it.”

Head Coach, Mr. Keith also had similar feelings over the growth of this season. 

“Really, a lot of these guys have come out and surprised me with little things and commitment,” he said.

This year, many players have come out and advocated about the team and how they treat one another.

“They would support each other after matches even if you won or lost, you would still get a lot of support,” Yasin Rahimi (9) said.

Santonge also appreciated this factor.

“We all can talk to each other, we joke around, we have fun but we can be serious too when we need to be,” she said. “And we support each other, no matter what.”

Many team members set high goals for themselves coming into this season.

“My goal is to qualify for state, medal state, at least at the highest bar being state champ,” Woods said.

Santonge seemed to have similar thoughts

“My goal is to be able to keep trying to place at tournaments,” Santonge said.

“Anyone who wants to grow and become a better person, I think wrestling will help you do that,” Keith said.