The whistle blows and the mats roll out, Stockbridge wrestling has fired up. After a quick season last year, the Stockbridge wrestling team is excited to spark things back up. Head coach Robert Richards has returned to coaching after 10 years and is back this year kicking things into high gear.

“I am excited to be back, things have changed a ton,” Richards said. “We are starting from ground zero with a very young team competing at varsity level.”

This year’s team is on the small side with 11 athletes. There are three returning athletes to this 2022-23 season including sophomore Chris Conant, junior Remi Samek and senior Ashton James.  Although the team has been off to a slow start, junior Remi Samek has high hopes for the season.

“Although we have started off very slow, the majority of our team are newcomers,” Samek said. “Practices have been going very well, and as of right now seeing how well we are improving at practice everyday there is a lot of hope that later on in the season we can become a winning team.” 

Assistant coach Benjamin Kruse has been a crucial part in preparing the team both mentally and physically. The boys work on improvement every day in all aspects.

“Weight training is a critical component of any athletic program,” Kruse said. “Our strength and conditioning philosophy pushes our athletes to achieve their best, build confidence in themselves as they do things they never thought they could, and helps develop functional body mechanics that translate far beyond the wrestling mat.”