During the winter months it’s hard to have motivation for anything taxing, like schoolwork or even getting up in the morning. But this is a particular problem at sports practices, when athletes are tired and wish they could just stay in. And the wrestling team has to muster a lot of motivation to perform in such a high-intensity sport.
“Not many people understand all the extra work that goes into wrestling,” said head coach Jason Planakis, who has coached the wrestling team for 10 years. “Wrestlers have to have discipline to make weight [and] endure long practices, and during matches it’s very concentrated and there are no timeouts.”
The wrestling season lasts from Nov. to Feb., not including off-season practices. Their regular three-hour practices start at 2:30 and consist of weight lifting to build muscle, conditioning drills, technique work and then live wrestling in the wrestling room.
“The practices are pretty rough but they make us improve really fast and wrestle well at tournaments,” junior John Charette said.
One of the more complicated aspects of wrestling is being sorted into one of the 14 weight classes. Through a program in FCPS called the “Weight Control Program,” wrestlers take a hydration test and the athletic trainers measure their body-fat percentage. Based on the test, and their current height and weight, each wrestler is given a weight range they must fall within–their weight class–and they must “make weight,” meaning weighing in at or under the weight class assigned at each tournament.
While this might not seem like a challenge for members who weigh close to or under their weight class from the start, some wrestlers have to cut upwards of ten pounds before each tournament. Dieting and exercise is the method most wrestlers use to cut back on weight. Eliminating unhealthy food like soda and candy, as well as trimming back on carbohydrates enables wrestlers to slowly, and healthily, lose weight.
“I have to keep track of my calories in all the food I eat, in an app on my iPhone,” junior Varun Scarlett said. “I also completely eliminate junk food and shrink my portion sizes.”
The grueling three-hour practices are another way wrestlers lose weight. In extreme cases, wrestlers who are desperate to make weight will spit in cups or take sweat baths to lose water weight.
“The intensity of our practices allows for the burning of so many calories that with some dieting and discipline, wrestlers should be able to make weight,” Planakis said. “Extreme measures of weight loss for those who don’t monitor their food intake is not what we [coaches] encourage.”
The additional weight requirements in wrestling add to the number of hoops athletes must jump through, separating this sports from others. The trials that the team members go through together create a very close-knit bond, which has laid the groundwork for team traditions like the varsity team bleaching their hair during the week of districts.
“The hair bleaching really ties us together; it shows we are a family who stuck it out until the end of the season,” senior Dallas Dudding said.