High school can be a time to break out of your comfort zone and try new or possibly scary things. Senior year is a prime opportunity to accomplish these things before you exit high school once and for all, and a great way to achieve this is by trying out a new sport to challenge yourself and learn new skills.

This year, wrestling was a sport that several seniors tried out for their first time. According to the assistant coach Cale Holt, there were a total of seven seniors who joined for their first time this year. 

Seniors Sidrah and Anika Schramm were two of those new wrestlers. Holt described them as warriors for the team. Having both just quit competitive soccer, they wanted to continue to stay active, and wrestling was their way of doing that. 

The two sisters joined together, but Anika ended up getting sick for a good portion of the season. Despite Anika’s absence, Sidrah discovered that the wrestling community was a welcoming place.

“When I started, Anika got sick a lot, so I wasn’t able to go with her,” she said. “It forced me to branch out, and I think it’s honestly been a good thing, because I’ve made friends through wrestling, and it’s been really fun. Everyone is super nice.”

Anika had a similar experience with joining the community. 

“Everyone is so kind and loving,” she said, adding that it’s fun to be a part of the community.

First-time wrestler, senior Holland Lewis-Newcomb stated how joining wrestling impacted him because he got to meet new people and be in a new environment.

Joining a new sport, no matter your grade, can cause some nervousness, but also a drive to accomplish something. Lewis-Newcomb had a simple goal for starting out on the team: to learn how to wrestle well, a skill he values. Sidrah’s goal was to lose a lot. Anika, however, had a different outlook.

“I hope to achieve nothing to be quite honest. Over the course of four years, you get sorta wrapped up in your chosen sport…and your ego gets wrapped in it and your whole self sorta gets wrapped up in that sport, it’s sorta difficult to detangle yourself from that,” she said. “But wrestling, I wanted it to just be something that my ego wasn’t invested in…just something I did for fun…and could enjoy just for the sake of enjoying it, not to be good at in any way, just because it’s a fun sport.” 

Trying out something new doesn’t mean you have to push yourself to your absolute breaking point to become number one. Trying something new, like in the case with Anika, can be done just for the joy of learning something new. 

Sidrah added on to this idea, saying that trying something new doesn’t mean you have to succeed right away.

“I’ve learned I can start things and do them and not be scared about it. And even in the beginning if you don’t think you’re going to do well, you can do well, you just have to go for it,” she said.

Lewis-Newcomb said that wrestling is a tough sport, but the “good coaches keep you in it.”  

According to Holt, even though wrestling can be a difficult sport, once you make it through the season, you feel like you can accomplish anything. Working with these new seniors during the season has allowed him to see them grow both as wrestlers and people.

“Definitely, certainly got to see them grow as people. I think there’s a little bit of humbling that happens at wrestling matches and you kind of have to be able to pick yourselves up and be able to deal with losses and kinda see where you’re at in life, and be gritty more or less, be gritty, and how to progress forward,” he said. 

Trying a new sport can be scary, especially because of the fear of failing. But as a senior, joining a new sport is a great way to meet new people, broaden your perspectives, and as Anika said, break out of your shell. Sidrah mentioned how it’s okay to try things you know you will be bad at because it doesn’t hurt you to just go for it.

“There’s definitely worth in doing something that you know you’re going to suck at, just for the sake of sucking at it. The act of failing is important, and I think that a lot of us are too afraid to put ourselves out there and fail,” Anika said.“As I’ve gone through my high school career, I’ve actively put myself in situations where I know I won’t be the best, and I think it’s definitely helped me as a human being.”

Lewis-Newcomb mirrors this idea, stating not to be afraid to try a sport as a senior in high school. This influx of seniors trying out a new sport, specifically wrestling, serves as an inspiration to others to go out and try new things. Each of the three first time seniors had a positive experience on the team, Holt adding it was a pleasure to have these seniors on the team for their first year.