Adair County Schools is adding wrestling to its lineup of sports for grades 4-12. After being approved last spring, the new program is set to begin sign-ups this week.
The athletic department is excited to offer students a chance to compete in this fast-growing sport.
Any boy or girl in grades 4-12 can join the wrestling team.
Head Coach Abe Cross said that girls’ wresting was one of the fastest growing sports in the country. Girls can compete against boys, but there is also a state tournament specifically for girl wrestlers.
The team will start practice around Oct. 15 and the season begins at the end of November and goes through the end of February. The first season will focus on gaining experience and practice.
“We are not going to overload the schedule this first year just because it’s so new to everybody,” Cross said. “We want everybody to get a good grasp of the fundamentals before they go out there and wrestle folks who have been wrestling for four, five, six years.”
“We will compete but we are not going to be competition happy this first year. We are trying to find competitions with other new programs” he said.
Each match consists of three 2-minute periods. Wrestlers accumulate points based on National Federation of State High School Associations rules. They can win individually, and their points accumulate for the overall team performance.
“It’s a great sport because its inclusive, it doesn’t matter if you are big, small, tall, short – there’s a weight class for you to compete. It’s a great way for students to learn about themselves to build confidence and to find people that they can belong to,” said Cross.
If anyone has questions, contact Abe Cross at crossa@lindsey.edu or Derek Nickel at derek.nickel@lindsey.edu.
