The girls’ wrestling team started its season in the second week of November and currently has a record of [1-0]. On Thursday, Nov. 29, the team has a match against Euless Trinity and Wakeland High School. The team has three state qualifiers this year, senior captains Cassie Moseley and Lydiana Hill and junior Katelyn Allen, who are expected to show leadership to their teammates and perform at the state tournament this year with the hopes of making it to the second round.

With freshmen joining this year, the team as a whole is forced to work harder so the girls can perform well at district.

“I expect [the team] to learn and step up but I also expect [this year] to be a growth year,” head coach Karra Stratton said. “[I want] those freshmen to fall in love with the sport and want to proceed from there.”

The captains will have to take an even bigger step in their leadership this season because Stratton will be out on maternity leave so the girls will have practice without their main coach there to tell them what to do.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what they do while I’m gone,” Stratton said. “I’m really excited for that because I think I’m going to be pleasantly surprised at how far these girls are able to go on their own leadership and on their own perseverance and discipline.”

This year, they are focusing on the fundamentals of wrestling such as maintaining a strong stance and solid base when they go down. They aren’t focusing on higher level techniques their advanced athletes are practicing until the entire team learns the basics. According to Hill, the girls need to work on intensifying their aggression while practicing in order to become stronger wrestlers.

“We’ve got a lot of new girls [and] sometimes [they] get scared,” Hill said. “They need more forward aggression. I’m going to help push them, [or] at least get them, to where they can feel comfortable and don’t have to be afraid.”

When the girls understand how to work as a team, they will be able to better themselves and achieve higher expectations put on them by their peers.

“We don’t have a lot of drive at the moment and I think it’s because it’s [the] beginning of [the] season,” Moseley said. “We’re not used to [each other] yet because we have a lot of incoming freshmen.”

The team was able to learn about each other at the beginning of the year. The diverse group of girls was able to develop relationships and create closer bonds despite differences.

“We really try to focus on teamwork, community and culture,” Stratton said. “[We have] girls who are like Cassie on rodeo, and last year Cassie was a rodeo princess, and then you’ve got girls like [Lydiana], who played football her freshman year and are just a little bit more rough, and Fatima, who is this makeup guru; she looks super polished.”

The teammates who have been wrestling throughout their high school career, such as Moseley, are able to make the freshmen feel welcomed.

“It’s amazing [to be on the team],” Moseley said. “It’s one of those sports I fell in love with. The teammates we get this year [will feel] so much like a family more than a team.”