While they did not get any wrestlers to the state meet this week, the Knoxville Wrestling Squad’s season was not without success. The Panthers were very young at several key weight classes this season and as the season went on, Coach Doug Hatch noticed the seniors were taking the freshmen under their wings and making the Panthers a force in dual meets.

Hatch:
“We had a strange mixture with a lot of seniors with a lot of experience but not a lot of success, we had some energetic freshmen coming in but not much in between so I was relying on the seniors to teach the new guys what it was all about and they did. They were great leaders and the freshmen stepped up and made us a strong team.”

Hatch says when the season started they had one returning varsity wrestler that had a winning record…this season when it ended…there were ten guys with winning records.