Wrestling is a heavily demanding sport on its participants requiring immense physical conditioning, technical mastery and mental fortitude. Amongst its list of participants is sophomore Trenton Byers who’s been involved in the sport since he was five. This year marks his 11th year wrestling. 

“Originally, I started wrestling when I was five because my dad wanted me to be better at tackling football,” he said. “But then I became better at wrestling than I was at football, so I just kind of stuck around.”

Byers favorite match this season was final match.

“I feel like that one had the best atmosphere, it had the most cheering, and it was me going against the number two kid and I upset him,” he said.

Byers has a certain routine he follows each day, which helps him concentrate.  

“I have the same warm up I’ve been doing for a few years now where I just get my mind right,” he said. “I just try to focus on myself and get ready for the match. Control what I can control.”

Byers’ focus helps his confidence about his wrestling ability.

“Currently right now, I would not say to be arrogant, but I think i’m number one out of the wrestlers on the team,” he said.

The sophomore has hopes to wrestle at the next level.

“I could definitely see myself going into college for wrestling, and that’s one of my main goals,” he said.

One’s body can take a lot of wear and tear when wrestling, and Byers tries many things to avoid getting hurt.

“I usually just ice what hurts when it hurts,” he said. “I’ll go for runs and I’m usually participating in another sport out of season, so that helps out a lot, and I just eat good along with working a lot whenever I’m not wrestling.”

Byer’s tries to keep a positive mindset in regards to his high ranking.

“I just focus on myself,” he said. “I don’t like to overthink things. My mind is just always set on being number one. I try to keep that mindset going every time that it’s just another match and I’m just going to go out there and wrestle.”