The SHS wrestling team went up against every school in their conference while competing in the Conference Indiana meet on Jan. 19. The original date for this meet was Jan. 13, but a snowstorm pushed it back, cutting the team’s time to prepare for sectionals short.

“You have to be ready no matter what,” assistant coach Sean Schmaltz said. “It would’ve been nice to have that week to prepare.”

According to Schmaltz, this week of practice consisted of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday being high intensity while yesterday and today they slowed things down by play wrestling and getting their bodies ready for the meet.

The high intensity practice is designed for a large amount of cardio. Cardio for the wrestling team is not the traditional running. For the the wrestlers, cardio consists of wrestling with one another at a very high volume until they are as tired as they possibly can be. They do multiple drills where each drill lasts for a certain amount of time and the wrestlers can only take a few seconds to catch their breath between each routine.

The two days of low intensity practice are more technical. This means that the wrestlers are going through the motions and practicing how to get out of and score a point from different positions.

The benefits of this weekly routine practice have shown in meets. The team managed to place third in Conference this year while last year they placed dead last out of eight. Schmaltz believes and has seen that they are in better shape and improving each other.

“I’m gonna push myself and my brothers to the best of our abilities,” said senior Dayton Fries.

With this being Fries fourth and final sectional meet, he has his eyes set on being the one to stand on the top of the podium. To make sure he gets himself there, Fries plans on continuously working hard in the ring, eating clean and healthy food and making sure he is well rested.

Sectionals for SHS consist of going up against Indiana “powerhouse” Perry Meridian High School. PMHS has been able to consistently produce winning wrestlers. Earlier this year, PMHS dominated SHS in a 68-3 win. This year’s sectional meet will be held tomorrow at the 9 a.m. in the fieldhouse.