Ending the ‘24-25 Wrestling Season: Insight on Players, Coaches, and Preparation

Photos from Roberta Pratt.

Truth Frazier

Wrestling is a sport that brings perseverance, endurance, and partnership to a team and its individual players. This is seen across the Greater Metro Conference and especially in the 2024 GMC Champs that are Hamilton High School’s wrestling team.

It’s no doubt that the Hamilton wrestling team has had amazing years and success under head coach Kyle Courtier. “The standards are the same that they should be striving for in life: responsibility, work ethic, maturity. It's not just about wrestling but also creating/instilling a lot of those qualities that I try to enforce,” Courtier responded when asked about the standards he holds his team to. Both Courtier and the team’s other assistant coaches (Matt Blackwell and Sam Behrndt) have standards to which they hold the entire team to, reflected in the achievements of Hamilton wrestling.

It’s no doubt that the high schoolers themselves give amazing efforts to bring pride and honor to the whole of Hamilton Charger sports. Here’s an overview of the wrestling season of 2024 and 2025 with insight on what it means to be a Hamilton wrestler.

Wrestling as a whole is about not only wanting to win but wanting to learn. A plethora of professional wrestlers have said or agreed with the statement that in wrestling, you don’t lose, you learn. One of the questions that some of Hamilton’s wrestlers were asked was, “How do you recover from losses as well as help your team recover from losses?”

Second year wrestler Austin Rehak is a sophomore on the Hamilton team and has been on varsity both of his years. “Handling losses, it's very hard for me. If it's a close match, then it's very hard for me, and I don’t handle it well. My team always brings me support as well as critique, but it's always nice to have my team.”

Another sophomore wrestler, Easton Scorsone, says, “If I were to lose in a close match or get pinned, it’s always hard, but I know my team is always there. If my teammate loses, I’ll be there to pick ‘em up and hype them up again.” The team as a whole displays the meaning of being a Hamilton Charger and what it means to be a devoted wrestler.

The dynamic of a team is incredibly important in wrestling; everyone plays a part in being supportive, consistent, and determined—and Hamilton lives up to that. Being a specific weight class and age means something to everyone on the team, and it contributes to the perpetual sportsmanship that is seen within these players.

Senior Kaitlin Hackbarth was asked, ‘“What does being a part of the wrestling team as a senior mean to you?” Her response was, “I try to use my experiences to help younger kids. I’ve learned how to wrestle better, and I try to step up to be the best I can. I know how it feels to be looked down on as an underclassmen, and I want to be the person they can come to.”

As mentioned by Coach Courtier, the standards of wrestling are the same as those that everyone should be held to and hold themselves to. Responsibility, time management, maturity—all are things that the team says are crucial when it comes to not only being a wrestler but being a Hamilton student athlete. Tommy Brown, a freshman on the team, says, “I feel like wrestling has made me more adaptable to my environment, and it's given me discipline about deadlines and within my academics.”

Another quote from a freshman, Trey Altuve, wrestling for Hamilton states, “My work ethic and my time management has changed so I can become a better student and a better wrestler.” Across the entire team, there is a persistent attitude and commitment that—without a doubt—shows what being a student athlete means to Hamilton High School.

The wrestling team loves to have people on the team, both girls and boys, to fill up the rosters and wrestling room during practice. Across all grades and weight classes, the wrestlers of Hamilton constantly urge others to join and do their best to promote the sport. As women’s wrestling—and wrestling as a whole—grows as a nationwide sport, more people are getting interested and involved. Hannah Behrndt, a junior on the team and a second year wrestler, says, “Go for it. It might be scary but definitely go for it. It’ll get harder, but I wish I never quit when I was younger because I could be so much better now.”

A lot of fear in many sports comes from the worry that acceptance as a first year or young athlete won’t be present, but the seniors of Hamilton wrestling encourage younger kids to join. Junior Reece Moore says to young kids and underclassmen looking at wrestling for the seasons to come: “You should do it because you can build relationships; you can be tougher, stronger, and faster. You’ll be a better person because of our coaches and teammates.”

There's no doubt that wrestling is a hard sport. Students may be afraid of the commitment or physical and mental hardships that may come with it, but nothing compares to the relationships, mentality, and discipline that is seen in the results of wrestling. Assistant coach Matt Blackwell says, “You never regret trying anything new and trying your best. To be successful is to be consistent in everything you do. Be consistent in attitude, be consistent in effort, relationships, how you treat parents; be consistent in everything” to the young athletes who will become the future of Hamilton High School’s wrestling.