After beating Laurel and Ellwood City, Senior Boe Bonzo winning MACs for the fourth time and losing to Southside and Bentworth, the wrestling team has faced many ups and downs this season. The team learned that “no matter how many people are left on the team, we still learn to wrestle together,” Senior Tyler Cousins said. When Cousins says “no matter how many people are left on the team,” he is referring to the fact that more than half of the team was unable to compete at one point in time. At the second to last match of the season the team competed with only four athletes against the entire Hopewell team. Three athletes were suspended from the match, two injured and another ineligible.. Because of the size of Freedom’s team in comparison to Hopewell, the Bulldogs were defeated 74-3. Junior Lane Ward was the only wrestler to score points for the team. “It felt good on a personal basis to win and get the only team points, but when you lose as bad as we did as a team, it doesn’t matter. You still feel like you lost,” Ward said. “I felt like I wanted to wrestle and help out. I wanted to help my team not look like a bunch of bums,” Bonzo said after the Hopewell match. Bonzo was injured and out of the last few matches. Through all the ups and downs, Bonzo keeps positive. The team had a rough practice one particular week, leaving everyone sore the few days to follow. Ward said that to make up for the stressful day, the team took a trip to the Sunrise Pool in New Brighton. It was an effective workout but also relaxing, fun and a quality way to bond. The team also bonds after wrestling matches by going out to eat usually somewhere like Sheetz or a Chinese buffet. The team is not discouraged, though. “Even though we went through a difficult time, we still stayed positive and focused on individual playoffs,” Bonzo said.