Wrestling, at its core, is one of the oldest sports in existence, being dated back over 5000 years. Yet, the sport has not only endured but even seen a resurgence in recent years, especially at Wakefield High School. With Wakefield’s boys and girls squads teaming to get off and running with a 3-0 record to start their season, wrestling has not only stood the test of time at Wakefield, but even taken a step into the limelight as one of the premier sports at the high school level nowadays.
Wrestling is a physically and mentally demanding sport, so sticking with it is a challenge for many. Despite this, some students have made it their passion. One such student is senior Rohama Gebremichael, who has been with the team all four years she’s been in high school. Despite the girl’s program only being fully sanctioned since the 2023-24 school year, Wakefield’s program, headed by Gebremichael, has grown quickly in this short span, largely thanks to word-of-mouth recruiting.
“Now that [girls wrestling is] an actually sanctioned sport it will only continue to grow,” Gebremichael said. “I convinced my sister to wrestle so I’m hoping she’ll carry my legacy.”
Along with student leadership, head coach Russell Williams has lots of enthusiasm about the growth of his program, for both boys and girls. While he knows the road for many of his younger, more inexperienced wrestlers won’t be very easy, he is confident that they will continue to get better as they grow.
“There are going to be tough moments this year for them, but they’re only going to go up from here,” Williams said. “By the time this group [of freshmen] is seniors, we’re going to be tough, we’re going to be a handful.”
While lots of new freshmen have joined the team this year, there are also lots of sophomores who make up the next era of Wakefield’s wrestling program. While most of them have had a year of experience over their first year counterparts, they still have so much time to learn and grow through the sport. One of the many young wrestlers on the team is Philip LoVerde, and while he knows there is still a lot to learn, he trusts those put in charge of the team to continue to steer him and his peers right.
“The coaches have been a big part of the bonding experience,” LoVerde said. “We’ve all only known each other since we started wrestling and we’ve become one big family, and I think that’s thanks to the coaches.”
With how tight knit this year’s team has already become in the relatively short amount of time they’ve been together, how their success has come to be becomes more clear. Wrestling as a sport depends very much on the discipline and accountability of its athletes, so teammates having a close relationship with each other plays a big role in the success of a team.
While Wakefield’s wrestling team has come very close together and experienced success because of it, the individual aspects of the sport have also been very important. Many wrestlers, including junior Micah Kinton, have had to endure their fair share of adversity. Kinton has only just gotten back on the mat after suffering a concussion earlier in the season, but he’s ready to get back on the mat and put the work in. He knows his team depends upon it.
“If you get lazy on the mat and you give up a point, that’s one less point between teams,” Kinton said. “So as much of a team sport as it is, it’s also an individual sport and no matter what your actions are, they can affect the whole team.”
While the season has gone well so far, the road ahead won’t be easy. The team will continue to experience setbacks and challenges along the way, as they did last year. Despite this, the hunger of the whole team, including Coach Williams, will serve as fuel to the fire of passion that pushes the team along on their journey toward success.
“Last year was a really tough year for me because I really don’t like to lose,” Williams said. “I hate losing, but we’re just going to go out there and wrestle our butts off.”
