The Wayne State wrestling team is at the halfway point of its season. The Wildcats had a strong first half and look to continue working their way towards a championship.

“Our biggest test will be our duals in Las Vegas in two weeks,” said Greg Vander Weil head wrestling coach. “We’ll go up to Sioux City, Winona, and then Feb. 24, we host the national qualifying tournament here at WSC.”

This season, there were quite of few returners from last year, but also there were some new kids who joined the team. Many of the returners from last year are having success and they have seen improvement in the freshman class.

“A lot of the returning guys are having success, and as well as the freshman,” said senior Spencer Trout.

Technique and conditioning are two of the wrestling team’s greatest strength. When it comes to the final minutes of a match, many of the wrestlers are very conditioned and can usually pull out the win while their opponent is tired from the first two periods.

“We’ll need to improve on some wrestling techniques and continue to build on being in great shape for the tough matches down the road,” said Vander Weil.

During this season so far there have been some achievements from a couple of wrestlers.

“Sophomore wrestler Hunter Weiss won the open tournament over in Iowa,” said Vander Weil. “Spencer won our tournament also.”

Wayne State wrestling is ranked in the top 20 in DII, and has three ranked wrestlers so far this season.

There will be a raffle Feb. 1 to help raise money for the Wayne State wrestling team. Come out to the Student Center and sign up and try to win pizza and wings.