With the district meet here tomorrow, Raider wrestlers are facing off on the mat, getting prepared for their opponents. Training hard for almost seven and a half hours a week, these athletes are ready for tough competition.

After pinning his latest opponent, which resulted in a win, senior Dylan Rowling is looking forward to district and beyond. Rowling, who advanced to state last year, said even though the district competition may not be very strong, there will be at least one tough competitor.

“Georgetown does have one returning state qualifier, but I’m not worried or anything,” Rowling said. “Our region is also pretty weak, so getting to the state tournament again should be easy. Even knowing this, I’m going to take it one weekend at a time.”

For freshman Ethan Humphrey, being a wrestler for the first time is hard, especially when older opponents automatically think they have him beat.

“The most challenging part of the season has been staying mentally tough,” Humphrey said. “I’ve had to become a tough individual all around and learn to face off with a variety of opponents.”

Although Humphrey is new to high school wrestling, he likes how different the sport is compared to other sports.

“I feel pretty good about becoming a first time high school wrestler,” Humphrey said. “There is a definitely a big difference being new to the sport, but I appreciate the different mentality of it.”

Unlike Humphrey, Rowling has lots of experience with wrestling, which means the physical aspect of the sport isn’t as challenging. However, he said the early mornings and long trips for tournaments is something he could do without.

“The most challenging part of this season is the schedule we have,” Rowling said. “Last year all of our tournaments were more local, and we had a few out of town tournaments, whereas this year, almost all of our contests are in Houston or Dallas. That means we have to wake up at 3 a.m. on Saturday and ride the bus for three hours.”

As district and state get closer, the end of the season is closing in on the team. Rowling said he is going to miss the sport that not many students take a chance at doing.

“I think I’ll miss the grit of it the most,” Rowling said. “Between the schedule, practices and physical demand, it’s nice to look back and say you’ve done something not everyone can do.”