SydneySchulze

With an injury rate second only to football, wrestling is one of the most physically taxing sports in the world. According to the National Library of Medicine, wrestling results in an injury at a rate of 70 per every 1000 athletic exposures.

Senior Cady Porter is in her third year of wrestling. 

Due to the constant physical contact that comes with wrestling, Porter has faced many instances of ringworm, staph infections and even a concussion.

Wrestling is demanding of the whole body, both physically and mentally. 

“You only have six minutes on the mat where you have to score your points or get a pin,” Porter said. “You just have to keep going full 100% that entire time.”

For Porter, wrestling has caused its fair share of problems. 

Wrestling injuries are very common, according to Cureus article for 2024 “Epidemiology of Wrestling Injuries in Female Athletes,” with 16.3% occurring in the head. 

Porter experienced this first hand last year when she got a concussion that caused her to lose consciousness. 

“I had to take some time off for that and recover,” Porter said.

Even though a head injury is the most common, wrestlers have to use their whole body, so injuries can happen anytime anywhere.

 “Last year, I fractured my finger… I had to relearn how to do some stuff, but throughout it all my team was there for me,” sophomore Avril Duran said.

 Duran is beginning her second season of wrestling.

Porter suggested that even when recovering, “it’s important to make sure you’re still going, still showing up for your team.”

Wrestling is also mentally taxing, especially with the weight requirements. Wrestlers have to use many methods for “cutting” weight.

“When I first started, I wasn’t cutting very safely, but now Coach [Lauren] Barefoot talks a lot about nutrition and making sure we’re hydrated and we’re eating enough because you need so many calories for your brain to even function,” Duran said.

The Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) has specific requirements for weight and nutrition in order to prioritize the safety of wrestlers. 

Wrestlers must complete hydration testing and body fat testing to establish minimum weights. 

Once a wrestler’s minimum weight is set, they can only compete in that weight class or one class higher, as long as they make weight for the higher class during the season. 

Wrestling teams want to have people spread across many different weight types because schools must fill a minimum number of weight classes to be eligible for competitions. 

To protect wrestlers from unsafe cuts, the NSAA has an average weight loss limit of 1.5% of body weight per week. 

A season-long weight loss plan, calculated daily, will guide wrestlers during the season. 

“You really need to be aware of what you’re putting yourself into, especially with the intense weight cuts. You need to be aware of what you’re comfortable with,” Porter said.

Through her time on the wrestling team, Porter has learned that weight is “not who you are, what you are, or how you should define yourself.”

With the intense physical and mental costs that come with wrestling, it is important to have a strong community. 

“You’re trying to win the match for yourself, but also for your team and your coaches and all your supporters in the stand,” Duran said. 

Being such a new community, Marian wrestlers have learned to lean on each other. 

“I feel like our connection as a team is so strong that I can just go to them for anything,” Duran said.

“My favorite part of wrestling would probably be the team environment of leading and teaching everybody the stuff that I’ve learned and just motivating them to be better,” Porter said.

The wrestling team will have their firstever home competiton on Dec. 16.