The wrestling team, grappling with the constant demand of one-on-one competitions and the fight to keep up their overall team record, spends hours a day together fulfilling their strenuous but necessary practices.

“Every sport is hard, but I think wrestling is probably the most physically gruelling sport at Algonquin. It’s just day in and day out. We’re giving 100 percent at practice and we never really get to rest,” senior captain Alex Mazzola said. “I don’t really think a lot of kids understand how hard wrestling is, but it’s actually ranked the hardest sport in high schools by ESPN. I just don’t think we get a lot of credit for how hard we work.”

Like his co-captain senior Joe Cozzolino, Mazzola has been part of the team since his freshman year and was promoted to captain last season.

“[Wrestling is] definitely the best sport at Algonquin,” Cozzolino said, “because it really shows how if you put in work then you’ll get results.”

Cozzolino and Mazzola work hard to get their team into the best shape possible at practices for one-on-one wrestling matches.

“When you’re on a team and you make a mistake it’s really not that noticable- you can’t really tell whether or not anyone messed up because you’re all on the field together,” said senior Matt Hanlon, who has been on the team for three years. “But with wrestling you go out there and it’s just you versus one other guy and everyone’s watching, so there’s a lot more pressure and it’s a lot more high intensity rather than, say, football, when everyone’s out there at the same time.”

Along with this intense pressure that comes with being a one-on-one wrestler, the team has competitions about twice a week, which is the reason for their non-stop practicing.

“The wrestling team at Algonquin is only one team,” said coach Brian Kramer. “Freshmen through seniors compete and practice together everyday.”

To keep competitions fair, there are fourteen weight classes ranging from 106 lbs. to 285 lbs.

“We have students from each class competing in the varsity lineup,” Kramer said. “Any wrestler who is not wrestling varsity will travel with the varsity team and potentially get a JV match up with other team’s JV wrestlers.”

Though some other wrestling teams can have 40 to 60 wrestlers, it is most common for each high school to have just the one varsity team.

“The best wrestler just wrestles. If you’re a freshman you can wrestle varsity, and when you’re a senior you wrestle varsity, juniors can; everyone can wrestle varsity,” Hanlon said.

The wrestling team has done well so far this season, which stretches from December to March.

“We’re about 500; we’re seven wins, four losses and two ties,” Mazzola said. “[500 is] the percentage. 500 would be, you have five wins and five losses, so you’re even.”

“We have great freshmen this year, we have great sophomores; the senior class is small, but we’re all hanging in there, and it’s been fun,” Hanlon said.

Out of the 19 wrestlers on the team, this year eight are freshmen, and many of them have wrestled varsity at competitions.