On Dec. 1 girls wrestling had their first tournament of the season at the Esmond Ford Memorial Invitational at Affton. 

Junior Madeline Haynes took first place and said that her last match was the toughest because she had to wrestle [a Washington wrestler] who is ranked high in the state so she had to perform her best. 

“I was pretty happy with how I wrestled. My other matches I won were a pin, a tech, and because the girl had to medically forfeit. Then [for] my finals match I was against a girl that’s ranked second in the state so I thought it was going to be a tough match and I was happy with how I performed,” Haynes said.

Girls wrestling coach Jonathan Bunyard said that the girls have been getting in a lot of practice, but since it was the first tournament for many of the athletes it took some adjustment. 

“The girls’ season started practice and training a week before the boys so we’ve been training since the last week of November. Since a lot of our girls are new, it was their first experience at a tournament and we had to prepare them mentally for what it feels like to wrestle in a tournament that takes all day,” Bunyard said. 

Senior Chaire Perks also took first place in the tournament. She said that her strong suit was making the first move in a match and that she tries to clear her mind before she wrestles so she can perform her best.

“My mindset going into the matches is trying to stay calm and think about moves I want to do in the match. My strengths were probably attacking first and my weaknesses were being on my back,” Perks said. 

Bunyard said that so far this season has brought new triumphs for athletes such as junior Gracie Hampe, who has unlocked a lot of potential and has been greatly improving.

“We had a couple girls in that tournament, for example, Hampe hasn’t had a lot of success the last few years but she’s starting to wrestle some of her best matches and it’s awesome to see that it’s all starting to click for her, she’s a junior now,” Bunyard said.

Bunyard also said that in order to prepare the girls for future matches, they constantly practice, but they also have to make sure that they need to practice self control.

“[To prepare for the future] our girls lift weights three to four times a week, we have practice every day until 5:30, and then just constant reminders to prepare them because wrestling is a unique sport were you don’t only have to practice but also have to practice self discipline and watch your weight,” Bunyard said.