As the embers of football season die down, wrestling season emerges from the ashes giving sports fans a new mode of excitement.

Though not everything is well and easy; it’s going to take a lot of effort for Searcy to come out on top this year.

There is a lot of school spirit at Searcy and many of the wrestlers are very excited for the upcoming season and have a deeply entrenched love for the sport.

“It is good to be part of a good clean sport that involves a lot of physical contact. It feels pretty good to represent the school at state,” said junior Nate Freeman.

Expectations are high for the team.

“I expect to not only win state, but for everyone to win state,” said sophomore Connor Ford.

This is a dream that the team’s manager, freshman Maddie Cosset, feels is very plausible given the recent effort at practice and overall effort. Another major benefit this year’s wrestling team possesses is the dramatically increased number of seniors they have this year compared to last.

“The guys are doing very good at practice,” said Cosset. “I have a good feeling they will do really well in the matches, too.”

Coach Steve Leonard is looking for leadership in the team this year.

“We have two or three really good kids, who are most likely going to win state titles,” said coach Steve Leonard.

Despite the optimism for the three wrestlers, Leonard had a slightly different take on the team as a whole.

“We are going to have some individual state champs, but to win state for the entire team, four or five people will have to really step it up,” Leonard said.

Senior Josh Bell explained how last year was disappointing in the leadership category.

“Last year, we didn’t have a single senior and this year we have probably seven or eight,” he said. “I feel like the chances are increased just because of all the leadership on the team.”

Bell said that this season will undoubtedly be a tough one.

“We have the toughest schedule we’ve ever had, which includes several tournaments. Someone could end up in over fifty matches instead of the usual twenty to twenty-five matches,” he said.

Despite some of the advantages, the team is always looking for members and searching for more support to make it through the hard year, but the time period that help arrives could very well effect the outcome of the season.

“When freshmen start off, it’s really hard because there is so much information to cram, but then once you get to your second or third year you start improving a lot faster. In other words you need to start out pretty early,” Bell said.

Connor Ford said that the trick to improving as a team is to just keep coming to practice and keep working.

“It’s really just about having a few good moves you’re really good at and being in shape,” he said.