Last weekend, the Lindenwood men’s and women’s wrestling teams competed here on campus at the Lindenwood open tournament.
The men’s team finished 13th place out of 37 teams with a score of 10 pins. The women’s teams won all five of its duals, verses Simpson 30-17, Eureka 40-6, William Woods 44-5, Quincy 36-8, and Carl Albert State 35-13.
“I think the whole team as a collective came together,” assistant men’s and women’s coach Darren Wynn said. “We had some guys [and] some girls take losses and bounce back. We also had some guys and girls that [win by] a very big margin [which] was great to see.”
This season, both wrestling teams have not only many new wrestlers, to college wrestling and from other teams, but new coaches too. The teams are still getting to know one another, but have been finding ways to grow stronger, gain chemistry, and win a lot of matches.
“Some of [these wrestlers] that never competed in college before [have] finally got the taste of winning, and they won it, so now it’s time to get the grind really in,” junior women’s wrestler Cayden Condit said. “The turn around has been awesome, the drive, the motivation in the room has just been so much better, and we want to compete, we want to win now.”
Both teams are now midway through their seasons. After Thanksgiving break, the wrestlers look come back full throttle through the second half, remain on the drawing board, and continue the grind all the way through.
“The biggest thing is buying in ready to go to work for six or seven minutes, believing the technique that [they’re learning], [persisting in] the practices, and [leaving] it all on the mat,” Wynn said. “Whatever happens happens, and you know you can walk off the mat with your head held high.”
