When people think of sports, many first think of basketball, football, and other mainstream sports. However, people often overlook some of the most arduous sports – especially at Panther Creek. One of those sports is wrestling! Panther Creek wrestling is a very accomplished team who underwent very rigorous training. PCNN decided to look into the team’s training, wins, and losses to see how much they have overcome and triumphed!

According to PCHS wrestlers, practice usually lasts for around 2.5 hours. During this time, they undergo intensive training. That includes hard-core conditioning, which many players believe is the hardest part of wrestling. One player stated, “It’s a very physically demanding sport. If you’re not tired or sore after practice you’re doing something wrong. Every day you should be preparing yourself to get better.”

One of the other most difficult parts about wrestling is your mentality. According to a PCNN poll, over half of the wrestlers believe that one’s mentality is the most challenging part of the sport. One player stated that the most crucial aspects of wrestling are “having a wrestler mindset and being mentally tough.”

However, every player believes that these rigorous practices and straining mindsets end up being very rewarding. They recently won at the Holy Angels tournament in Greensboro. Although there were many victories at this tournament, many of the players’ favorite memories were of their teammates. One player said his favorite part was “the feeling you get when you win and how supportive the team is.”

Dana Anger, the only girl on the team, stated that her favorite part is “how much the team supports everyone.” She adds that even though “it can be scary at times” to be the only girl, she gets “a lot more support than I thought I would, and it makes me feel cool!”

From all this, every player we interviewed said that wrestling is one of the most demanding sports. After looking at their strenuous practices and mindset, we can see why it’s one of the most difficult sports! One wrestler stated, “the amount of conditioning you have to do to be able to keep up with everyone” makes it one of the hardest sports.

To continue to improve, PCHS senior Olu Rose states that you must improve “your mental toughness, making sure you’re ready to get through matches and making sure you’re physically ready.”

We hope that the wrestlers continue to improve and make PCHS proud! PCNN will continue to support our wrestling team in their future matches! Sko cats!