The girls wrestling team recently competed at the Norm Manstedt invite. While facing tough competition, they still finished second overall out of 20 schools in the class A division. Junior Addeline Graser won the 170 lb division. Sophomore Mara Vanderpool, who was out of the season earlier as she was battling an injury, has returned and placed second in the 105lb division. She explained how it feels wrestling after coming back from an injury.
“Competing for the first time since my injury made me nervous, but I was excited to come back,” Vanderpool said. “I worked very hard to come back early from my injury and I was eager to compete again.”
Head coach Bob Mulligan was by the team and Mara’s side throughout the tournament. He expressed what he thought of the overall team’s performance as well as Mara’s.
“The team performed really well, we finished 2nd in a really tough tournament, and we keep getting better every week,” Mulligan said. “Mara did an amazing job for her first meet back after injury, and I’m excited to see her continue to progress.”
Graser so far has a record of 19-2 this season, with many matches yet to come. There are many challenges while out on the mat, and Graser shared what was the most challenging part of the tournament for her.
“The most challenging part of the tournament was not getting in my head,” Graser said. “I was really trying to stay focused and keep distractions away.”
Wrestling is a combat sport where injuries are very common. Being away from the sport for so long can make you rusty, and make you have to work harder to come back to the place you were before the injury. Vanderpool explained how she thought she did overall at the tournament.
“Overall I think I did pretty good for not competing for 7 months,” Vanderpool said. “Once I got over my nerves I started wrestling better, and for my first tournament back I think it was a success.”
Big tournaments like these are great but tough challenges for teams. Coach Mulligan shared what he thought was the biggest challenge for the team, and what he will take away and apply for the future.
“The whole tournament was tough,” Mulligan said. “There are multiple ranked girls in each weight and you just continually have to battle.”
Even when winning consistently there are always things to be working on especially in the sport of wrestling. Graser explained how she thought she did at the tournament.
“Overall I think I did well at the tournament,” Graser said. “There is improvement that is needed on things but other than that the tournament went great.”
Entering the season midway through can be a tough challenge to readjust too. Vanderpool has many years of experience wrestling and expressed what her goals are for the rest of the season.
“My goals for the rest of the season is continuing to compete and staying healthy,” Vanderpool said. “As well as staying focused on my goals that I have for the state tournament.”
Graser has been a big helping hand for the team and is one of the best in the state. Coach Mulligan describes some strengths he saw during her matches.
“Addie is continually showing people why she is one of the best wrestlers in the state,” Mulligan said. “She shows toughness and patience in matches.”
Wrestling is not only a physically demanding sport but very heavy on the mental aspect as well. Because you are going head to head against someone there are many thoughts that could cross your mind. Graser shared her game plan going into the tournament and how that changed as the tournament progressed.
“My game plan going into the tournament was to wrestle smart and be physical, and I knew I needed to keep my arm in a position where I couldn’t hurt it, but to also make sure I was being an aggressive wrestler,” Graser said. “After my first two matches I knew I had to play it smart the rest of the day because my arm was starting to hurt, so in my last matches I kept it out of reach for the other opponents, and worked on other moves with my good arm.”