The Mycenaean

Among the many hardworking sports at Leesville, wrestling could be considered one of the most demanding. With practices and tournaments every day except Sunday, all the Leesville wrestlers need to show commitment and dedication to participate in the sport. Bobby Griffin, senior and wrestling captain, has wrestled since he was a freshmen and has excelled in the sport ever since.

“I was 108 pounds as a freshmen, and I couldn’t play football because I was small,” said Griffin.
“Wrestling seemed like something I could do, so I tried out for the team. Since then I’ve only gotten better every year.”

Griffin now places in the 145-pound weight class and has an outstanding record of 23-4.

Griffin finds wrestling at Leesville challenging yet rewarding. “We have practice every day after school and tournaments every weekend,” said Griffin. “We also have tournaments over breaks, so I haven’t been able to go on family vacations for Thanksgiving or Christmas for the past four years.”

Along with logging-in intense amounts of hours at practice, wrestling also requires a strenuous health plan necessary to maintain weight. In order to stay in his weight class, Griffin succumbs to strict rules. “I put on a lot of clothes and sweat it out. I eat right and can’t have ice cream.”

Interaction with the coach is a huge part of wrestling. The relationship that Griffin has developed with Coach Wyss throughout his four years helped contribute to his success. “Coach is really relaxed and never gets up in your face,” Griffin told me. “He also has a really cool tattoo of a turtle without a shell. I think I’m going to get a matching one.”

“I’m really going to miss the team and the camaraderie that we all share. I’ll never forget freshman year when somebody put cheese in Dylan Edward’s pants in the locker room. He ran into the mat room so pissed off, all about a few pieces of cheese,” Griffin said while laughing.

“Wrestling taught me a lot about leadership and how far you can push your limits. I don’t know what it is about the sport that keeps me coming back,” said Griffin. Griffin is hoping to be able to walk onto the NC State wrestling team next fall and knows that the skills he learned wrestling at Leesville will stay with him.