Bulldog wrestlers face rebuilding season

   Things look a lot different in the MFL MarMac wrestling room than they did a year ago at this time. Gone from last year’s team are six seniors, three of whom placed at the state tournament, as well as a pair of would-be returnees who combined for nearly 70 wins last year but chose not to wrestle this year.

   “Our theme this year is putting a new engine in the car,” Coach Chet Bachman said. “We have a mix. We have some pretty darn good kids and then we have some young kids and then we have some beginners. You just try to mix that together and do the best that you can; it’s kind of like playing the hand you’re dealt and that’s kind of what we’re doing.”

   This year’s Bulldog roster features six returnees who placed in last year’s Upper Iowa Conference Tournament, one other wrestler who saw significant varsity action, four returnees who did not see a lot of action last year, and seven freshmen. All told there are 18 wrestlers on the roster, enough that Bachman said the team should be able to fill most if not all of the weight classes barring injuries.

   “The hardest thing, I think, will be for a couple of these young kids to maybe have to drop a couple of pounds for the first time,” he said. “Even if they’re bigger guys it’s a little different.”

   Bachman said this will be a season where the Bulldogs will need to learn on the mat. That, however, will take time.

   “It’s not just about the moves, it’s about the actual feel of where you’re at, the feel of how to defend,” he said. “It’s a mat feeling that takes mat time.”

For more of this story see the Dec. 4 Outlook.