The wrestling season is coming to a close. The Wildcats started the 2024 season strong but after a challenging regular season, the squad now looks towards the playoffs.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, certainly some lineup movements that have put us in some tough spots to be in. Overall we finished in a good spot against Northwest, so I think we’re ready for individual postseasons now,” coach Brian Frantz said.
Recently, the Wildcats came off of playing in the Battle of the Bethesda, a tri-meet with B-CC and Whitman High Schools. They finished in third and last place and are now looking to rebound after falling to both rivals. Prior to the big meet, the Cats had just lost two head-to-head matchups against Rockville (48-36) and Northwest (32-31).
“It’s really fine-tuning right now, so just working on small things. At this point it’s just personal things that we need to adjust, not whole team things,” junior Hudson Barrett said.
The wrestling team has had lots of strong performances this season from their wrestlers. Madeline Barnett, currently in her junior season, feels she has improved from the previous season.
“(The season) is going better than I expected, especially compared to last year. I’m just focused on making it to the next stages next week, and next-next week. Everyone else has been doing well too,” Barnett said.
The Wildcats’ mentality is locked into preparing for the playoffs and has their eyes on the MCPS championships on Feb. 16 and 17 at Clarksburg High School. The playoffs are no longer about team performance and are based on individual matchups. The real challenge is that playoffs are “win or go home”, something that coaches are stressing to the team.
“Now that it’s just individuals, it’s all about winning. It’s important to move on, doesn’t matter if it’s a pretty win or an ugly win, to advance you just have to win. For the most part, we’re practicing what we’ve been practicing all year, fundamentals and the basics. I think if you do the fundamentals better than other teams, it pays off in the end,” Frantz said.
