AHS’s wrestling team competed in many matches against Kennedy’s team
In their last away-meet of the season, the AHS wrestling team went into their match against Kennedy HS with the strength they had built up since the beginning of the season. Even though Kennedy’s team had many strong competitors, the meet led to many achievements that stood out and showed the skills and growth of America’s team throughout the season.
In preparation for this meet, Kelly Shew (10) said, “We knew Kennedy was going to be a really hard school to play against, so we were doing lots of warm-ups and [practicing] lots of techniques to use against them.”
In addition to the sports preparation side, the students also had to get into the mindset needed for this match. Aadithya Nagaraj (9) said, “This was one of the first matches that we actually went in thinking this was going to be a hard match. Our coach had told us that this win wasn’t going to be handed to us; we actually have to work for it.”
Aidyn Dalling (12) attempted to secure a takedown by driving the other wrestler into the mat (Photo Credit: Dustin Tillman).
Despite the challenge they faced with tough opponents, the wrestling team still had moments that stood out to them. Krish Seth (10) said, “This one kid, Aadithya [Nagaraj (9)], wrestled up a weight class, and was also injured. He still did really well and won his match.”
From the coach’s perspective, the meet showed improvement, as Mr. Fornwald, the varsity boys coach, said, “I had many people who impressed me. There were many individual performances that really surprised me”.
Going into this match, the students came prepared to win, and it showed at the meet. “Looking at the level of competition as we go on, we’re seeing that we’re facing more and more competition like this. And we’ve definitely had some, especially a few wrestlers who were at that level. Just being able to take that next level, and try to see what they have to do to meet that competition is what I want the athletes to take away from this meet,” said Mr. Fornwald.
Noah Kuriokose (11) performed a body lock move on the Kennedy HS player (Photo Credit: Dustin Tillman).
Individually, wrestlers also think they improved a lot while nearing this match and throughout the season. Aarna Junutula (10), in her second wrestling season, said, “Last year, I had no clue what I was doing, and even in the beginning this season, I was still in that mindset. But later on, I just realized, ‘Oh, I know what I’m doing, I’m doing so well.’ I just got a lot more confidence.”
Looking ahead, the wrestling team has still been hustling, preparing for their next matches, with multiple home games coming up. From this meet, students have said that they learned things they could improve on for future matches. Shew says, “I’ve learned that everyone is different, and even if you lose against one person one time, you can still win against them the next time, because it’s just a match.”
Eagle Era 
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