As the second half of the fall semester begins, the Baker women’s wrestling team’s season is underway. Practices have been going on for a while now and the athletes are gearing up for important matches. Head Coach Kit Harris shares the team’s recent trip experience and his feelings about the upcoming season.
On Oct. 10 through the 13, Harris and his team traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo. While there, they wrestled and worked out at the Olympic Training Center and met with other coaches and wrestlers. When they weren’t wrestling, the team had the opportunity to hike, visit the Air Force Academy and spend time bonding together.
“We all had a lot of fun learning from the professional athletes,” Harris said. He recalled that in their downtime they celebrated a birthday and took some team pictures.
Senior Katherine Heath and junior Kylie Robledo shared the same feelings. They both enjoyed doing fun activities as a group, watching the professional athletes and spending time together.
As for the season, Harris is excited for the wrestlers to participate in several events. Harris stated that he is ready to see the wrestlers take part in many duals, opens, conferences and tournaments. Some tournaments in particular are the National Dual Tournament in Iowa, their home tournament and nationals which will take place at home this season in Collins Gym.
“It’s exciting since our roster is big this year,” Harris said. The team has grown in size and there are lots of freshmen this year. For Harris, this means that he is looking forward to teaching them new things but also giving the returners a chance to lead.
“I’m excited for everything, but I am most excited for Nationals,” says Robledo.
Heath shares that she is close with the returners and is optimistic about the new freshmen wrestlers. For Robledo, she feels that her teammates are amazing and that the team feels like a family.
“I am excited to compete and challenge myself,” Heath explains.
When asked about practice, Harris explained that they have been working on many different aspects of wrestling and building skills. They lead live wrestling matches, work on different positions and strength train on a weekly schedule.
“We try to cover all of the bases,” says Harris. From his perspective, the practices have been really productive and great overall.
Harris believes that the wrestlers are quick learners. He is hoping that this season will be one to watch out for the new members, as well as the returners. He says that they have all put in their best effort. Both Heath and Robledo agree. This season will be one for the books. The schedule and roster can be seen on their page of the Baker University Sports website.
