The pre-season for Wildcat Wrestling is off to a great start. The team has some new faces, but many upperclassmen have returned. Overall, the team is excited to get back to the mats given last year with the Covid protocols they did not even know if they would even have a wrestling season.  

     Senior Orlando Lizama said “ during pre-season, the team comes in to do workouts three days a week. Each of those days we run a mile, condition by running up the bleachers, and lift weights”.

Throughout the off season, it is important to maintain a steady weight. Coach Dustin Few said,“ We do suggest diet plans for those who are looking to lose weight.”  He also mentioned an alpha test, which measures your body weight, but also tells you how much you can lose and even recommends how much per day you can healthily lose.

  Senior leadership appears to be a strength for the team this year. “It’s the biggest class of seniors I’ve ever had and it shows,” Few said. The seniors are welcoming, hard working, and good kids who represent Westerville South Wrestling in a way that Few is proud to see. 

   Few mentioned an ongoing issue with not having enough wrestlers as a potential weakness for the team. He said this has caused problems in the past seasons. Last season they were in multiple situations where they had to forfeit because they didn’t have the numbers. 

Wrestling is hard and demanding, but coaches know this and are trying to make a positive environment where everyone is welcome. 

  Returning upperclassmen include: Tyler O’Reilly, Ben Mosesley, Ethan Stofel, Orlando Lizama and Ife Evander. All of them are seniors and all four year South wrestlers. 

The wrestling team is getting some new recruits this season. Junior, Noah Wilbur is jumping into wrestling and is looking promising according to Few. New freshman recruits are Aj Smith, Christian St. Clair, Neyo Thomas, Aaron Matthews, Emmanuel (Crunch) Korankye, Parker Lawall and Caleb Stewart. 

   The wrestling team is also super excited, since Few has been here no other girls have wrestled. This season they have added Olamide Olobatyui. The coaches are excited because she showen toughness and a willingness to learn.”. They have another girl wrestler who just joined Arielle “Ari” Rollins . 

Girls in wrestling have increased in Ohio” wrestlelikeagirl.org states. South’s Wrestling would love to add more girls if any are interested. 

   Some huge school competitors are North, Olentangy Liberty, Marysville, Big Walnut to name a few. Huge student competitors are Tyler O’Reily, Orlando Lizama and Ethan Stofel. They are returning district qualifiers. Coaches hope these wrestlers continue to a higher level. 

  Lizama said he’s looking forward to tournaments and mat time this season since they couldn’t do much last year. “I’m feeling great this year, for my senior year,” Lizama said. He said in his four years of wrestling at South, he has learned everything he knows about the sport. “I didn’t wrestle or even think about it in middle school. I’m going to start and finish here,” he said.  Lizama also  talked about how he’s going to switch to more offense instead of more defense.