Rolling into new season: Wrestling team begins preparing for competition

  North Harford Hawks will be having a wrestling team this year with new and returning wrestlers. As the season starts in November, wrestlers are prepared to have a long-awaited season.  

      For the team, head coach Robert Knox hopes to have “at least 25 or more people trying out.”  As for strength, the team has potential because there are wrestlers from two years ago, bringing new people along to form a stronger team. Having a bigger team is beneficial for a wrestling team so wrestlers can fit each weight class. 

      As for the actual practices, it begins November 15, starting at 2:30 after school, ending at 5:00p.m. Knox mentions practices are “30% conditioning and 70% technique.” usually lead by coaches with the help of the team captains.  

      Last year, the reason North Harford High School did not have a wrestling team was because of covid. Knox shares that this “will be a struggle this year.” As of right now, if athletes are vaccinated, they are eligible to play, but if athletes aren’t they must get covid tested weekly in order to wrestle.  

     Other than that, Knox says he is “super excited for the season, the older guys are coming back in good shape, and they are excited so that’s breeding for success.” Some returning wrestlers are coming back with a year break, eager to start the season. 

     Returning as senior captains, Austin Arist and Tristan DeVoe are ready to lead their team to success. Regarding the team, Arist said “we will have a strong team because of off-season training and recruiting throughout the school year.” As wrestling hasn’t been in season for a while since covid, off-season training helps the team’s strength.  

     As captains, they have other responsibilities that other athletes do not have to worry about. DeVoe mentions having to “help with lower-level kids, set up meetings, designs t-shirts, and make posters.” Being a leader, which involves communicating with the team, is a responsibility captains must step up and take leadership.  

     For Arist and DeVoe personally, their goals are the same, which is to win regionals. As a team, DeVoe wants them to “succeed by winning most matches and feeling like a family in the end.” Being on a team doesn’t just involve the physical aspect of things, but the bonds that are to be made.  

     In the past, North Harford’s wrestling team has mostly been males, but this year a couple of females are trying out for the team. Freshman, Bryn Cespedes, has been wrestling for four years and is going to try out for the team this year. She said she is “very excited to wrestle for a high school team.” 

      As this is Cespedes’s first year wrestling on a high school team, she has goals of her own. Her main goal is to “win most of [her] matches, even though that will be tough.”