Breakfast: two bags of oatmeal, check. Two hours later: a banana, check. Lunch: a chicken salad with fries, check. Before practice: an apple, check. Dinner: baked chicken or salmon, check. This is just one of the many weird diets wrestlers follow to make weight during the season, according to Senior Captain Zeke Stroupe. Wrestling is demanding, and wrestlers need to make weight before each match or else they can’t wrestle. “You just can’t give up, even when you’re in a lot of pain,” Sophomore Ryan Whipple said. Stroupe has first-hand experience with the amount of willpower and determination it takes to be a wrestler. This is his 14th year wrestling and his second year as team captain. Stroupe puts a lot of hard work into wrestling – like the rest of the team – but when it comes to downtime, they still know how to have fun. “My sophomore year after a 7 and 2 season, the team streaked the halls in our singlets,” Stroupe said. The team will certainly remember moments like this and the seniors who graduate as well. The team doesn’t always strip just to have some fun. They frequently go out to eat as a team, going out after almost every match and even after some practices. “My favorite memory is when we [would] go to CiCi’s and eat as much pizza as we could,” Sophomore Andrew Ward said. “We always take trips to get food together, and I think we bond well when we do that,” Sophomore Lane Ward said. This really helps the athletes get to know one another, which also helps their performance. “We never really give up on each other. And if one of us needs help or if one of us is about to give up, we push each other,” Whipple said. The team competed in several events recently.The team’s first tournament was at Chartier’s Houston and held Dec. 9 and 10. The team’s first match was Dec. 12 against Blackhawk, and the team won 52 to 30. The second match the team competed in was yesterday against Ellwood.