Wrestlers must be prepared to use all their physical and mental tools in order to be victorious. After finishing the 2024-2025 season with their best record since 2011, the LM wrestling team is hungry for more success this year. Led by head coach Harry Keyser, who is entering his sixth year of coaching LM’s boys’ team, the wrestlers are eager to show out.
One of the most important components of this wrestling season is its core group. Charles Welgs ’26 notes, “We only had two varsity seniors leave last year, so we’re hoping that we can build on [that].” Four of the five captains from last year are returning, including Tamir Griffin ’26, Sam Soeffing ’26, Aaron Silber ’26, and Keegan Daley ’27. Typically, a major concern for any sports team following a successful season is the loss of their most experienced and important seniors, but this seems to be no problem for the current core, since so many incredibly talented players that were sophomores and juniors last year will still be with the team.
Forming a team mentality has unified the wrestlers and is another piece to the puzzle of success in the sport. When asked about the team’s mentality, Silber said, “After last season, we knew that we were going to do some really great things next year. Our team is stacked with returners who have constantly been training throughout the off-season/preseason. With this consistency, we are already miles ahead of everyone else. We just have to get the newer, less experienced guys ready to compete, and we will be ready to become a wrestling powerhouse for the first time in a long time. With that in mind, our mentality is simple. ‘Do your job!’ Find what works best for you, learn from your mistakes, and don’t act stupid on the mat. The most successful wrestlers are usually always the most coachable and disciplined. It is the same as always throughout my time wrestling.”
Nonetheless, it’s important to note that throughout the offseason, players, both new and experienced, are working tirelessly to continue improving their skills and preparing to be even more successful this year. A majority of wrestlers enjoy participating in offseason competitions to keep experiencing live competitions as they gain strength and learn new techniques. This sport demands athletes to practice in events and competitions, as running drills and scenarios of pins and escapes can’t truly push you to the next level.
Additionally, conditioning is a crucial part of the team’s training throughout the offseason to ensure health and stamina stay strong. During the regular season, practices include many drills to target certain aspects of the sport and learning new strategies for matches. Groundwork, including pinning and escape techniques, are also heavily emphasized. Certain practices are much more labor intensive than others, such as a 400-meter race where the wrestlers run around the hallway with heavy weights. This is done intentionally in order to have a little friendly competition and push athletes to their full potential.
During practices, wrestlers always come prepared to improve on their skillset and need to be engaged at all times. Silber highlighted, “Discipline usually shows up first in practice… Many people who join the team quit because of our harder practices, simply because they don’t want to put that much strain on their body. Wrestling is a physically demanding sport and you must be in really good shape to do well. We do these hard practices because we know that other teams are doing the same exact thing, and we want to be in shape as soon as possible.”
Another important thing about wrestling that LM wrestlers take seriously is their routine. Mentally preparing for such a physically demanding sport can be difficult for many people, but a set routine helps reduce fear and builds a person’s confidence. Silber shared what he typically does in preparation for matches stating, “Your mentality is the most important factor that can affect a match. My mentality [for] wrestling is always ‘set this up’, ‘move’, ‘you got this’, ‘it’s only a point’, ‘let’s do this’, etc. There have been studies that have shown that if you think more positively and confidently, you will most likely win your match. A person with a negative attitude is most likely going to give up faster and lose their match. It’s best not to think of these thoughts and keep your mentality focused on the match in your favor. Always think of scoring the next point.”
The atmosphere for this upcoming season has been very optimistic and electric, and all players are eager to get back in the ring. With hopes of a strong season that leads to a playoffs appearance, everybody is putting in maximum effort to be successful. From all their offseason activities and training, players are well prepared to face any opponent with strength and confidence.
