Club wrestles its way into Witt
Courtney Burchett
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Sports
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Just recently, Wittenberg University approved a wrestling club as a part of the activities and clubs on campus. The club was started by sophomore Ben Fravel. Fravel started the club not only because he missed wrestling, but also because it is not a varsity sport at Wittenberg.
"Wrestling is my favorite sport," Fravel said. "From wrestling, you get a lot more out of it then you do any other sport, in my opinion, and I'm sure others will agree with me.
"Amazing bonds are formed because of this," Fravel said. "Another thing about wrestling is that it isn't just a three hour practice, like other sports," Fravel said. "It continues off the mats as well. In wrestling, you wrestle in a certain weight class and you have to maintain your body weight in order to be in that class. So, off the mats you have to watch what you eat, and maybe exercise to lose weight after an already hard practice."
Not only is wrestling a physically demanding sport, but it is also one in which it helps students to succeed both on the mats and in the classroom.
"To be able to go into a practice and know you have to lose a couple pounds and then eat very little the rest the day to maintain weight, drains your body and mind," Fravel said. "Through this, one gains good character, self-motivation, and becomes stronger as a person as a whole."
Since the wrestling club is new, the competition and logistics of it are still being worked out.
"Well, since the club is just getting started, we will be waiting to see how many people are going to join," Fravel said. "So, in the meantime, we will just be wrestling ourselves until we have some set numbers. In the future, next year, or maybe even this year, we hope to be wrestling other universities."
The starting of wrestling club has gotten students excited, and ten men are potentially going to join the club. There are four freshman, three sophomores, two juniors, and one senior who have expressed interest.
"Wrestling is my favorite sport," Fravel said. "From wrestling, you get a lot more out of it then you do any other sport, in my opinion, and I'm sure others will agree with me.
"Amazing bonds are formed because of this," Fravel said. "Another thing about wrestling is that it isn't just a three hour practice, like other sports," Fravel said. "It continues off the mats as well. In wrestling, you wrestle in a certain weight class and you have to maintain your body weight in order to be in that class. So, off the mats you have to watch what you eat, and maybe exercise to lose weight after an already hard practice."
Not only is wrestling a physically demanding sport, but it is also one in which it helps students to succeed both on the mats and in the classroom.
"To be able to go into a practice and know you have to lose a couple pounds and then eat very little the rest the day to maintain weight, drains your body and mind," Fravel said. "Through this, one gains good character, self-motivation, and becomes stronger as a person as a whole."
Since the wrestling club is new, the competition and logistics of it are still being worked out.
"Well, since the club is just getting started, we will be waiting to see how many people are going to join," Fravel said. "So, in the meantime, we will just be wrestling ourselves until we have some set numbers. In the future, next year, or maybe even this year, we hope to be wrestling other universities."
The starting of wrestling club has gotten students excited, and ten men are potentially going to join the club. There are four freshman, three sophomores, two juniors, and one senior who have expressed interest.
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