We have been making lots of rounds to the area teams to take team pictures for the upcoming winter sports special section, due out around Christmas, and last night I was at Spaulding to get the wrestling team shot.
Now this team has seen a lot of success over the years, which is pretty evident in looking around the school's gymnasium, where the team actually competes. The team just got a brand-new wrestling room, but on Monday night, the wrestlers were actually back in their old practice facility, the cafeteria, while the drama club used the multi-purpose space. This meant the varsity wrestlers were practicing not even a stone's throw from the middle school kids. How lucky are these yougn wrestlers to have such experienced high school wrestlers and coaches practicing right next to them, in the same room? What better way to inspire these young kids to work hard than to see the varsity athletes practice right there with them?
Well, it does get better. Two former varsity wrestlers at Spaulding happened to be leading the youngsters through one of their first practices of the season - and for some of the middle school kids, it was their first wrestling practice ever. I watched a little of the practice waiting for the varsity to go through some warmups and drills before I took their team photo, and I learned a thing or two from the former high school athletes-turned coaches. It shows why this program is so successful: it starts young and continuously gives back to make the program stronger every year. Kinda pretty darn cool, huh?
-Anna Grearson
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