Starting high school as a freshman may be hard, but for the few freshmen that made the varsity wrestling team, balancing day-to-day activities just got harder. Between the six hours of class time, the two hour practices, and the meets that vary in length, it puts a lot on their plate. But, to freshman Connor Moe, that’s just one negative effect wrestling has on him.

“It’s challenging because you have all the upper-classman who don’t wanna be beat by freshman, so they go extra hard,” Moe said.

The upper-classman don’t take it easy on freshman, especially when they’re facing other students who go to other schools.

Being a freshman on a varsity sport also has a hard social responsibility. It’s hard to connect with the seniors or juniors that freshmen have never met before. Junior wrestler Austin Reim thinks that’s not a problem for some of the underclassmen.

“They act just like one of us,” Reim said.

For the most part, all of the students get along, but some always like to poke fun at one another.

“Some treat us well, but others harass us,” Moe said.

The main part about having underclassmen on varsity isn’t just for their talent, but also to have them learn from the best and practice against the best from around the Saginaw Valley League. The job for upperclassmen is to teach the younger wrestlers the advanced moves that they have learned throughout their years of wrestling.

“They come to us if they need help for learning a new move, technique, and how a tournament works,” Reim said.

Moe said some upperclassmen have helped him a lot, but one stood out.

“I’d say Austin Reim because he pushes me the most, but all of them help me out in some way,” Moe said.

For a look at the wrestling team schedule, click here

By Joe Wood