Perspiration drips from the opponent’s forehead. The ticking clock counts second by second. A member of the Etowah wrestling team shifts on the mat, anxiously. He focuses his attention on his opponent; he is determined to win. This wrestling season, new head coach Jeremiah Lutz is leading his team to success.  

“Wrestling can be very time-consuming and takes a lot of hard work, but the end result of accomplishing a goal pays off in the end,” Lutz said.  

Wrestling season is back. With the first meeting in August and extreme conditioning to follow, wrestlers pushed Lutz’s expectations by getting emotionally and physically involved in the sport.  

“I expect the program to grow by next year. I also expect significant improvement,” Aiden Choate, freshman, said. 

Wrestling season is from October to February. Wrestlers will compete every weekend to ultimately compete and work toward the goal of participating in the state tournament. 

“Start with the basics:  good stance and develop a simple shot. We also try to do a lot of conditioning to get kids in shape,” Lutz said.  

During last year’s season, the Etowah Wrestling team won at regions. Conditioning is a key part to any sport, but the team is mainly focusing on actual wrestling to better prepare for this year’s competition.  

“We are always trying to improve our conditioning, but we are mainly wrestling right now,” Lutz, said  

Lutz will continue to work diligently to keep Etowah’s wrestling team in shape and achieve its goals of pinning down their competition.