The start of November is the start of wrestling season for Pacific University’s women’s wrestling team. Head coach Severin Walsh is confident the team will do great this season. “The wrestlers are in shape and ahead of last year at this point, so I can’t ask for much more,” Walsh said. Freshman Katie Dennis has begun her first year as a wrestler here at Pacific and has acclimated extremely well to the women’s team. She admits that practices have been difficult
and the rules have been different for their wrestling freestyle compared to the high school level.
Overall, she’s been working hard and has been able to balance practice, school and even a bit of Netflix. According to Dennis, wrestling has helped her to take better care of her body and adopt good habits for the rest of her life. She believes that the coaches are extremely supportive. “The best coaches I’ve ever had,” Dennis said. Walsh makes his support for the wrestlers apparent stating, “the competition is stiff for our team [and] our ladies get the opportunity to see an elite level competition pretty much every time they step on the mat, [but] most importantly, our expectation is to have the girls embrace the journey and become the
best version of themselves as possible.”
Many people are into the “big” sports, such as basketball and football, so wrestling gets over looked when it comes to support. Dennis as well as the rest of the team hope that wrestling will become a bigger part of the athlete culture and people will grow to appreciate the hard work these ladies put in, on and off the mat. The Boxers hosted the Mike Clock Open Nov. 6. as they saw their first action of the season.
The Boxers were led by senior CarrieAnn Randolph finished in third place after winning a tightly contested match in the consolation bracket. She finished 2-1 on the day. The Boxers next meet will be Nov. 19 at Eastern Washington University.
Leave a Reply