With the winter season approaching, the wrestling team is preparing as much as they can while being in the middle of a pandemic. With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country, schools across the area have been going back to virtual learning. On the other hand, winter sports are still supposed to continue their seasons. 

One of the biggest challenges for not only wrestling, but for other sports as well, is the new requirement to wear a mask during practices and matches. This is a concern for the team’s health since it makes it harder to breath and catch their breaths. Winter sports will not see opposing teams until after December. Until then, the teams can keep practicing while following the guidelines and taking the proper precautions. 

“This season is something I’ve never expected because of all this COVID-19. We still practice very hard, but I’m not too sure on what we are going to do about tournaments this year. I hope it all works out and we actually have a season,” sophomore Matthew Schultheis said.

“To prepare for the season, since we aren’t going to have any matches as of right now because of coronavirus. We are practicing five days a week like usual, and we are basically acting like we’re about to go to states since. Powerade is the only tournament as of right now, and since it is one of the biggest tournaments of this year, we are going all out to be the most prepared that we can be,” sophomore Tanner Millward said. 

Last year, the wrestling team ended their season with a pretty rough record compared to their previous season. Last season, the Bulldogs had three wrestlers qualify for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) regional competition. The team hopes to be as strong as they can be this year, bounce back from last season and set similar goals.

“We are not able to tell what teams are going to be the most challenging or the ones that aren’t going to be as challenging just because we are not having matches, so we do not get to see what the competition is like. So we kinda have to go off of last year’s teams and predict which ones are going to be the biggest challenges. The ones I would say are going to be the most challenging are probably going to be Burgettstown and Quaker Valley; they always have been good teams and challenged us,” Millward said. 

As of now the team’s season has been postponed, and they will compete in the Powerade tournament on Jan. 27, 28 and 29.