As winter approaches, so does the winter sports season at Malden High, including the wrestling season. Wrestling is one of the many winter sports that Malden High School has to offer. It is the sport of grappling with an opponent and trying to throw or hold them down on the ground, typically according to a code of rules.
Tryouts began on November 27th and continued to December 1st after school. The number of members on the wrestling team are relatively low compared to other sports. The numbers on the team have been dwindling throughout the years so anyone who is interested in joining will make it. But whether or not he or she competes is up to Rin Van, the coach of the wrestling team.
Rin Van is quiet yet effective leader. He is experienced at wrestling from when he was a student at Malden High School and was on the wrestling team himself. Jeremiah Smith was Van’s coach at the time and continues to work at the school as an English teacher. This is his second season coaching but had growing pains last year “mainly due to highly amounts of paperwork necessary for wrestling” mentioned Athletics Director, Charlie Conefrey. He continued that, “Overall Rin has done a very good job” and is “highly consistent in helping the kids.”
Wrestling practices are after school from 2:30 to 5:30pm on Monday through Friday and 10am to noon on Saturday in the wrestling room across from the weight room. The Malden High School has created a new website where everyone in the school is eligible to see the winter sports schedules. Here, you can also see the wrestling schedule and be up to date with competitions and so forth. You can also get notified on whatever sports you choose whenever through text or email. Just make an account to get started and you can see when your next game is coming up.
So far, the wrestling team consists of seven wrestlers, six males and one female. Two of the males are captains, seniors Carlos Parada and Seth Jones. Two freshmen joined this year while the rest are returning members. Two of the members made it to state finals last year but hope to go farther as the season goes.
“Winning an overall match will be difficult for us this season” said by Conefrey because of the little amount of members. But with the team's hard work and dedication, they’re sure to make up in what they lack. Long term, they hope to build the youth program to encourage younger students to join the wrestling team.
