As the winter sports seasons get underway, the Garden Plain Owls wrestling team is stepping onto the mat with high energy and a determined attitude. With a mix of experienced wrestlers and new faces, the Owls have started to build their identity this winter sports season.
Behind the scenes, the coaching staff has been working to prepare athletes for the physical and mental challenges of the season. Wrestlers undergo lots of different challenges. They have fast and intense practices, strict diets to maintain weight, and even sometimes harsh fasts or diets to cut weight.
The wrestling team welcomes a wave of new faces this season, including incoming freshmen, first-year competitors, and several girls making their debut on the mat. The growth of the Garden Plain wrestling program is reaching new heights, with many new students wanting to go out and the constant support from friends and family.
For first-year wrestlers, the early weeks have been a learning experience filled with challenges and growth. This year, multiple girls are out for wrestling: Jade Bull, Nari Real, Ranya Grow, and Kayla Coleman. These girls are looking to make history for Garden Plain.
For new wrestlers, it can be a little nerve-racking at the start. With new faces and a new environment, but with the support from friends, family, and their coaches, the journey becomes easier. With this being the first year for Garden Plain Girls to compete in girls wrestling, it has been a challenge. Junior Kayla Coleman spoke on this, “The biggest challenge in the first weeks of practice was trying to feel like we fit in. It was hard at first to figure out how practice went and how to act. It was definitely odd for the boys as well, having girls in practice, but they quickly made us feel like members of the team.”
Coleman has been wanting to start her wrestling career since last year. “Last year, I wanted to wrestle, but there were no other girls interested. So I became a wrestling manager to get exposed.” Now that other girls are going out, Coleman will be able to compete as she’s been hoping. She is hoping to find her comfort zone and finish the season with a winning record.
These girls are hoping to start a legacy and inspire others to try out wrestling for themselves. Coleman spoke on her goal to inspire others, “I’m hoping to inspire other girls to give wrestling a try and to keep the Garden Plain girls wrestling team alive.”
While Coleman and the rest of the female wrestling team are hoping to make history, we also acknowledge that Garden Plain’s Mercedes Gassmann, Class of 2018, was a highly decorated and successful female wrestler vs. male wrestlers. Gassmann competed long before girls wrestling was sanctioned through KSHSAA in 2020. She won two Central Plains League titles her freshman and senior years wrestling against males.
On the boys side of wrestling, and with a younger group of wrestlers this year and fewer returning upperclassmen, leadership will be a key focus for the team. New faces will need to step into leadership roles and help guide the program as far as they hope to go this season.
Garden Plain has two athletes who made it to state last year, junior Trevor Catlin and sophomore Nate Eck. These two athletes are some of the only familiar faces on the wrestling mat this year. Both couldn’t be more excited to start this season and are ready to prove themselves. Nate Eck spoke of his excitement for this season, “I’m excited to get back out on that mat, and I’m ready to compete and get better. ” Both of these wrestlers are looking to make their way back to state this year and make a name for themselves.
Wrestling is very tiring on the body. From the intense practices to cutting weight. It can cause a lot of stress on athletes. Wrestling isn’t always just about winning a match; it can be about winning that mental battle as well.
Cutting weight is one of the big challenges of wrestling. It’s a constant factor that you have to be worrying about. Trevor Catlin spoke on the challenges of cutting weight, “There has never been a tournament that I’ve gone into not having to cut weight. That’s one of my goals this season, to maintain my weight steadily so I don’t have to deal with the stress of cutting weight hours before a tournament. “
It’s easy to get down on yourself during a match. Nate Eck spoke on how he deals with the mental aspect, “When you’re down in the third period against a good opponent, it’s easy to just give up, but you have to overcome that and push through it. It takes some real mental toughness to make it through a tough match.”
Trevor Catlin can power through the mental battle a little differently. He’s able to just flip a switch and throw all his problems to the side and focus on wrestling. “The toughest part of wrestling is having the mentality and conditioning to get through all three periods. I get through that by putting all of that to the side during the match and don’t even think about it. “
The Owls have already competed in two tournaments. Many of the new wrestlers are finally starting to get a taste of the competition. Lots of athletes are setting goals for this winter sports season, and Nate Eck is one of them. He’s hoping to leave everything on the mat and feel proud of his work, “I want to be able to wrestle with nothing to lose and have no regrets at the end of the season.”
As the season moves forward, Garden Plain wrestling continues to build a strong foundation through hard work, growth, and teamwork. With a young roster and new athletes stepping into new roles, the Owls are focused on improving each day and embracing the challenges ahead. The effort being put in now sets the stage for an exciting and promising season on the mat.
