(Guthrie Center) In the ACGC wrestling room the numbers aren’t high, but the quality is. The Chargers return three state qualifiers from last season.
Head coach Shawn Danker’s team went to the regional duals last year and didn’t graduate a very big senior class. “Very excited to get started here. We had a solid year last year and are hoping to repeat. We look forward to beginning this year. We are excited with a good group of kids coming back that are really ready to put their nose down to the grindstone and get busy.”
The Chargers should be especially strong from 132-145. Gunnar Larsen and Seth Danker are a couple of the headliners. “They are going to have high goals, that’s for sure. They put a lot of time into the sport throughout their career. Both kind of battled some injuries. I think they want to stay injury free and if that is the case they can reach their goals. They’ve been to state before, but they haven’t been on the stand yet. They really want to get up there on the stand and get a good medal, get a high medal.”
Conditioning is among the first things on the to do list. “We have to get in shape. You can say they are in pretty good shape as a whole, we have a really good strength and conditioning program. A lot of guys played football, we have some cross country runners so they are coming in in pretty good shape, but it’s not the same. Every morning somebody will say ‘My legs are killing me’ or ‘This is hurting’ so they are using muscles they haven’t been using. We are getting our bodies in shape, reviewing technique, and getting the rust knocked off.”
Tegan Slaybaugh could make an impact in the lighter weights. Cale Rowley is a returning state qualifier and will will be joined by Dawson Muller and Cayden Jensen as part of a solid stretch in the lineup at the middle weights.
