Athletics March 2019

Sophomore Ramsey Wrestler advanced to States!

My accomplishments and trip to states this year took a lot of work behind the scenes. I started wrestling in third grade by joining the Ramsey rec team. In fifth grade I took the next step and started wrestling for a club, Olympic, and quickly found a second home there. I now practice there about three times a week during the off-season, and train there after practices for the high school as much as I can. On top of just wrestling, I lift most days of the week and diet during the season to maintain my weight.

Ever since I started, I couldn’t wait to wrestle for RHS. My dad wrestled for Ramsey and every time I would go into the old gym I would see his name on the wall as District Champ. Getting my name on that wall was a huge goal for me and I accomplished that this year by winning districts as a sophomore. I went on to take fourth at Regions and made it to States in Atlantic City. I couldn’t ask for a better experience than the one I am getting here at Ramsey. My teammates and coaches are family to me.

If you want to get better at wrestling, you have to be willing to work hard and allow yourself to lose. You need to have good practice partners that push you and go to tough tournaments to get experience and learn. Coach Petrock told me last year that I qualified for a program at Princeton and Rutgers so I practice during the spring and summer with some of the best kids in the State there. I also go to many individual tournaments during the off-season and dual meets with my club team. Practices are hard, and the season can seem very long, but as soon as it is over every year, I miss it. I am already looking forward to wrestling next year as a junior, and can’t wait to make even more memories with my teammates and coaches. Although medals and titles are great, the memories I’ve made so far and the life lessons I learned through Ramsey Wrestling are more important to me.

By Jonathan Siemsen, Sophomore