On the mat, sophomore Ayden Day is in position, ready to go in her gray singlet and wrestling shoes. She can feel the excitement and adrenaline running through her, preparing her body to go against her opponent matching her size. When the time starts, the match begins and now it just depends on Day’s ability to get the pin.

“Wrestling is painful, it teaches you lessons,” Day said. “For me, it’s always been difficult because I’m not naturally gifted.”

Wrestling not only requires a lot of physical training for the sport itself, but also mental strength for getting in the required weight class. Having to start the sport online during a pandemic and workout alone made it even more challenging.

Day returned to campus Oct. 5 with the rest of her teammates, and maxed the week after to begin training for the upcoming season in February. Wrestling is a sport that takes a lot of physical exertion and hard work. 

“I first started wrestling my freshman year,” Day said. “It was so rough, and I had a lot of learning trials and tribulations. It’s a hard sport, a lot harder than people give it credit for.”

Even though wrestling isn’t a running sport, the team still has to run in practice to build stamina for matches. 

“Wrestling is a lot of hard work and dedication,”  she said. “The least best part though, is definitely the running and conditioning they have us do.”

There’re a lot of different emotions Day said she experiences before or during a match.

“Wrestling is my lifestyle, I love it. It’s my whole world, and it has made me such a strong person,” Day said. “My absolute favorite thing in the whole world is the feeling I get before a match, there’s so much adrenaline and panic and excitement all at once–it’s insane.”

Wrestling, like many sports, isn’t for everyone. Wrestlers have to be able to push through the workouts to improve their strength and skills, it’s not something they can achieve without practice.

 “I’ve always had to work harder because physically I’m just not as athletic,” Day said. “I’ve pushed through though, and now I’m so much stronger than I ever thought I’d be. It’s made me appreciate the struggle,  I’ve had to work so hard to improve. Most people probably would’ve given up by now or said that it just wasn’t for them. I’m very proud to say that I made this sport mine, I made myself good at it.”