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PHOTO Brendan Triola

Six points. In football, that is good for one touchdown. However, if a football team had to give up an automatic five touchdowns because of a lack of players in their lineup, their probability of winning would decrease dramatically.

In wrestling, teams are awarded six points if they pin their opponent, which is the greatest number of points that one wrestler can contribute. But if the team does not have anyone who can wrestle in a specific weight class, it has to forfeit six points to the other team.

When the wrestling team competes in a meet, the weight classes begin at 103 pounds, followed by 112, 119, 125, 130, all the way to heavyweight. Each school’s top wrestler at every weight class takes on the other school’s top performer. With every weight class filled, the Tigers no longer have to give up free voids to their opponents.

“In all of the years I have been following Fenton, this is the fullest line up we have had,” varsity coach Brad Beverly said. “It’s hard to recover when you give your opponent free point free voids.”

Beverly, although it is his first season with the team, has noticed a pattern; he said that this has contributed to his team’s successes this year.
“Practice participation for the most part has been good,” Beverly said. “We have a good number of kids who have yet to miss a practice. More importantly, wrestlers are having a lot of fun, which is the most important when it comes to keeping kids motivated.”

Leadership from the seniors has focused on reminding the younger wrestlers that although wrestling gives the perception of an individual sport, is very much a team sport.

“Like our coach has said since the beginning of the year, encouraging the young guys with positivity and reminding them that it’s a team sport is very important,” senior Andrew Goodman said. “Every single point that you score, every single thing that you do in a dual, affects your team.”

Expectations this season from the coaches and wrestlers have risen since the beginning of the year.

“We say the word commitment every day,” Beverly said. “Early on as a team, we wanted to compete. We have worked and the kids have proven that they can win, so expectations are higher. We want to get some Metro League wins as well as win our team tournament.”