Coming off last year’s mediocre season, CHS wrestling came out hungry this season with big wins in the first match against Kennedy and Wheaton.

 CHS traveled to Wheaton Dec. 5, beating them 66-15 and pouncing on Kennedy 72-12.

 “We have high expectations this year,” coach Michael Endler said. “I think we’ll be much better because we have a team with a lot of depth, our upper weights are stronger and we only lost two seniors last season.”

 CHS wrestling lived up to its high expectations with its play. The team won by such a large margin because many players pinned their opponents, which gives them six points for the individual match.

 “The reason we beat Wheaton and Kennedy by so much is because we stressed technique,” freshman Ryan Plummer said. “We practiced the most important moves over and over again until we didn’t have to think about them in matches.”

 According to Endler, CHS’ superior skill paid off, as wrestlers like sophomore Jake Sutton were able to overcome the discrepancy in size against Wheaton.

 “My individual goal for this season is to be in the state finals,” Sutton said. “I will achieve this goal by practicing hard and working the competition.”

 Sutton is one of CHS’s strongest players as he pinned his first opponent vs. Kennedy in under a minute.

 “I was really impressed in how everyone played,” senior Cody Egan said. “I was especially impressed [with] Ryan Plummer for making varsity as a freshman.”

 Plummer is a young player with lots of talent who worked his way up to varsity as a freshman. In the match he scored six points against both Kennedy and Wheaton.

 “We did well our first match and we want to keep this tempo the entire season,” Endler said. “Then by the end of the season hopefully we will have put in enough effort to do well in the Team Wise Counties.”