Hard work and serious conditioning go into training for a wrestling match, but the boys wrestling team, 0-2, may not be able to muster up enough points with so few teammates.

Junior Tyler White believes the deficit is going to be the biggest obstacle for the team this season.

“There are 14 wrestling classes, but only 17 [athletes] on the roster–with two out for the entire season,” said White.

After their Thursday match, assistant coach and social studies teacher Joe Dominick believes that as many as 24 points could be lost due to disqualifications. As a long time coach, and past wrestler, the shortage of wrestlers is frustrating and difficult for him accept.

“When I wrestled in high school, there were 40 to 50 wrestlers on a team. With only 15 people, you give up 18 to 24 points a match, and you limit your ability to win,” said Dominick.

Now, the team is down to about 12 members. Two are out for the whole season, three have concussions, and one are out for temporary reasons.

Dominick also thinks that most people do not understand how much work goes into being on the team. He describes the challenges a new member had when he joined the team 3 weeks into the season.

“We had a young man join our team last night; [and] we’ve been practicing for about three weeks now, said Dominick. “Now, this person is a pretty decent athlete, but he was massively exhausted. People do not realize how challenging wrestling is.”

Practice is from 4:30-7:00 PM during the week and 8:30-11:30 AM on Saturday. Most sports seasons start out with a focus on conditioning and endurance, especially in preseason, but Junior captain Zach Holloway reveals how in depth practices become.

“We start with about a 1/2 hour of running hallways, then we drill for an hour, live [wrestle] for 15 minutes, and then we condition,” explained Holloway.

But there is more to wrestling then technique and conditioning. There is the weight element too.

Dominick explains that wrestling is more different than most sports for one major reason.

“You have other sports that can go home and eat and drink all they want after [practice],” explained Dominick. “Wrestlers have to go home and have the discipline to restrict their diet. They have to fit into a certain weight class. If they are one tenth of a pound over, [during the match] they sit in the stands and watch.”

Dominick knows that the dieting is what separates the strong from the weak.

“[Dieting makes] some guys as mean as the day is long, and some guys buckle under the pressure,” said Dominick.

Susquehannock wrestlers are going to have to put in the extra work to make up for lost points.