(Audubon, IA)- It’s the start of the offseason for Audubon wrestling and that means head coach Tyler Christensen has his hands full. The Wheelers are coming away from a state tournament with one lone qualifier in sophomore Lane Elmquist. However, the team is returning practically the entire starting roster next season led by current juniors Jack Stanerson and Alex Hansen. As the summer months approach it’s a lot of planning for Coach Christensen.
With a young core of wrestlers, building that culture will become instrumental as they stick with the program for 2-3 years and can implement it with younger classes, such as upcoming eighth graders. Christensen is excited to see how his upperclassmen are able to step up and take on that leadership role next season as they know what is expected of them and how hard they’ll need to work. With a growing program, retention becomes important as well but Christensen is hopeful about getting some competition in the room.
Getting better is always an offseason focus no matter the sport or the skill level of the wrestler. Looking back on last season, there were many things that worked well for the Wheelers but still plenty of things to be expanded upon come the spring and summer months before returning to the mats in the fall.
Audubon finished the season with 10 dual wins and three wrestlers over 20 wins on the season. The Wheelers kick off next season with a dual on December 10th.