OLDS — There was a downside to the École Olds High School football team’s success this year.
It delayed the start of the season for the school’s wrestling team.
The football team made the playoffs, but they were bounced out by Cardston.
As a result, practices for Spartans wrestling didn’t get underway until late November, because the football players, who make up a big segment of the wrestling team, weren’t available until then, head coach George Grant says.
During an interview with the Albertan, Grant said as of late-November, 10 to 12 students had come out to take up wrestling and nearly all were rookies, except for one returnee from last year’s team.
He said the team consisted of three to four girls and seven to nine guys.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Grant said. “Two of my assistant coaches are back this year and so we are working with these young athletes.
“They’re excited, they’re bringing a lot of enthusiasm to the room in the morning and the kids are really starting to pick up the moves that we’re working on.
“We know that it’s going to be a bit of a slower process because we have so many new athletes coming in, so it’s a bit of a challenge for us as coaches, but we’re embracing the grass roots start from the very bottom and work(ing) our way up, so we’re really looking forward to it so it’s going to be a great season."
The test will be how many of these students come back for wrestling after the Christmas break, especially given the fact the practices start at around 6:30 a.m.
Grant said there’s method to that start time. It’s easier for his assistant coaches because they can still go to work afterward. Similarly, the students can continue on with school or part-time jobs or whatever.
However, the wrestlers won’t have a chance to test what they've learned until the new year.
Grant said because of the late start to the season and the fact that virtually the entire team consists of rookies, he and the assistant coaches want the students to concentrate on technique before engaging in any matches.
The first match will come up soon enough – in early January, followed by a match pretty much every weekend throughout February.
The rural provincials will be held at the end of February, followed by the provincials in March.
"We’ll get (in) as many tournaments in as we can and just challenge ourselves to see how good we are against the rest of the province,” Grant said.
“We know that we’re a number of weeks behind everybody else, but that’s OK, we’re going to take our time.
“We’re going to make certain that our athletes are well prepared before they ever step onto the mat for their first battle and then let them go out there and do their thing and hopefully they'll learn lots.
“We’ll videotape, we’ll make certain that we go over (those videos) and help them improve and get better the next time.”
Olds is not hosting any tournaments this season, but Grant said the school may apply to host provincials in 2025 or 2026 because he thinks the wrestlers that have come out show some real promise in the sport.
Grant said wrestling is great cross-training for all sports. He said some students don’t realize just how fit you have to be to take it on.
“A couple of the football players that are out there, they’re noticing already after a couple of practices ‘I thought I was in pretty good shape, but I’m finding I’m sore in spots that I didn’t know I have.’”
“It just gives them the overall strength, because you’re having to move and twist and turn all the time. And it’s that one-on-on battle which really helps the linemen stay low and battle, but also the endurance.
“You’re on a 30 by 30 mat, but for five minutes you’re out there and it wears on you. You’re going to find out how good a shape you’re in, and you’ll always find that you’re never in good enough shape,” he said.
Grant said the practices the wrestlers participate in and the workout that the sport is would build endurance and stamina for athletes in any sport, including cross-country running.
"We run stairs once a week where the kids are running stairs pretty much constantly for about five to 10 minutes. That really gets the heart rate up, really gets them sweating and it helps with their endurance overall,” he said.
“Then we go into the room and then we start wrestling and we start adding more and more to it.”
