Competing against wrestlers from all 10 Metro League schools, the Fenton team finished 8th at the league wrestling tournament on Feb. 6. in the FHS gymnasium.

“The ultimate goal for the team is for us to start peaking now because of districts being next week,” wrestling coach Bruce Burwitz said. “So right now in the season is the perfect time. The week leading up to this tournament has been super hectic because we had a match on Wednesday and then the JV tournament was Friday. Wrestlers who are doing really good right now are Tommy Adams, Jake Church, Andrew Goodman no comma and Mario Ramirez. ”

Sophomore Will Galvin has learned more about becoming a better wrestler with the advice that was give to him by coach Burwitz. Practice for tournaments is nothing different for normal weekly practices.

“At the start of the season, I knew only one move and was not very good at it,” Galvin said. “Now I know more, but my coach always says a good wrestler only needs to know three good moves: one to escape, one to pin and one to take down. When preparing for a tournament we don’t really practice any different from what we normally do with regular matches.”

Senior Anna Hart participated in the JV tournament in the previous night. As a girl in the sport of wrestling her opponents look at her differently because of her gender.

“The way I mentally prepare is by listening to music; physically, I don’t do much different,” Hart said. “Being a girl, I definitely get underestimated. I can tell because when I’m in a match, I can see the coaches’ face when I pin a guy. The boys on the other team look at me differently because of my gender.”

Junior Andrew Goodman in his weight class of 285 took fourth place. He finished the day with one win and two loses.

“I use practice to try and stay in shape when physically preparing for tournaments,” Goodman said. “Running on the weekends helps as well to prepare. Mentally, I go off in my own place before the match, focus on what I need to do during the match.”

Team district finals for wrestling will take place on Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. at Holly High School. Individual finals are Feb. 13 at 9 a.m.