Just a few days into practice and Enumclaw High’s girls wrestling team is looking good.
The Hornets finished 21st at the 3A state tournament in February and have been anxious to get back on the mat since.
“We should do all right,” coach Jerry Scheidt said. “If we can stay injury-free, we should do all right.”
The Hornets graduated just one from last year’s relatively small squad and return a host of veterans.
Junior Jade Paterson and senior Logan Erskine carried home fifth- and seventh-place medals respectively from the Tacoma Dome, while Kasandra Renfrow and Danielle Cormier picked up some valuable experience after dropping early contests to eventual finalists.
State alternate Sam Lanting also returns.
Scheidt’s upbeat attitude toward the season is bolstered by the more than a dozen bodies in the practice room, three of them freshman who come in with mat experience.
“We’re about two weight classes away from filling a whole team,” Scheidt said of the program which began a handful of years ago. “It’s nice. We’re getting closer to the whole team thing.”