This year, freshmen and sophomore wrestlers have had to step up. Of the 21 wrestlers competing this year, 16 of them are underclassmen.

“We’re asking a lot out of our underclassmen to go compete in varsity against guys that are seniors and juniors and have been wrestling their whole lives,” head wrestling coach LC Davis said. “Not only are our guys young as far as being freshmen and sophomores, but we’re also young in wrestling… so we have a lot to catch up with as far as skill and experience goes.”

Although the majority of the team consists of upperclassmen, the wrestlers do look to older students on the team for leadership.

One such leader is senior team captain Reece Watson, who has wrestled for all four years. Watson is a co-captain with junior Jesse Stover. Watson and Stover are looked up to as team leaders not only by other wrestlers, but also by Davis.

“They lead by example, first of all, and they also help out with the younger guys, the underclassmen,” Davis said. “[They] show them the ropes and help them with technique and whatever they may need.”

Although practices are busy for Watson, he tries to help out the underclassmen whenever he can.

“During practice, it’s usually high intensity, so I’m not able to stop practicing and go help then, but whenever I get the chance, I’ll pop over and answer a question,” Watson said. “I try to help them out when I can.”

Sophomore Rebeccah Jones has faced a unique challenge this year.

Jones is the only female wrestler on the team. Because other SEK schools do not have a female division at tournaments, Jones has competed in boys’ tournaments. She has been wrestling against boys for three years, and has found that it’s different.

“If I win, there is more of a reaction with people and the boys aren’t exactly happy with a girl beating them,” Jones said.

Jones competed in a girls’ tournament at Basehor-Linwood. She was excited to compete with other female wrestlers.

“It was really cool seeing a bunch of [girls] and knowing that they have had the majority of the same experiences that you have had,” Jones said. “It was really cool seeing a room full of female wrestlers that live in the same state as you.”

Jones placed third at the tournament.

Davis is excited about the future of the wrestling program. With such a young team, he feels that the future holds a great amount of potential.

“I think next year, we’ll be better,” Davis said. “Two years from now, we’ll be really good. Those freshmen and sophomores that we have now will all be juniors and seniors two years from now. We have a real good middle school group coming in of seventh and eighth graders. I helped coach the middle school team this year. We had, I think, 50 kids on the team, and 35 of those are seventh graders, so once we get those seventh graders and eighth graders into the program, and our current freshmen and sophomores are older in the next couple years, Pittsburg wrestling will be a dominant force I believe.”