Photo of 2019-20 Pella Wrestling Team

After a loaded number of matches to start the season, the focus for the Pella wrestling team over break has been learning from those experiences and sharpening their mental toughness. Head Coach Jay Pike says practices over break have been used to not only advance from a lot of matches wrestled in the 2019 portion of the season, but to prepare for even tougher opponents ahead.

“We try to make it fun for the kids, but there’s also times where we have to battle and try to push not really the physical side as much as the mental side,” he says. “We try to build up our guys and have them be confident in themselves, so we have to go high-intensity practice at points and times where the kids really have to break through some mental barriers to where they have to push through and find success for themselves.”

Pella will open the 2020 portion of the season at Norwalk on Thursday.