The varsity wrestling Sectional (A) is tomorrow, and packed full of competition with big schools like Center Grove, Cascade, and Cloverdale, as well as long-time rivals including Whiteland, Mooresville, Franklin Community, Decatur Central, and Martinsville. 

Wrestling Sectionals is not like other sports when it comes to the playoff season. While a team can not have a very good record overall, individual wrestlers can go far into the postseason.

“When it comes to comparing teams as a whole, a lot of the bigger schools and our Sectional have the odds stacked in their favor because they just have so many kids, but if you compare our best guys to their best guys individually, I like those match-ups,” junior Gabe Folco said.

Woodmen sports are typically not afraid of stepping up to bigger schools and making a dog fight, and wrestling is no different.

“We have just been doing a ton of drilling and callouts. This year we have increased the intensity of our training a lot because we are coming off a down year last year in the postseason. We also have a very difficult Sectional and Regional, so when it comes to training, we have to give it our all every single day,” Folco said. 

Coach Jay Yates discussed the strength of the Sectional.

“Our Sectional has some of the best teams and individuals in the state so we have been all in while preparing for Sectionals. Center Grove and Whiteland are both very good this year and have some pretty tough kids. We are just super young and need to get a lot stronger in the weight room and need to just put more time in on the mats in the offseason so we can compete against them full force next season because we only have one senior,” he said. 

Folco shared his thoughts on how the team and he can improve. 

“You are obviously always trying to get better and improve every year, but there are a couple of ways that can happen. One way is you can luck out with seeding and an easy draw but that does not usually happen for us. We just have to work as hard as we can every day and just wrestle as intensely as we can every single match and just keep winning,” he said.

Sophomore Jordan Jewel also talked about how the team can improve in placing from previous years.

“Last year was kind of a fluke year, and none of us did very well. I think with all the hard work and dedication we have put in, some of us can make a push into Sectionals and even Regionals. We are a young team, so in the next couple seasons, we will only be better. It is good with how young we are because we are getting varsity experience now and can improve for later,” he said.

Last season, the boys did not have a single wrestler advance out of Sectionals and this year they are looking to change that.

“Last season was rough because we did not get a single guy out of Sectionals, so this year ,hopefully, we can have a couple guys make a push and make it out of sectionals and even push their way into Regionals,” Coach Yates said.

Senior Gavin Rice talked about being the only senior on the team and stepping up as a leader.

“This is my first year back to wrestling in a few years, and I really think it is important for me being the only senior to step up and be a leader. Also with this being my last year, I am going to give it my all and push as far into the postseason as I can,” Rice said.