Hunter and I chose to write an article on wrestling. We first interviewed the head coach, Coach Kade. We started by asking him, “What is your favorite memory from this season so far?” Coach told us, “Max Beard beat teammate Bryson Stiger in the semifinal of the Bloomington Tournament to make it to the championship match. After Max came back from losing 0-14 and pinned his opponent to win 1st place, Bryson stormed the mat and lifted Max over his head in celebration. He didn’t let his loss to Max affect his sportsmanship one bit.”
Then we asked Coach Kade, “If you could redo any wrestling meet from this season, what would it be and why, or is there no meet you would redo from this season?” Coach responded, “Whether you are an athlete/competitor or a coach, there are certainly moments you wish a match or dual meet had played out a little differently. However, I believe that regardless of wins or losses, accepting the outcome as it happened is essential for growth as an athlete and a team. Oftentimes, you can learn more from a loss than a win.”
Our third question for Coach Kade was, “What was the best match you’ve seen this whole season and why?” Coach Kade said, “While there are so many to choose from, I’d say the best match I’ve seen all season was Brayden Lehman vs. Rodriguez from Bloomington Jr. High. Rodriguez is a highly ranked 2A wrestler who has placed highly in multiple tournaments this season. Not only was he beating Brayden, but he was also being very unsportsmanlike. In the third period, Brayden came roaring back for the win, showing sheer grit and determination.”
Our fourth question was, “What’s your favorite part of wrestling practices?” Coach told us, “Hands down, my favorite part of practice is the conditioning (sprints and live wrestling). Sprints and other forms of conditioning are very hard. Doing hard things makes all other hard things easier. It shows you that you are much more capable than you think and makes you a better person.”
Our last question for Coach Kade was, “How would you describe the season so far?” Coach Kade gave us the response, “I would describe this season as one of satisfaction but not complacency. Despite being one of the smallest teams we’ve faced all year, we’ve achieved significant success—such as going 5-1 at our first super duel as the second smallest team. That’s something to be proud of. However, we’re not content because our goals extend beyond what we’ve accomplished so far. There’s still room for improvement, and we’re focused on making the most of the rest of our season.”
Next, we interviewed some of the captains from the team: Hudson Leman, Brayden Lehman, Brady Thompson, and Abram Funderburk. We asked all of them the same questions. We first interviewed Brayden Lehman. We asked him, “What was your favorite meet so far this year?” Brayden responded, “My favorite meet was our first Super Duel.”
Our next question was, “If you could change anything about the season, what would it be?” Brayden told us, “The part I would change for the season is before winter break.”
Our third question for Brayden was, “What is your favorite part of practice, if there is one?” Brayden said, “My favorite part is probably when we run because I put on music and do stuff with Abram.”
Our second-to-last question for Brayden was, “What is your motivation to keep wrestling?” Brayden responded, “My dad and his brother all went to state, so I want to too.”
Our last question was, “Who is your idol in wrestling?” Brayden told us, “My idol is probably my brother.”
Now we interviewed Brady Thompson and asked him the same questions. Brady responded to the question, “What was your favorite meet so far this year?” with, “My favorite meet of the season would have to be Olympia.”
Then we asked Brady, “If you could change anything about this season, what would you change?” Brady gave us the response, “I wouldn’t change anything because if you want to be successful, you have to have zero doubt.”
Our third question was, “What is your favorite part of practice, if there is one?” Brady told us, “My favorite part of practice would just be pushing yourself past the line and getting 1% better every day.”
Our fourth question was, “What is your motivation to keep wrestling?” Brady answered, “My motivation would be the fact that wrestling teaches you more life lessons than any other sport.”
Our last question was, “Who is your idol in wrestling?” Brady lastly responded, “My idol would either be my dad or Bo Basset because Bo isn’t the most athletic kid ever, but he works as hard as possible.”
We then asked Hudson Leman a few questions. Our first question was, “What was your favorite meet from the season so far?” He replied, “Olympia, it’s a tournament, and there are some really good teams. I also placed 2nd there.”
Next, we asked him, “If you could change anything about this season, what would it be?” He told us, “More kids, you can never have enough. Everyone reading this should.”
We also asked him, “What’s your favorite part of practice, if there’s one?” He said, “Being with the team, they are like a family. They are funny, and we push each other.”
After that, we asked him, “What is your motivation to keep wrestling?” He replied, “My mind, it’s one of the toughest sports out there. You have to psych yourself up. That or my parents.”
Lastly, we asked him, “Who is your idol in wrestling?” He said, “My coach. He is a great wrestler and a nice guy. He really taught me everything.”
That’s all we asked Hudson.
